It can be quite bothersome to constantly add one address after another while trying to combat spam.

Luckily, it’s easy to set WordPress to block a disposable email address. With the right blacklist plugin, you can spend less time moderating for spam and more creating content visitors love.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you a quick and easy way to block disposable email domains.

What are Disposable Email Addresses?

A disposable email address is one created that is temporary in nature. Usually, these addresses last for a very short amount of time and then automatically delete themselves.

This lets people create a quick address for a variety of purposes, such as registering accounts or creating logins on sites.

It’s quite a common practice among scammers and spammers to generate these disposable accounts as it eliminates a digital trail of who is sending the messages.

Using Ban Hammer

Today, I’ll show a bit of what the “Ban Hammer” plugin can do for you. It will detect a disposable email address and deny the user from using it on your WordPress website.

Instead of an IP blacklist, which isn’t always the best way to block someone, it operates by analyzing disposable email domains.

NOTE: Ban Hammer and plugins like it require that user registration is active on your website.

Install and activate the “Ban Hammer” plugin.

Go to Tools and click, “Ban Hammer.”

In Ban Hammer, you have a few options:

• Blocked Message
  You can customize the error message which shows when users try to use a blocked domain when registering.
• Redirect Blocked Users
  This lets you redirect blocked users to a custom URL. For example, you can redirect banned users to a Terms of Service page. However, you need to check the box and “Save Changes” before you can add a specific URL.
• The Blacklist
  In the Blacklist field, you can add as many addresses, domains and keywords you want to ban. This lets you blacklist specific email addresses as well as entire domains. And if you want to keep your registration clean, you can ban certain words from being used in the address as well.

Once you’re done editing, click the “Save Changes” button on the bottom.

For instance, you could block every registration from using Yahoo addresses by adding: @yahoo.com. I’m not sure why you would want to block a valid online email host, but it’s possible.

Do not use wildcards. This plugin does not support the feature. So you wouldn’t want to use the asterisk at all when adding terms. For instance, *@example.com will not work.

Adding Addresses to Block Spam in WordPress

To get you started, you can open a list of disposable domains from GitHub. This list has more than 4,000 addresses to use in any WordPress blacklist plugin including this one.

To start, go to the GitHub page for the emails.txt file.

Copy all of the addresses from this list.

Paste the domains into the Ban Hammer plugin.

Once you click Save Changes, all of the domains in the blacklist are blocked from registration in WordPress.

Other WordPress Blacklist Plugins

While Ban Hammer is functional and easy to use, it might not serve your purposes precisely. For one thing, Ban Hammer doesn’t stop spam comments, subscriptions or spam in surveys and polls.

Here are a few other plugins for you to consider depending on your needs.

CleanTalk

CleanTalk makes a great tool to reduce spam in the form of its Spam protect, AntiSpam, FireWall plugin. It supports a wide range of registration forms such as Contact Form 7 and BuddyPress.

It’s a feature-rich all-in-one system that has almost anything you could need to prevent spam from saturating the website.

All In One WP Security & Firewall

The All In One WP Security & Firewall plugin is another tool that comes complete with a vast array of protection features. This is one of those plugins which center mostly around the use of IP addresses.

It does well enough to block spammers from a specific location. However, the growing use of Virtual Private Networks makes this somewhat less efficient as opposed to domain blacklisting.

Loginizer Security

Loginizer Security uses both IP and domains in its WordPress blacklist plugin. You can use it to automatically block IP addresses that are detected as spam, bots or hackers or ban domains directly from registrations.

It’s probably a more efficient method than Ban Hammer if you’re also worried about brute force hacking attempts.

Keep Registrations Clean

Using WordPress to block disposable email addresses is just one of many methods you’ll need to keep the database clean. From spam comments to fake email subscriptions, it can be a daunting task at times.

Find tools that work perfect for you. With the sheer number of plugins available, you’re sure to find something that fits your site design.

How often do you find spam accounts in your registration or comment section? Would you prefer to block IP addresses or domains?

The post How to Set WordPress to Block a Disposable Email Address appeared first on GreenGeeks.

This will certainly help spread the word about your content and promote your website if they are interested enough. Of course, you need to keep in mind that this can have great effects, but only if your visitors take advantage of it, which might not happen. Today, I will demonstrate how to add an Email This button in WordPress using the WP-EMail plugin.

How Effective Will This Be

The key thing to consider is how effective this will actually be. While you may have good results with social media share buttons, an email is a bit more involved and requires the visitor to know another person’s email address. This may not resonate with visitors who are too used to using social media to share content they like.

However, if you notice that your social media share buttons are not working so well, this might be the perfect solution. While it is easy to see social media popularity, there are still people who choose to not share stuff they like on the platforms. Instead, sending an email may appeal to this group.

Regardless of your website’s situation, having more ways to share your content is never a bad thing.

How to Add an Email This Button in WordPress

Today, I will demonstrate how to add an Email This button in WordPress using the WP-EMail plugin. This plugin sets up email options that your visitors can use to share content. You will be able to choose how much of the content will be shared through the plugin. This plugin does not require an email service like an email subscription would. Instead, visitors will be able to just email their friends.

Installing WP-EMail

Let’s begin by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for WP-EMail in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the WP-EMail plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

On the left-hand admin panel click on E-Mail and select the E-Mail Options option. This will pull up the main settings page.

Setting Up WP-EMail

This plugin is really easy to set up and has a lot to offer. You can completely customize your visitor’s email experience with this plugin.

The first area is for your SMTP settings or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. If you’re not sure what this is, then just leave it blank and move on. If you are using it, insert your SMTP information and the plugin will use it.

The second section is the E-mail Styles section. Here you can change what the Email This button will look like and say. This includes what the Email Icon will look like.

The third section is the Email Settings section. Here you can change the various settings of the emails like the entry fields, content type, size of the content, and more. You can select the size of what is emailed. A good tip is to select the size of your intro paragraph. That way the reader can get a good sense of what the content is about. It is similar to what you would do with an Excerpt or Read More tag.

The last section allows you to change the template of your emails. This can help you structure the email to better suit your website.

Once you are done, click on the “Save Changes” button.

To ensure that your settings are saved, click on Settings and select the Permalinks option. Click on the “Save Changes” button without changing any of the settings to update your .htaccess file.

Adding The Email This Button

All that is left to do is to actually add the button, which is easy. The plugin uses a shortcode to add the button wherever you want it. Copy and paste the following shortcode on your website:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][email_link][/ht_message]

Congratulations, you have successfully added the Email This button to WordPress. You can change the settings at any time by visiting the plugin’s settings page. The Email This button can be placed anywhere shortcodes are accepted.

Help Visitors Share Your Content

It is no easy task to share your content on the Internet. Social media has made it easy to do this, but it is not perfect. Giving your visitors as many options as possible to share is important and can only help you. The more people who know about your website, the more likely they are to share your content themselves.

Why do you want to add an Email This button to WordPress? Have you noticed visitors using the button?

The post How to Add an Email This Button in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

The faster you’re able to respond to instances like this, the faster posts are published.

Why Send WordPress Email Notifications?

Email notifications are a good way to keep tabs on your site, whether it’s user interaction or updates. This is ideal because you need to be aware of any posts that are done and need to be reviewed.

This will allow you to get a notification right away, which means you can keep your content schedule flowing properly and helps to make sure you don’t fall behind.

Keeping up with content is important. If something is off or goes wrong, it can really put a wrench into the flow of your site. From writing to editing to publishing, content flow (especially on content-heavy sites) is very important.

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to set up a WordPress email when a post is pending a review. As soon as one of your authors clicks the “Submit for Review” button, you’ll be notified.

Using Pending Submission Notifications

Today, I’m demonstrating the Pending Submission Notifications plugin. It’s a very simple tool that is easy to install and set up. Once it goes live, you’ll receive updates any time someone submits an article to be published.

Note: While the plugin has not been updated recently, it still works perfectly and it is an effective way to make sure you receive notifications when posts are pending.

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

In order to start receiving a notification from WordPress for a pending review when posts are ready, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can do this by heading over to the plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Once you are on the page, you will notice that there is an available search field. Use this search field to search for the plugin by name. Once you see it come up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Access the Main Settings Page

Now that the plugin is installed and activated, you need to go access the main settings page for it. This is where you will do some configurations and get it going.

To get there, click on Settings > Pending Submission Notifications, located on the left side menu area of the WordPress dashboard.

You can see that this option is now available because you installed the plugin successfully.

Step 3: Input Email Address

All you have to do when you get to the main settings page is input your email address. Go ahead and put your email in the available field.

Don’t forget to click on the “Save Changes” button when you are done. This ensures the email you entered is applied so that you will receive notifications properly.

Once you save the address, you’ll receive an email notification for a pending review from WordPress.

Other Plugins to Consider

WordPress is full of plugins that make development much easier. From post status notifications to user control, having a handle of what your authors contribute keeps the site safe and efficient.

Here are a few other plugins you may want to consider installing.

User Submitted Posts

Perhaps you don’t have a team of authors but want visitors to contribute? User Submitted Posts has a lot of features available to publish content. It has built-in reCAPTCHA, challenge questions, and a variety of other tools. Among them is the ability to send emails for posts pending review.

HeyPublisher

HeyPublisher is another plugin that focuses on user-created content. It allows submissions and holds them for review until you have a chance to read through the posts. It comes with the ability to create custom emails for the authors regarding their submissions. In this instance, it sends a post notification email to the creator.

Better Notifications

Better Notifications is a great tool for maintaining a site. One of the highlights of this tool is using the WordPress editor and shortcodes to customize the email messages. It’s also flexible enough to allow notifications for multiple users or those who belong to a specific custom user role in WordPress.

Exploring Possibilities with WordPress

WordPress hosting opens the door to a variety of opportunities. From pending review emails to redacting text in a post, the system is quite flexible. Find the right tools to accentuate your site and make development easier on yourself.

All of the plugins above work great if you want to receive a WordPress message pending a review notification when a post is ready for inspection.

What kind of tools have you added to WordPress to make being the admin easier? Would you consider allowing users to submit content, and why?

The post How to Send a WordPress Email for a Post Pending Review appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Think about how many emails you get a day and all the efforts you take to guard against spam. I bet there are some emails you just glance at and delete right away, which is exactly what you want to avoid on your own website’s email subscription. It is very important to make sure every email you send is not generic and has something for the reader to enjoy. Today, I will demonstrate how to add an email subscription in WordPress using MailChimp.

Why Add an Email Subscription in WordPress

You may be thinking, I already use plenty of social media platforms to inform my viewers that I have released new content or that I am having a special promotion now. That is a great thing, but people like to go off the grid on social media platforms more often than you think.  Have you ever had that friend who just disappeared from Facebook for a week? It’s a common occurrence, but this is where emails win. You can’t really stop emails from getting into your inbox or take a break from emails unless you unsubscribe. You may not check them, but they’re still gonna get sent to you, whereas on social media you can skip everything that happened that week.

Keep in mind that not everyone is caught up with the times and uses social media. Emails are great to target that audience of visitors that social media cannot reach. Emails are also a great way to share exclusive deals with your audience, which gives people a great incentive to sign up for an email subscription to begin with. Keep in mind this does not mean you cannot use social media to help you boost your email subscribers though.

How to Add an Email Subscription in WordPress

Today, I will demonstrate how to add an email subscription in WordPress using MailChimp. MailChimp is an extremely popular email service, especially with websites that have a very small subscriber base. When you have less than 2000 subscribers there is a free version to use, which is great for when you are starting out. Keep in mind that if you grow your email list, you will have to pay for the service.

The first thing you need to do is to visit the MailChimp website and click on the “Pricing” tab. Click on the “Sign Up Free” button.

You will need to enter your email and create a username and password. Once you are done, you will need to check your email to continue. Once you open the email you get from MailChimp, click on the “Activate Account” button. A new tab will open up and you will need to click on the “I’m Not A Robot” button.

You will now need to enter some more personal information, which include a mailing address. Once that is all done, you will be ready to use MailChimp. Click on the “Create Campaign” button to start.

A pop-up window will appear. MailChimp will ask you what kind of campaign you want to create. Click on the “Create an Email” option. You will then be prompted to name your campaign. Name it and click on the “Begin” button.

On this page, you can create the email you are sending and a list of those who are receiving it. The first thing is to pick the recipients. The way you select these recipients is completely up to you, but make sure they are agreeing to receive emails from you. Click the “Add Recipients” button to add your subscribers. You will then need to select who the email is from which should be your website. Click on the “Add From” button to name your business. Create a subject line that does not sound like spam mail by clicking on the “Add Subject” button. Last, but not least, create the actual email structure by clicking on the “Design Email” button.

MailChimp has a lot of options for the design process and they are all up to you. If you are new to email design, I would recommend using the featured options and edit them for your own use. To edit any portion of the email you are creating, simply click on that area. Once you are finished click on the “Save as Template” option on the top right of the screen.

Now that your email is created and ready to go it’s time to get some subscribers. MailChimp has an email subscription form you can add to your website. Click on the “Lists” tab. You will see the email you just created. Click on the drop-down and select the “Signup forms” option.

There are four options to choose from. Choose the Embedded Forms by clicking the “Select” option. This will pull up the email subscription form editor. You can customize how it will look.  Once you are done simply copy and paste the code into a text widget on your website. Place the widget where you would like the email subscription form to appear.

Congratulations, your MailChimp email system is all set up and your visitors can now subscribe to your email list in WordPress. Keep in mind you should create multiple email templates and update them daily, weekly, or monthly, but do that on a consistent basis.

Alternative Email Subscriptions Methods

MailChimp is one of the most popular email service providers available, but there are many email services to choose from. The most important thing you need to look for when selecting from one of these services is the price and the email design choices. Many are quite similar, but most have much smaller free options than MailChimp.

AWeber

AWeber is another popular option to choose from when you want to set up an email subscription on your website. This service offers a 30-day free trial that you can use to test the service out. The design options are quite similar to MailChimp and are implemented with a text widget as well. This is a very popular choice among bloggers.

Jetpack

Jetpack is a completely free alternative that is great for a website on a budget. Jetpack is good for starters, but most bloggers and websites will eventually switch to other paid services and when they do, they will need to get all of their subscribers to resubscribe. This can be a very big hassle so it is best to start with one of the other services if you would like to pursue an email subscription.

Make Your Email Subscription Worth Your Visitors’ Time

Many websites try to create email subscriptions, but more than half of the emails are sent to the spam box or the recipients unsubscribe from the list very quickly. You need to spend time and make sure that the email is worth the time of the person who is reading it. You should also refrain from daily emails because only larger websites have enough content to make daily emails worth it.

How frequently will you be sending out emails to your subscribers? Will you be placing any exclusive deals or offers inside of the emails?

The post How to Add Email Subscription to WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Of course, with the rate updates occur in WordPress you should consider creating an email solely for updates to prevent your personal email from being spammed. This will also allow you to check what updates happened on the go through your mobile phone. Today I will demonstrate how to add email notifications for WordPress updates using the WP Updates Notifier plugin.

Why Getting Email Notifications for WordPress Updates Can Help

WordPress has a lot of updates but they do not occur at the same time. WordPress plugins updates vary depending on when they are released. It is important to know when they are available because most updates either add new features that you may find useful or fix bugs that may have plagued your website. The same can be said about WordPress theme updates, but these can pose compatibility issues with the plugins you are using. It’s crucial to be aware when updates are available and what they do.

Of course, not only do plugins and themes update, but the core of WordPress is always improving. This is the most important update for your website as it affects almost every aspect of it. These core updates improve things like security, features, performance, bug fixes, and compatibility between the plugins and themes you have installed. In fact, failure to update while continuing to update your plugins and themes can cause your website to stop working because of compatibility issues and setting up email notifications  is a great way to stay on top of it.

How to Add Email Notifications to Your WordPress Page

Today I will demonstrate how to add email notifications for WordPress updates using the WP Updates Notifier plugin. This plugin was specifically designed to send email notifications. You can choose how often the plugin checks for updates and if it finds one, you will be notified by email.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for WP Updates Notifier in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the WP Updates Notifier plugin and click the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

On the left-hand admin panel click on Settings and select the Update Notifier option. This will pull up the main settings page.

The settings page is extremely simple. You select the frequency that you want the plugin to check. Then input as many emails as needed.  This is great for larger development teams. You may want to include the staff in charge of themes and plugins, as well as the administration. Remember to separate the emails with a comma to get it sent to multiple emails. You will then be able to select which updates you would like to be informed about. I highly recommend checking the boxes for all plugins and themes that are currently installed, as well as the WordPress core updates.

Once you have inserted all of the emails and have checked all of the options you want notifications for, click on the either the “Save settings” or “Save settings with test email” buttons. The test one will just send out a generic email to all of the emails you have set up to receive notifications.

Congratulations, you have successfully set up email notifications for WordPress updates using the WP Email Notifier plugin. You can access this page at any time to change the frequency that updates are checked for and who receives the emails. I would highly recommend creating work emails to check these to avoid your personal emails from being spammed with updates.

Additional Plugins

Notifications are a crucial thing to keep track of. They allow you to know when updates are happening but they include more than just updates.  For instance, notifications can be sent when event pages, posts, or blogs are published on your website. Here is a really handy plugin to use when you want a wider variety of notifications.

Better Notifications For WordPress

Better Notifications for WordPress is a great plugin to set up on your website. It can notify you about WordPress core updates and when your posts and pages go live on your website. Not only can you set it up for your staff members, but you can also set it up for your subscribers. This will require you to be extra careful when you are deciding how often to send notification emails out because you can easily and unintentionally spam your staff and subscribers emails.  Make sure you are not sending update notifications to your subscribers, they will not be pleased.

Keep Your Website Updated

The main reason for being informed about available updates is to actually do those updates. Your website needs to be updated regularly and you need to be aware of what these updates do. In fact, sometimes it’s best to rollback to older versions if an update would cause compatibility issues with other plugins or themes on your website.

Make sure the staff you send emails to are going to check them and update regularly if that is their assigned role. Not updating can have serious security concerns because many updates focus on patching security breaches that have been exploited already. Always be aware of what an update does and update once you are sure there will be no compatibility issues.

How often do you set the frequency of the plugin to check for updates? How many staff member emails do you want to be notified about available updates?

The post How to Set up Email Notifications for WordPress Updates appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Not all WordPress servers are built the same. In fact, some settings may prevent messages from being sent because of the underlying technology. For instance, some users will have problems with the default PHP email system built into the content management system.

There are several ways to fix WordPress email when it’s not working. One of the most common is using a third-party system to manage the messages.

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to use SendGrid for WordPress. It’s one of many email services available that helps businesses and individuals alike get their messages sent without complications.

Why Does WordPress Use Email?

WordPress uses email for a wide range of purposes. Notifications, update information, password resetting, and comment notifications are just some of the reasons a website needs messaging ability.

If you plan on running an eCommerce store, email is imperative. Not only will your visitors appreciate being notified when a purchase has been shipped, but messaging is also a large part of marketing strategies. After all, you want your customers to know when certain items are on sale.

WordPress uses a PHP-based system to send messages by default. Although this platform works well for some people, it doesn’t always have the greatest support. In reality, a lot of spam filters trap PHP email both on the sending and receiving end. If this happens to you, that’s when you need an email service.

What, Exactly, Is the SendGrid Service?

SendGrid is a system that acts as a middle-man to make sure your messages are sent correctly. The company uses its own servers to relay your content, which surpasses a lot of problems PHP may have such as spam filtering.

For those who need email marketing services, SendGrid handles that as well. While it’s not as elaborate as some of the other email systems you can use on the Internet, its pricing scheme is comparative to alternatives.

Unfortunately, SendGrid no longer supports the free 12,000 email per month plan. All that is available currently is a free 30-day trial of the system and then a monthly subscription fee thereafter.

Using SendGrid WordPress Email Notifications

The first thing you’ll need is a SendGrid account.

Go to the SendGrid website. Register by clicking the “Try for Free” button.

After you finish setting up your account, go back to your WordPress admin dashboard. Install and activate the SendGrid plugin.

Go to the Settings area of WordPress and Click “SendGrid.”

In the settings screen, you’ll see a place to input your API key. This is generated in your SendGrid profile under API Keys in the Settings section. Create a new key and put it into this box.

Fill in your mail settings for the account. You’ll need elements such as a name, what address the email is coming from, reply address, any templates you want to use and other pertinent information. This is data your recipients will see.

Click the “Update Settings” button when you’re done.

That’s all there is to it. Now, SendGrid will command all of your website’s email. Anything WordPress needs to send out from the site will be routed through SendGrid for security and functionality.

Communication is Vital

Sending messages from the website itself is a vital part of keeping it functional and efficient. WordPress relies on the ability to access and send email for many of its features. You want to make sure recipients are getting the messages they need whether it’s to reset a password or being notified a new comment is available on a post. You don’t want a website to fail simply because WordPress is not sending email.

What kind of third-party systems do you find to be the best value? How often do you communicate with others who visit your website?

The post How to Set Up SendGrid for WordPress Email Delivery appeared first on GreenGeeks.

In this tutorial, I’m going to quickly show you how to change an email password in cPanel. It’s a time saver in the event something happens, and you’re unable to access essential messages.

When Should You Change Your Email Password?

A lot of people often need to change passwords simply because they forgot it. Not everyone has these phrases written down on a sticky note plastered to the desk. Simply forgetting what special character was used can prevent access to messages.

Another popular reason why people change a password is if the account was hacked. If the criminal element gains control of your email address, it can wreak all kinds of havoc with spam and malware.

In many cases, the domain itself becomes blacklisted by services like Spamhaus, which prevents any email from being sent.

Spamhaus isn’t the only system that can blacklist a domain. Suspension of hosting accounts can also be a result of hackers spamming your domain.

Fraud situations like these can cost a business a lot of time and money.

How to Change the Email Password in cPanel

Step 1: Enter The Email Accounts Section

Obviously, the first real step is to log into your cPanel. If you are unsure what your login information is, contact your web host for additional support in recovering it.

Once you are logged in, go to the Email section and click the “Email Accounts” option on the cPanel dashboard.

Step 2: Locate The Email You Wish to Change the Password For

Unless you just started your website, you probably have multiple email addresses for your website. Thus, you need to take a moment and select the email address that you want to change.

Note: Even if you just have one email address, you still need to do this.

You’ll see all of the email addresses in a list, just find the address you want to change and click the “Manage” button. For this tutorial, I am editing the “tutorial” address on my list.

Note: You may also want to utilize the “Connect Devices” button. This allows you to set up the email address for specific applications on desktop and mobile, which can make accessing your email a breeze.

Step 3: Create A New Password

On the next page, you’ll be able to enter a new password into the “new password” text box. Simply enter your new password in the “New Password” field.

Right next to it, you will see the “Password Generator” button. It’s an excellent way to create a complex password for the account. If you would rather not use it, there are plenty of easy tricks to develop strong passwords.

Important Note: The password will be checked to make sure it’s strong. In the example above, you see a strength of 100. If you enter a simple password that scores less than 55, you won’t be allowed to save it.

Take a moment and write down your new password. If you chose to generate it, it will just be a random assortment of letters and numbers that is hard to memorize. Once, you have done this, scroll down and click the “Update Email Settings” button.

Once you click the button, the changes are committed. Your email account is now ready with a fresh new password. There is no limit on how many times you can do this, so feel free to change it on a regular basis.

In fact, it is recommended to change your password every three months.

Always Keep Your Messages Safe

Protecting your email address is essential for both business owners and just regular users. Emails today contain a variety of personal information and make it easy to reset passwords on other accounts.

For this reason, you should create a strong password and change it frequently. You should also consider using password managers to keep your accounts safe.

You should also avoid storing your passwords in your web browser. It is very easy to gain access to them and can compromise multiple accounts at once.

Always make sure your passwords are difficult to guess. The last thing you want is someone gaining access to vital and confidential information about yourself or the business.

The post How to Easily Change Your Email Password in cPanel appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Inputting a WordPress email link code is relatively simple. Although it’s not the preferred method of sending a message, adding the link takes very little effort. I’ll go into why you should refrain from email links on posts and pages in a moment.

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to modify the “a href” code of a link to send a message rather than open a website. It only takes a few seconds for people to send you messages directly from your post or page.

Using Code to Link an Email Address in WordPress

For this tutorial, I am going to show you how to add an email link to a contact page. Once you get the idea of how it works, you can add email links to various WordPress areas that accept HTML text. For instance, you can place them in posts, pages, and widgets in the sidebar.

Editing in the Visual Editor

Go to the Pages area of WordPress and click “Add New.”

Title this new page as “Contact Me” or anything similar. If this is a business, it probably makes more sense to use something like “Contact Us.” In this page, create a line of text you want people to read to understand they can contact you for more information.

Highlight the “contact us” portion of the text and click the “Insert Link” button.

Instead of an “http:” link you’ve probably created before, this time you’ll start with “mailto:“. This tells the visitor’s device the link is referring to an email address. After the mailto: command, add the address you want people to use.

It should look something like this (replace “ggexample.com” with your domain):
[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]mailto:youraddress@ggexample.com[/ht_message]

Click the arrow to apply the changes and save the link.

Once you’re done with the edits, click the “Publish” or “Update” button on the page. This depends on whether you already had a contact page or not. In my example, I already had a Contact Me page available.

Now, you have a working email link directly in the contact page of your website.

Using the Exact Code for Links

What if you wanted to use the exact HTML code to add a link? It’s not that difficult to place. Instead of the domain of a website, you simply change it to the “mailto:” prompt.

In the contact page, click the “Text” tab above the editor.

This area shows you all of the HTML coding elements that are currently in a post, page and many widgets. In this case, you can see the “a href” coding element we created in the above step.

As you can see, the HTML is near identical to how you would create a link to a website. The only exception is that you use “mailto:” and the email address instead of the “http:” and a website URL.

So, this is how it would look if you were to manually add the HTML code (replace “ggexample.com” with your domain):
[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]<a href=”mailto:youraddress@ggexample.com”>contact us</a>.[/ht_message]
It’s vital that you remember to add the “</a>” to close the code. Otherwise, every word after the “a href” will be added to the link.

This coding is usable in many areas of the website. For example, you could add a Text widget to your sidebar and enter the above code to create an email link.

Problems that Arise From Email Links

Before you start adding email links to your posts and pages, you need to consider some of the problems that you’ll face. Although the link may seem simple enough, it could cause quite a few headaches in the very near future.

Opens You Up to Spam

People often use scraping bots to scour the Internet looking for email addresses. Essentially, these bots collect email accounts from links like the above and add them to a database for spam.

Although the practice of selling email lists isn’t as robust as it was in the early 2000s, it’s still common enough to fill your inbox with unsolicited messages.

You also want to be careful as hackers will send spam en masse thanks to scraping addresses from websites. These messages can range from phishing emails to steal your information to spreading malware.

Using good spam protection should already be on web hosting services. However, it may be simpler to avoid links in post and pages.

Complications When Sending Email

Using email links in WordPress forces a visitor’s device to open his or her primary email platform. For example, a new message window using Outlook will open if visitors have it installed. Unfortunately, this often leads to problems if someone has more than one email address saved on his or her device.

People often complain how the “mailto:” command sends messages from the wrong reply address for certain users. What if you had an address you use for contact and another for private messages for friends and family? When you click on an email link, it may be sent from the wrong address from your device.

How to Avoid Spam When You Need a Contact Email

Although the above to link an email address in WordPress does technically work, it’s probably not the most efficient method. It opens your inbox to a wide range of issues. It’s easier, and perhaps more effective, to use contact forms in WordPress.

Here are some of the best plugins to add this feature to your website.

Jetpack’s Contact Form

Jetpack comes with a myriad of modules for a wide range of purposes. In this case, it includes a simple contact form you can add with a click of the button. Although this won’t stop all spam, it does eliminate scraping your address from the site.

Ninja Forms

Ninja Forms is a robust contact form designer, which is free for anyone to use. You can set up payment systems, customize the fields and it includes anti-spam such as Google reCaptcha elements. It’s also widely popular among WordPress users as it has more than 900,000 active installs.

Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is one of the most popular form developers available for WordPress. With over three million active installs, a vast portion of users find it easy to implement and customize. It also uses anti-spam elements such as CAPTCHA and integration with Akismet filtering.

Contact Is Important for Any Website

Giving visitors the ability to contact you is important. Adding a link to an email address in WordPress is possible, but it makes more sense to use a contact form. In either case, providing the means to get in touch with you has the potential to improve customer relations or open yourself up to other opportunities.

What kind of anti-spam measures do you use on your site? Has adding an email link or contact form increased interaction between yourself and visitors?

The post How to Add a Link to an Email Address in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Even when you do set this feature up correctly, it often just doesn’t work. For example, many users will set up contact forms that are supposed to send a confirmation email after it is completed, but it doesn’t.

Today, I will demonstrate how to fix this problem by switching to an SMTP Mailer.

Why Using PHP For Email Is A Bad Idea

Before even continuing this tutorial, let me just say, this was a bad idea from the get-go. While this feature exists, you should not actually be using it because it has a negative impact on your website and the email delivery itself is not great.

Let’s go over a few reasons why you should avoid doing this entirely.

Your Host Will Block Them If They Occur En Masse

Let’s say you started a newsletter and downloaded a plugin that uses the PHP system of WordPress to send them. This can be appealing because it is a free email delivery system.

However, it’s a horrible choice.

You see, most web hosts will actually consider sending out emails in mass to be an abuse and block those emails as being sent. The truth is this email system was designed for system notifications.

You can get away with it when your newsletter list is short, but your web host will catch on and block these from being sent. At this point, your newsletter is dead until you go through the work of setting up a real email delivery system for your newsletter.

It’s Not Very Reliable

You have just clicked on this article because your email messages are not being sent correctly through the PHP system. Do I really need to say anything else?

Of course, this actually goes way beyond just email delivery. Not sending the email is one thing, but what happens when the email is sent and it gets flagged as spam by every email platform (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.)?

That’s also a reliability problem. I won’t bore you with the details, but to sum it up, when WordPress sends an email in this manner, it actually looks like spam to these platforms, regardless of the content that is in it.

It Is Not Scalable

As your website grows, you will need to send out more emails. Regardless of if you simply use it for form confirmations, purchase confirmations, or the almighty newsletter, eventually, it will be too much for WordPress to handle.

And when that happens, the site owner learns the hard way that they need to purchase a real email solution.

And at this point, you will need to get set up on an entirely new interface, transfer all of your email subscribers to the new service, and begin paying for the service in one fell swoop.

How to Solve the WordPress Email Not Working Error

If I have not made it abundantly clear at this point, let me do so now. The best way to fix the PHP emails not being sent is to not use them in the first place.

It could be that your website doesn’t have the resources to send them out, your web host blocking them, they are not configured correctly, or something else entirely.

The smarter approach is to send your emails using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). This is the standard all email services use today and will reduce the number of emails you create that get marked as spam.

There are multiple ways to add this in WordPress, but the easiest is with a plugin. In this case, we will use WP Mail SMTP.

Step 1: Install WP Mail SMTP

WP Mail SMTP is easily among the most popular SMTP emails in WordPress and is brought to you by the creators of WPForms, an excellent form plugin. And yes, they work very well together.

This plugin makes it so that WordPress will not use the PHP system, and instead, use an SMTP service.

The keyword here is service. While most offer you generous free trials, and potentially periods where you do not pay until you reach X subscribers, you will eventually pay.

What I will not show you is how to use the specific service you choose because that is a choice you need to make yourself, and the plugin supports several.

To begin, click on Plugins and select the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for WP Mail SMTP in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the WP Mail SMTP plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Step 2: Go Through the Setup Wizard

Upon installing WP Mail SMTP, you will be prompted to go through the setup wizard. This is the easiest way to get started, so let’s do it.

The first choice you will be asked for is to choose an SMTP Mailer. There are a lot of choices and luckily, the plugin has put together a great resource to help you decide which one is right for you.

Again, most of these offer a generous free trial, so you can give it a try and see if it works for you.

Now, depending on the mailing solution you chose, you’ll need to enter the API key from the service. Again, this plugin does a really good job and actually provides a guide on how to get each API key underneath the field.

You’ll also need to enter a From Name and From Email. For example, the From Name would be your website, thus in our case, it would be GreenGeeks. Whereas the From Email should be your email account for the website (be sure not to use a personal email).

The next screen will allow you to choose what email features you want to enable. Or in other words, what you plan to use the SMTP mailer for. Simply check the boxes you want and uncheck those you do not.

From there, you will just need to adjust a few more settings and the setup wizard will end.

Step 3: Send A Test Email

After finishing the setup wizard, you are basically done. Now it’s time for a quick test. Luckily, there is a built-in tool for just that.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on WP Mail SMTP and select the Tools option.

The next screen consists of an entry for where to send the test email and a switch to decide if you want HTML On or Off. Enter the email and click the button at the bottom. If the button is not clickable, the configuration was set up incorrectly.

Refer to the plugin and SMTP Mailer documentation for troubleshooting help.

Completing this setup will give your website access to a better email solution that will solve any instances of WordPress email not working. Congratulations!

Other SMTP Plugins You Can Use

WordPress has a ton of plugins to choose from. Since email is so popular, you can bet there are plenty of other SMTP plugins you can try. Let’s take a look at three others you can consider:

Easy WP SMTP

Easy WP SMTP is another popular plugin with over 600,000 active installs. It makes it easy to switch from the default WordPress email system to a more modern SMTP one.

It works seamlessly with all major email services like Gmail, Yahoo, and so on. As the name implies, it is really easy to use, which makes it a great choice for beginners.

Post SMTP Mailer/Email Log

With over 300,000 active installs, the Post SMTP Mailer/Email Log is one of the most popular plugins when it comes to SMTP. This plugin allows you to easily and quickly set up an SMTP email delivery system in WordPress.

It replaces the default PHP mailer with Zend_Mail which is superior in most ways and it even works in a multisite environment.

FluentSMTP

If your WordPress email is not working, using the FluentSMTP plugin to switch from the PHP mailer to an SMTP system is definitely a great solution. This plugin is intuitive to use, which is why it has over 100,000 active installs.

It is compatible with most email service connections, thus, it will fit in on just about any website.

Good Email Marketing Pays For Itself

Many people are under the false pretense that email marketing is dead. Let me make it very clear, email marketing is something every website should invest in and thankfully, getting started is often free.

Most email services will provide a free trial to help you get started. And if everything goes right, your email marketing will be paying for itself by the end of it. Although, results may vary.

In any event, I hope this tutorial helped you solve any instances of WordPress email not working.

How easy did you find the WP Mail SMTP plugin to use? Which SMTP Mailer did you choose?

The post How to Fix WordPress Email When It’s Not Working appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Over the years, many have felt that email marketing has lost its touch, but this just isn’t true. It’s still worth every website’s time to make a mail list because there are over four billion daily email users. That’s half of the world’s population.

It’s a great platform for businesses, big and small, to reach out to customers and help increase sales. In fact, this is exactly why 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers.

In terms of return on investment (ROI), email marketing is unmatched.

Today, we’re going to show you several ways to create a WordPress email list and how to get the most out of the experience.

Why Email Lists Are Important

Email is one of the most common forms of communication on the Internet. Thanks to integrating apps in smartphones, these messages can be sent to virtually anyone regardless of where they are.

This means you have greater potential to keep users informed regarding any aspect of the website or business.

Sending people emails does more than just give you a way to inform others. It also can play a role in marketing products and increasing revenues.

For example, it wouldn’t take much to offer a 20% discount on select items from those who opt into an eCommerce mailing list.

A single message can be sent in mass to thousands of recipients. Of course, this is dependent on how many people are actually on the list, but the point is you can engage them all with just one email.

More importantly, since those people are voluntarily opting in to receive emails, they want to be exposed to your marketing.

Are Emails Better Than Social Media?

For those with limited time and resources, you might be wondering if email marketing is a better option than social media.

While there are plenty of exceptions to this, on average, most businesses find more success with email marketing.

The truth is that while you can reach a lot of people on social media, most people will quickly scroll past any advertisements you buy.

Or they will ignore your latest messages on the platform, especially if they are just highlighting new products or sales.

And this is because most people use social media to have fun. They are not going to the platform to make a purchase or find a new product, they want to chat with friends and family.

Whereas subscribers on your mailing list actually opt-in to receive these notifications.

If you can only choose one, email will give you more bang for your buck.

How to Build WordPress Users Email List

Today, we’ll be going over several methods to build up an email list. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks, so, choose one that best fits your needs.

Method 1: Using WordPress User Registrations

Step 1: Install Profile Builder

Perhaps one of the easiest methods to build a WordPress email list is to make it part of the registration process. Using plugins such as Profile Builder, users must activate their profiles through email confirmation.

This helps verify the address is correct and active.

This is only one part of the plugin. It can do a lot more like adding a “Forgot Password?” message under the login or even restrict what users can access in terms of products they can view (perfect for membership shops).

But first, we need to install it:

Click on Plugins and select the Add New option.

Search for, install, and activate Profile Builder.

Step 2: Add Email to Registration Process

Luckily, adding email as part of the registration process is really simple and only takes a few clicks of the mouse.

Click on Profile Builder and select the Settings option.

You will see multiple tabs in this section, but for the purpose of this tutorial, there’s only one option we need to worry about, General Settings.

Locate the Email Confirmation Activated option. It is a drop-down box that will allow you to select “Yes” or “No” and select the “Yes” option.

You might want to take a few moments to see what else the plugin offers.

For instance, you can also customize the requirements to create a password. Website security has never been more important, so making sure visitors use a strong password is a great idea.

Click on the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the screen when you are satisfied with the changes you have made.

You now can start creating a list of addresses based on those who register with your website. It’s a good idea to inform people prior to registering that the email address may be used to send messages.

This will help reduce the risk of being seen as spam.

Profile Builder also comes with a WordPress widget that is placed in the sidebar for user logins.

Method 2: Use Jetpack for Follower Subscriptions

Step 1: Install Jetpack

Jetpack is an amazing plugin, especially for beginners. It comes with more than 20 common tools to help any website developer. These tools include the module called, “Subscriptions.”

This allows visitors to subscribe to the website or comment section of any post.

It will also help develop an email list accessible through the WordPress.com interface. Of course, this is only one of Jetpack’s many features. It is often described as the swiss army knife of WordPress.

It can do almost anything, all you need to do is activate the right module.

To enable Subscriptions in Jetpack:

Install and activate the plugin, “Jetpack” if it’s not already in your WordPress tools.

Step 2: Enable Email Subscription

The first thing we need to do is actually enable the email subscription option.

Note: You will need to set up Jetpack for use before continuing. The setup process is extremely short, and you simply need to create an account and pick a plan, and yes, the free plan is fine.

To do so, click on the Jetpack and select the Settings option.

In the settings screen, you’ll see an area with five sections: Security, Performance, Writing, Sharing, Discussion, and Traffic

Click on the Discussion tab.

At the bottom, you should notice a Subscriptions section. It has a series of sliding switches that you can interact with. By default, this feature is off. So first, you must activate it by sliding the first switch.

Once this is activated, you can adjust the other two sliders. These allow visitors to subscribe to your website and to specific comments for email notifications. By default, these should both be on and you should leave them this way.

Thus, the end result should be all three switches on.

These settings are saved automatically, so you can safely exit this section.

Step 3: Add the Subscription Widget

You should now take the time to add the subscriptions widget to your sidebar. This will make it easy for visitors to subscribe, thus accelerating your growth.

Click on Appearance and select the Widgets option.

Locate the widget “Blog Subscriptions (Jetpack)” and drag it to your sidebar or the appropriate widget area.

You can customize this widget to your liking, which you should, after all the default name is “Blog.” Once you do, click on the “Save” button at the bottom.

Step 4: Customize the Email Message

And finally, since you are going to be sending out emails, it is a smart decision to review the email messages.

Click on Settings and select the Reading option.

Scroll down until you see the Follower Settings section and you will see the default email messages. I highly recommend customizing these messages to match the tone and personality of your blog.

And there is a very good reason to do this.

People will start ignoring your emails if they sound generic or look very basic. The world of email marketing has grown significantly and basic emails can no longer survive in the current climate.

Instead, everything needs to meet certain quality standards.

When you are done editing the messages, click on the “Save Changes” button at the bottom.

Your website will now collect subscribers whether they choose to do so from the sidebar or while leaving a comment. Jetpack will automatically inform these users when new comments are added or any time a new post is created.

The email list for Jetpack can be accessed by going into the module settings and clicking the link. This will take you to WordPress.com and show you the list of registered accounts.

Method 3: Using MailChimp

Step 1: Install MailChimp

Last but not least, let’s take a look at MailChimp. It’s a dedicated email marketing tool that has all of the bells and whistles. And it remains one of the most popular options in WordPress today.

While MailChimp does offer several premium plans, it is worth highlighting their free plan to test it out.

While MailChimp is its own service, which you must make an account to use, you will still need to install the plugin. In this case, you must install and activate the MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress plugin.

Now, you may have looked at the plugin and immediately questioned why I chose this one. This plugin allows you to create a subscribe form for multiple subscriber lists. All of the actual email creation is done directly in MailChimp.

This plugin is an invaluable tool, and the 2 million active subscribers back that up.

Note: There are actually several plugins that can add MailChimp in WordPress. It all comes down to which one you prefer.

Step 2: Connect Your MailChimp Account

The first thing you need to do is connect your MailChimp account with the plugin. You will do this by entering the API key that you can find in your account.

Note: While you are in your MailChimp account, you should take a few moments and add your contacts to the subscriber list. This information must be entered in your MailChimp account instead of in WordPress.

Click on MC4WP and select the MailChimp option.

Here, you can enter the API key from your account. It is free to signup, so you shouldn’t have any issue obtaining one.

Don’t forget to save the changes.

Step 3: Create A Form

The plugin’s main feature is to create forms. They are quite simple in nature. You simply pick the subscriber list they correspond to (this information is entered in the MailChimp website) and choose the form elements.

Click on the Form option.

The fields available to you will be dependent on the type of MailChimp account you have. Simply select the subscriber list and click on the form element you want to add. You can also code how the form looks if you wish.

You can see what it looks like in the Form Preview area.

All that’s left is to actually create an email in MailChimp. This is by far the easiest way to grow your subscriber list in WordPress, so be sure to create a form that gets the visitor’s attention.

Do I Need An Email Marketing Service?

At first, you can definitely manage your WordPress email list manually. But as that list grows, this will no longer be a viable option.

Instead, most websites will utilize an email marketing service. These services allow you to easily add new subscribers to receive regular emails. They provide multiple email templates that you can use to craft the message you want to send.

There are a number of email marketing campaign services available that offer incredible incentives beyond the power of your website. These are methods that can bolster any business marketing campaign.

Most of these will include easy-to-use message builders and in-depth reports based on user actions. They offer information regarding various aspects such as how often messages are opened and whether a recipient has clicked on any links within the text.

One of the more engaging features of these systems is that the entire process is capable of being automated. This means all you need is a list of addresses and the system will do the rest.

Some may also include personalization templates so that each recipient reads his or her name in the message.

Give People A Reason to Open Your Emails

Adding new subscribers to your email list in WordPress is not easy, but it’s even harder to keep them viewing your emails.

Let’s be honest, if you get multiple emails from the same sender, and none of them contain any information worth your time, you are probably going to either label the message as spam or look for the unsubscribe option.

This is why every email needs to be worth the time it takes to read.

For instance, one approach is to offer exclusive deals to email subscribers. This not only keeps subscribers happy but also encourages others to sign up to get those deals. Even a small discount will suffice.

Another approach is to include a general discount code. This doesn’t have to be in every email, but by subscribers knowing there is a chance, they are more likely to open the email to check.

Of course, discounts and deals are not the only way to keep subscribers.

The other content you include matters. Sending out emails with broken links or that are just badly designed isn’t going to help keep subscribers on your mailing list. Instead, you need to customize them to look stylish, just like WordPress.

Avoid Spamming Subscribers from a WordPress Email List

Now you may have gotten the impression that as long as you provide subscribers with value in an email, you can send as many as you want. And more emails mean more exposure to your brand, so it seems logical to send a lot.

Do NOT do this.

Email users today can quickly pick up on spam. If they feel your emails are too frequent, they will unsubscribe or mark your email as junk. The latter is far worse than if they unsubscribe because it makes you think your emails are reaching more people than they are.

And if the behavior continues, it’s not just subscribers that will label your email as spam. Email services like Gmail or Yahoo will eventually determine that the emails you send out are spam.

Once they label you as spam, your email marketing days are over.

Start Emailing Visitors Today

Sending email has been an activity millions of people used before the Internet developed into the platform we know and love today. It’s a cost-efficient platform that will help you engage customers on a grand scale.

Start building your email lists today.

With so many options available that are free to use, you have nothing to lose but a bit of time.

What kind of additions do you use on your site to engage your visitors after they leave? How many visitors have subscribed to your website?

The post How to Create a WordPress Users Email List appeared first on GreenGeeks.