Depending on the website, WordPress might send quite a lot of email outward. These messages can include for example newsletters, contact requests from online forms, order confirmations from an e-commerce or requests to reset a password. Messages like this are basic functions for an array of websites and therefore it's crucial to be able to secure safe delivery of emails and a well working website. Read more how to ensure that emails sent by WordPress are delivered properly.
WordPress Email Settings: Ready to Go
With Seravo, WordPress email functionality is built-in according to best practices, so no separate email plugin is needed. The system ensures that all messages sent from WordPress are delivered successfully.
Delivery method: WordPress automatically uses the PHP
mail()function.
Relay service: All outgoing mail goes through the SendGrid SMTP service.
Monitoring: We monitor message volumes and ensure that messages are successfully sent from the server to SendGrid. However, we do not specifically monitor the delivery of individual messages from SendGrid to the recipient.
Even an unpublished site that is still using a development address can send emails. In this case, the sender address will temporarily appear as [email protected]. The sender address will change to use the site’s actual address after publication.
SendGrid
All email is sent using a dedicated service. Seravo currently uses SendGrid for this purpose. Seravo also monitors the volume of outgoing email and is able to detect the most serious issues related to email delivery.
If you transfer your domain to Seravo’s management, we will add the SPF and DKIM records required by SendGrid to the DNS records. If you prefer to manage your domains yourself, we recommend reviewing our instructions on the necessary DNS settings.
When you publish your site at Seravo, we recommend contacting our customer service to request verification of the sending address in SendGrid. This further ensures that your messages are delivered successfully.
Domain Settings (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC)
To ensure that receiving servers (such as Gmail or Outlook) trust your messages, your domain’s DNS records must contain the correct entries: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
If Seravo manages your DNS: We add the necessary records automatically. You can also modify these records yourself using the Seravo Plugin.
If you manage your DNS elsewhere: You must manually add the required records following our instructions on SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Limitations and Recommendations
Seravo’s email service is primarily intended for sending system messages (such as order confirmations or notifications from forms).
Mass Mailing: The service is not intended for sending newsletters or large volumes of email. We recommend using a dedicated newsletter service or your own SMTP service/plugin for this purpose. Our service plans include limits on the volume of email traffic.
Attachments: The maximum size for email attachments is relatively small. If you want to share large files, we recommend including a download link in the message instead of attaching the file directly.
Form Protection: To prevent your site from being exploited by spammers, we recommend protecting all forms with a CAPTCHA service. See our instructions on using CAPTCHA.
Troubleshooting Email Issues
Many factors affect email delivery: the recipient's mailbox being full, outdated addresses, or spam filters on the receiving end.
Check the Log Files
The first step is to determine if the message left the site. Check the log files in the /data/log/ directory:
php-mail.log: Shows if the WordPress PHP code called the mail function.
mail.log: Shows if the server successfully forwarded the message to SendGrid.
SpamAssassin and Filtering
There is a SpamAssassin filter between the site and SendGrid. Occasionally, a legitimate message may be caught in this filter if it contains suspicious content. If logs show the message was sent but it does not arrive, contact our customer support for a closer look.
Test Delivery via Command Line
You can test email flow with Seravo’s own wp-mail-test tool:
wp-mail-test [email protected]
We also recommend using the Mail-tester.com service for a technical analysis of your email content.
Issues with Microsoft 365
If messages leave Seravo correctly (status 250 in the log) but do not appear in an M365 mailbox, the issue is usually at the receiving end.
Whitelisting IP Addresses: Ask the M365 administrator to whitelist the SendGrid sender addresses used by Seravo:
168.245.98.128and168.245.18.183.
Spam Management: The administrator can modify filters or submit the message to Microsoft for analysis. If an external SMTP service is used, the IP addresses for that service can be removed from M365 spam lists using Microsoft's official form.
Need help?
If you have verified through logs that messages are being sent but they still do not arrive, please contact our customer support by sending a message to [email protected].