Setup email for WordPress without plugins

I’ve first noticed that emails weren’t being sent out when I tried to update the administrator email in the WordPress dashboard Settings > General > Administration Email Address and I also wasn’t getting any emails from submitted Contact Form 7 forms.

Possible reasons for not getting email, see:
https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/password-reset-not-sending-email/?view=all#post-8988847

Also, you may find this useful:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-wordpress-not-sending-email-issue/

Possible reasons for not getting email, see:
https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/password-reset-not-sending-email/?view=all#post-8988847

I can already do this through PHPMyAdmin.

Also, you may find this useful:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-wordpress-not-sending-email-issue/

This uses the WP Mail SMTP plugin

I found this article explaining some of the WordPress backend files. Unfortunately, most of this goes over my head.

https://codeseekah.com/2013/11/01/correct-sender-for-wordpress-mail-routed-via-postfix/

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by willowen100.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by willowen100.

Found under the wp-includes directory is a file called pluggable.php. Inside this file contains settings and parameteres for PHPMailer

if ( ! function_exists( 'wp_mail' ) ) :
	/**
	 * Sends an email, similar to PHP's mail function.
	 *
	 * A true return value does not automatically mean that the user received the
	 * email successfully. It just only means that the method used was able to
	 * process the request without any errors.
	 *
	 * The default content type is <code>text/plain</code> which does not allow using HTML.
	 * However, you can set the content type of the email by using the
	 * {@see 'wp_mail_content_type'} filter.
	 *
	 * The default charset is based on the charset used on the blog. The charset can
	 * be set using the {@see 'wp_mail_charset'} filter.
	 *
	 * @since 1.2.1
	 *
	 * @global PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer $phpmailer
	 *
	 * @param string|array $to          Array or comma-separated list of email addresses to send message.
	 * @param string       $subject     Email subject
	 * @param string       $message     Message contents
	 * @param string|array $headers     Optional. Additional headers.
	 * @param string|array $attachments Optional. Files to attach.
	 * @return bool Whether the email contents were sent successfully.
	 */
	function wp_mail( $to, $subject, $message, $headers = '', $attachments = array() ) {
		// Compact the input, apply the filters, and extract them back out.

		/**
		 * Filters the wp_mail() arguments.
		 *
		 * @since 2.2.0
		 *
		 * @param array $args A compacted array of wp_mail() arguments, including the "to" email,
		 *                    subject, message, headers, and attachments values.
		 */
		$atts = apply_filters( 'wp_mail', compact( 'to', 'subject', 'message', 'headers', 'attachments' ) );

		if ( isset( $atts['to'] ) ) {
			$to = $atts['to'];
		}

		if ( ! is_array( $to ) ) {
			$to = explode( ',', $to );
		}

		if ( isset( $atts['subject'] ) ) {
			$subject = $atts['subject'];
		}

		if ( isset( $atts['message'] ) ) {
			$message = $atts['message'];
		}

		if ( isset( $atts['headers'] ) ) {
			$headers = $atts['headers'];
		}

		if ( isset( $atts['attachments'] ) ) {
			$attachments = $atts['attachments'];
		}

		if ( ! is_array( $attachments ) ) {
			$attachments = explode( "\n", str_replace( "\r\n", "\n", $attachments ) );
		}
		global $phpmailer;

		// (Re)create it, if it's gone missing.
		if ( ! ( $phpmailer instanceof PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer ) ) {
			require_once ABSPATH . WPINC . '/PHPMailer/PHPMailer.php';
			require_once ABSPATH . WPINC . '/PHPMailer/SMTP.php';
			require_once ABSPATH . WPINC . '/PHPMailer/Exception.php';
			$phpmailer = new PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer( true );

			$phpmailer::$validator = static function ( $email ) {
				return (bool) is_email( $email );
			};
		}

		// Headers.
		$cc       = array();
		$bcc      = array();
		$reply_to = array();

		if ( empty( $headers ) ) {
			$headers = array();
		} else {
			if ( ! is_array( $headers ) ) {
				// Explode the headers out, so this function can take
				// both string headers and an array of headers.
				$tempheaders = explode( "\n", str_replace( "\r\n", "\n", $headers ) );
			} else {
				$tempheaders = $headers;
			}
			$headers = array();

			// If it's actually got contents.
			if ( ! empty( $tempheaders ) ) {
				// Iterate through the raw headers.
				foreach ( (array) $tempheaders as $header ) {
					if ( strpos( $header, ':' ) === false ) {
						if ( false !== stripos( $header, 'boundary=' ) ) {
							$parts    = preg_split( '/boundary=/i', trim( $header ) );
							$boundary = trim( str_replace( array( "'", '"' ), '', $parts[1] ) );
						}
						continue;
					}
					// Explode them out.
					list( $name, $content ) = explode( ':', trim( $header ), 2 );

					// Cleanup crew.
					$name    = trim( $name );
					$content = trim( $content );

					switch ( strtolower( $name ) ) {
						// Mainly for legacy -- process a "From:" header if it's there.
						case 'from':
							$bracket_pos = strpos( $content, '<' );
							if ( false !== $bracket_pos ) {
								// Text before the bracketed email is the "From" name.
								if ( $bracket_pos > 0 ) {
									$from_name = substr( $content, 0, $bracket_pos - 1 );
									$from_name = str_replace( '"', '', $from_name );
									$from_name = trim( $from_name );
								}

								$from_email = substr( $content, $bracket_pos + 1 );
								$from_email = str_replace( '>', '', $from_email );
								$from_email = trim( $from_email );

								// Avoid setting an empty $from_email.
							} elseif ( '' !== trim( $content ) ) {
								$from_email = trim( $content );
							}
							break;
						case 'content-type':
							if ( strpos( $content, ';' ) !== false ) {
								list( $type, $charset_content ) = explode( ';', $content );
								$content_type                   = trim( $type );
								if ( false !== stripos( $charset_content, 'charset=' ) ) {
									$charset = trim( str_replace( array( 'charset=', '"' ), '', $charset_content ) );
								} elseif ( false !== stripos( $charset_content, 'boundary=' ) ) {
									$boundary = trim( str_replace( array( 'BOUNDARY=', 'boundary=', '"' ), '', $charset_content ) );
									$charset  = '';
								}

								// Avoid setting an empty $content_type.
							} elseif ( '' !== trim( $content ) ) {
								$content_type = trim( $content );
							}
							break;
						case 'cc':
							$cc = array_merge( (array) $cc, explode( ',', $content ) );
							break;
						case 'bcc':
							$bcc = array_merge( (array) $bcc, explode( ',', $content ) );
							break;
						case 'reply-to':
							$reply_to = array_merge( (array) $reply_to, explode( ',', $content ) );
							break;
						default:
							// Add it to our grand headers array.
							$headers[ trim( $name ) ] = trim( $content );
							break;
					}
				}
			}
		}

		// Empty out the values that may be set.
		$phpmailer->clearAllRecipients();
		$phpmailer->clearAttachments();
		$phpmailer->clearCustomHeaders();
		$phpmailer->clearReplyTos();

		// Set "From" name and email.

		// If we don't have a name from the input headers.
		if ( ! isset( $from_name ) ) {
			$from_name = 'WordPress';
		}

		/*
		 * If we don't have an email from the input headers, default to wordpress@$sitename
		 * Some hosts will block outgoing mail from this address if it doesn't exist,
		 * but there's no easy alternative. Defaulting to admin_email might appear to be
		 * another option, but some hosts may refuse to relay mail from an unknown domain.
		 * See https://core.trac.www.ads-software.com/ticket/5007.
		 */
		if ( ! isset( $from_email ) ) {
			// Get the site domain and get rid of www.
			$sitename = wp_parse_url( network_home_url(), PHP_URL_HOST );
			if ( 'www.' === substr( $sitename, 0, 4 ) ) {
				$sitename = substr( $sitename, 4 );
			}

			$from_email = 'wordpress@' . $sitename;
		}

		/**
		 * Filters the email address to send from.
		 *
		 * @since 2.2.0
		 *
		 * @param string $from_email Email address to send from.
		 */
		$from_email = apply_filters( 'wp_mail_from', $from_email );

		/**
		 * Filters the name to associate with the "from" email address.
		 *
		 * @since 2.3.0
		 *
		 * @param string $from_name Name associated with the "from" email address.
		 */
		$from_name = apply_filters( 'wp_mail_from_name', $from_name );

		try {
			$phpmailer->setFrom( $from_email, $from_name, false );
		} catch ( PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception $e ) {
			$mail_error_data                             = compact( 'to', 'subject', 'message', 'headers', 'attachments' );
			$mail_error_data['phpmailer_exception_code'] = $e->getCode();

			/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/pluggable.php */
			do_action( 'wp_mail_failed', new WP_Error( 'wp_mail_failed', $e->getMessage(), $mail_error_data ) );

			return false;
		}

		// Set mail's subject and body.
		$phpmailer->Subject = $subject;
		$phpmailer->Body    = $message;

		// Set destination addresses, using appropriate methods for handling addresses.
		$address_headers = compact( 'to', 'cc', 'bcc', 'reply_to' );

		foreach ( $address_headers as $address_header => $addresses ) {
			if ( empty( $addresses ) ) {
				continue;
			}

			foreach ( (array) $addresses as $address ) {
				try {
					// Break $recipient into name and address parts if in the format "Foo <[email protected]>".
					$recipient_name = '';

					if ( preg_match( '/(.*)<(.+)>/', $address, $matches ) ) {
						if ( count( $matches ) == 3 ) {
							$recipient_name = $matches[1];
							$address        = $matches[2];
						}
					}

					switch ( $address_header ) {
						case 'to':
							$phpmailer->addAddress( $address, $recipient_name );
							break;
						case 'cc':
							$phpmailer->addCc( $address, $recipient_name );
							break;
						case 'bcc':
							$phpmailer->addBcc( $address, $recipient_name );
							break;
						case 'reply_to':
							$phpmailer->addReplyTo( $address, $recipient_name );
							break;
					}
				} catch ( PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception $e ) {
					continue;
				}
			}
		}

		// Set to use PHP's mail().
		$phpmailer->isMail();

		// Set Content-Type and charset.

		// If we don't have a content-type from the input headers.
		if ( ! isset( $content_type ) ) {
			$content_type = 'text/plain';
		}

		/**
		 * Filters the wp_mail() content type.
		 *
		 * @since 2.3.0
		 *
		 * @param string $content_type Default wp_mail() content type.
		 */
		$content_type = apply_filters( 'wp_mail_content_type', $content_type );

		$phpmailer->ContentType = $content_type;

		// Set whether it's plaintext, depending on $content_type.
		if ( 'text/html' === $content_type ) {
			$phpmailer->isHTML( true );
		}

		// If we don't have a charset from the input headers.
		if ( ! isset( $charset ) ) {
			$charset = get_bloginfo( 'charset' );
		}

		/**
		 * Filters the default wp_mail() charset.
		 *
		 * @since 2.3.0
		 *
		 * @param string $charset Default email charset.
		 */
		$phpmailer->CharSet = apply_filters( 'wp_mail_charset', $charset );

		// Set custom headers.
		if ( ! empty( $headers ) ) {
			foreach ( (array) $headers as $name => $content ) {
				// Only add custom headers not added automatically by PHPMailer.
				if ( ! in_array( $name, array( 'MIME-Version', 'X-Mailer' ), true ) ) {
					try {
						$phpmailer->addCustomHeader( sprintf( '%1$s: %2$s', $name, $content ) );
					} catch ( PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception $e ) {
						continue;
					}
				}
			}

			if ( false !== stripos( $content_type, 'multipart' ) && ! empty( $boundary ) ) {
				$phpmailer->addCustomHeader( sprintf( 'Content-Type: %s; boundary="%s"', $content_type, $boundary ) );
			}
		}

		if ( ! empty( $attachments ) ) {
			foreach ( $attachments as $attachment ) {
				try {
					$phpmailer->addAttachment( $attachment );
				} catch ( PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception $e ) {
					continue;
				}
			}
		}

		/**
		 * Fires after PHPMailer is initialized.
		 *
		 * @since 2.2.0
		 *
		 * @param PHPMailer $phpmailer The PHPMailer instance (passed by reference).
		 */
		do_action_ref_array( 'phpmailer_init', array( &$phpmailer ) );

		// Send!
		try {
			return $phpmailer->send();
		} catch ( PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception $e ) {

			$mail_error_data                             = compact( 'to', 'subject', 'message', 'headers', 'attachments' );
			$mail_error_data['phpmailer_exception_code'] = $e->getCode();

			/**
			 * Fires after a PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception is caught.
			 *
			 * @since 4.4.0
			 *
			 * @param WP_Error $error A WP_Error object with the PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception message, and an array
			 *                        containing the mail recipient, subject, message, headers, and attachments.
			 */
			do_action( 'wp_mail_failed', new WP_Error( 'wp_mail_failed', $e->getMessage(), $mail_error_data ) );

			return false;
		}
	}
endif;

From lines 321 you can see the from address set – wordpress@$sitename. There is a whole ticket discussion here

I need help getting this to work with Postfix as this what I partially have setup for Google G Suite and SMTP.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by willowen100.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by willowen100.