About 10% of Mail not being sent

Hi @robertcroydon

Hope you are doing fine!

There are some additional information that needs to be gathered to find out the root cause of this issue.

1. Could you verify if the issue happens just for certain customers? Would it be possible to gather more info about the destination email service provider for this customers? This information can help identify any restriction at the email server level.
2. In the email log tool, can you identify which destination email providers are you having issues with? Same as the first point, it will help determine if this is an issue related to a server restriction.
3. Is it possible to configure a different email account in the WP Mail SMTP plugin? Preferably an email account from another provider, to verify if this is related to the email account used.
4. Also, to determine if this is a Forminator specific issue or a site issue: Could you test the password recovery feature several times and check if you get the email each time you action it?

The responses provided to these questions will help us provide further and more effective assistance.

Looking forward to your response.

Kind regards

Luis

Hi Luis

Thank you for your response.

“Could you verify if the issue happens just for certain customers? Would it be possible to gather more info about the destination email service provider for this customers? This information can help identify any restriction at the email server level.”
This is not for certain customers only. The ‘WP MAIL LOGGING’ plugin lists those marked as ‘failed’ and has a resend option. When I click the ‘resend’ option the mail is successfully sent (and then appears in the ‘wp_email_log’ table in the DB with the other mail successfully sent’.
The only service provider we are using is AWS SES, and we have already contacted support and confirmed this missing mail has not been sent to them.

“In the email log tool, can you identify which destination email providers are you having issues with? Same as the first point, it will help determine if this is an issue related to a server restriction.”
The only service provider we are using is AWS SES, and we were previously using the default setup which had the same issue.

“Is it possible to configure a different email account in the WP Mail SMTP plugin? Preferably an email account from another provider, to verify if this is related to the email account used.”
We don’t have another provider at hand but will set something up if necessary. However, I think you may agree this should not be necessary since the same issue existed before we installed the ‘WP Mail SMTP’ plugin and switched to the AWS SES provider (and was the reason for making those changes)?

“Also, to determine if this is a Forminator specific issue or a site issue: Could you test the password recovery feature several times and check if you get the email each time you action it?”
I have tested the password recovery email over 30 times and did not find an instance of the email not being sent. It could be more likely the issue is with the Forminator functionality, however it is also curious that we have seen missing emails show in the ‘WP MAIL LOGGING’ plugin log (but not anywhere else other than in the Forminator submissions).

Note: we are not sure if the server was ever sending all customer enquiries to us, and we only performed these actions last week in an attempt to fix this missing mail problem

• installed the ‘WP MAIL LOGGING’ plugin.
• installed the ‘WP Mail SMTP’ plugin and switched (from the default send setup) to use AWS SES.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Many thanks

Hi @robertcroydon

Thank you for response!

This is quite interesting but also, I’m afraid, a bit “tricky” case. The key point here is this:

“The ‘WP MAIL LOGGING’ plugin lists those marked as ‘failed’”

This means that Forminator did attempt to send e-mail and it actually does it using core WordPress wp_mail() function. So it’s more like “Forminator orders WordPress to send e-mail and tells it where to and what to put in it”. After that it’s “out of hands” and Formiantor itself doesn’t affect it/do anything.

So this would mean that it’s happening “somewhere” on the WP level or the plugin/code that integrates AWS SES or, actually, “outside the site”.

That being said, could you check and let us know

1. in WP Mail Logging plugin – does it say anything else than “Failed” in “Error” column (like e.g. specific SMTP error or similar) and what it shows for those failed e-mails in “Headers” line (you can see it after clicking on “eye” icon next to such e-mail)?

2. Since you installed WP Mail SMTP plugin – is it free or pro version? If it’s pro – it also includes another Email Log so what does it show in that log?

3. If the WP Mail SMTP is a free version, could you install additionally yet another plugin (temporarily)? Specifically this one

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/post-smtp/

Once it is installed, do NOT configure it in anyway – this way it will not change your current e-mail configuration. Instead, just wait until some failed e-mails show up (or try to trigger failed e-mail) and then go to “Post SMTP -> Email Log” page.

It will list such e-mail and it additionally provides some insights into e-mail session communication so click on “Session transcript” link below such failed e-mail and see if/what errors/messages it shows there.

This may help find out what’s happening there.

Best regards,
Adam

Hi Adam

Thank you for your reply and for explaining some of how it works which which is useful to know as it the post smtp product you mentioned for future reference.

“1. in WP Mail Logging plugin – does it say anything else than “Failed” in “Error” column (like e.g. specific SMTP error or similar) and what it shows for those failed e-mails in “Headers” line (you can see it after clicking on “eye” icon next to such e-mail)?”
Unfortunately, when I clicked the resend icon it successfully sent and the log entry was updated. This was for some reason a ‘one off’ and all other instances of missing emails checked do not show in any logs. It also appears the ‘WP EMAIL LOGGING’ log is not complete and there are numerous instances of no entry for an email that was successfully sent out. Is this a concern and should we remove it or re-install it (this was installed after we found mail missing so is not the cause)?

“2. Since you installed WP Mail SMTP plugin – is it free or pro version? If it’s pro – it also includes another Email Log so what does it show in that log?”
This is the pro version, we had no choice because this version is required to talk to AWS SES. Nothing is shown in this log for any of the missing emails.

“3. If the WP Mail SMTP is a free version, could you install additionally yet another plugin (temporarily)? Specifically this one”
An interesting idea thank you, but the WP Mail SMTP is not the free version (and it seems we would also need the pro version of POST SMTP to try this with AWS SES).

Interestingly we have not had any more examples of missing emails since they were processed last Monday 2 days ago, so awe have not had any new examples to examine. We will obviously continue to monitor closely to see if the issue is still recurring.

Thanks again again

Hi @robertcroydon

Thank you for response!

It also appears the ‘WP EMAIL LOGGING’ log is not complete and there are numerous instances of no entry for an email that was successfully sent out. Is this a concern and should we remove it or re-install it (this was installed after we found mail missing so is not the cause)?

Fair question but I don’t have solid answer to this as I’m not that much familiar with the code/logic behind this plugin so I’m not entirely sure how it works on “code level”. I would keep it for now as it doesn’t seem to be interfering with anything and may still be helpful if the issue happens again.

Interestingly we have not had any more examples of missing emails since they were processed last Monday 2 days ago, so awe have not had any new examples to examine. We will obviously continue to monitor closely to see if the issue is still recurring.

Okay then, I think we should “keep things as they are” (regarding configuration and those logs) and wait to see until/if the issue happens again. If/when it does, please get back to the logs and check the things that I asked in my previous post and update us – we’ll see then what to do next.

Best regards,
Adam

Hi Adam

Thank you for your quick reply and help! We’ll continue to monitor this for any further instances of this issue.

Many thanks

Hello @robertcroydon ,
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We haven’t heard from you for several days now, so it looks like you no longer need our assistance.
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Feel free to re-open this ticket if needed.
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Kind regards
Kasia