Contact Form 7 not working (Bitnami WP Install on Google Cloud Platform)

Hello –

I recently moved my WP site to google cloud platform using the Bitnami WP install.

Since moving my site to Google Cloud Platform my Contact Form 7 plugin no longer works. When I click the contact form “submit” button on my website it returns a message “THERE WAS AN ERROR TRYING TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER.”

From the research I’ve done so far, I am led to believe that the problem has to do with the Google Cloud Platform not allowing outbound connections on ports 25, 465, and 587.

What I tried to do is install and configure the WP SMTP plugin, but it doesn’t work when I configure it.. it returns an error saying “SMTP connect() failed. https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/Troubleshooting”. On the github support site it says that the error frequently occurs with GoDaddy:

Popular US hosting provider GoDaddy imposes very strict (to the point of becoming almost useless) constraints on sending email. They block outbound SMTP to ports 25, 465 and 587 to all servers except their own. This problem is the subject of many frustrating questions on Stack Overflow. If you find your script works on your local machine, but not when you upload it to GoDaddy, this will be what’s happening to you. The solution is extremely poorly documented by GoDaddy: you must send through their servers, and also disable all security features, username and password (great, huh?!), giving you this config for PHPMailer:

$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = ‘relay-hosting.secureserver.net’;
$mail->Port = 25;
$mail->SMTPAuth = false;
$mail->SMTPSecure = false;
GoDaddy also refuses to send with a From address belonging to any aol, gmail, yahoo, hotmail, live, aim, or msn domain (see their docs). This is because all those domains deploy SPF and DKIM anti-forgery measures, and faking your from address is forgery.

You may find it easier to switch to a more enlightened hosting provider.

SO.. That is all I know so far.

My end goal is for Contact Form 7 to work like it is supposed to. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this problem? Any support would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much, Joe