Quick heads-up about email delivery for the e-commerce sites. We need to make sure contact form emails and other notifications actually land in inboxes, not spam folders!

The Email Delivery Rundown

Basically, modern email servers are super strict about who sends what. When your web forms send an email, it has to come from an email address that your site's mail server is authorized to send from (like info@yourdomain.com).

The issue is that old setups often try to make the email look like it's "from" the customer directly (e.g., customer@their-email.com). When your server tries to send an email "from" someone else's address, it looks like spam and gets blocked.

The Fix: Two Simple Steps

Always Send From Your Domain: The email should always show as FROM: your-site@yourdomain.com.
Use "Reply-To" for the Customer: If you want to reply directly to the customer, put their email in the Reply-To field. That way, when you hit "reply," it goes to them.
Modern platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal already handle this correctly in their newer versions. We just need to ensure your custom code or older site setups follow this rule.

It's a small change that makes a huge difference in getting those important emails delivered! Let me know if you have any questions.

Can you help me on how I need to recode the smtp mailsend to make this happen please?

1. In the main settings of your admin ALWAYS use PHP mailer
2. Ensure your domain name is validated by providing proof of ownership by adding DNS records
3. Add specific TXT or CNAME records *2

you need to set up three DNS records: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC



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Thanks Phil
But that doesn’t address the issue I’m trying to explain.

Sorry my short reply seems rude when I read it back and it was not my intention. Yes DMARC spf etc are important for email delivery the issue I’m trying to work around is specific to website generated email, not a generalised email delivery issue.
What I refer to is setting smtp mail send and configuring a mailbox for that send. So here is a scenario, fill in the web forms and enter the email address of the mailbox configured to send the mail and it will work every time, fill in the form with any other email address it fails.

I am not sure I follow the issue here.
My shopping cart sends emails from my domains as you suggest it should be in your original post.
Reply to is the customers email as you describe.
Are you saying yours does not do this?
Are you saying there is a problem with the shopping cart in regards to how it sends emails?

Thanks,
David

Yes Dave, im saying that with some hosts the way their outbound spam filtering is configured then mail will not send it will be rejected by the server. With Joomla and wordpress this has been addressed by a switch in the outbound email config settings that - in wp smtp for instant there is a switch to fix a from address to stop any forms from using an enquiyemail address and so failing the outbound mail filtering
Sorry if I am explain8ng th8ngs badly.

quote:

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Thanks Phil
But that doesn’t address the issue I’m trying to explain.

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Hi Richard,
No problem at all with this response, but I'm still not inderstanding your issue. If you use PHP Mailer outgoing emails are secure and authenticated and you also have the option to stipulate the from address.






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Am I making a basic misunderstanding? (serious question - im trying very hard to retire and there has been a liot of changes in the world since I started working with computers)

When a person fills ina webform controlled by this does it not set the reply address as the senders address? causing when set in debug mode the error that it fails to send email?

I have a email address for the the mailform to use - I can configure this email address in mail on my mac and it works perfectly

if I use any of the contact forms on the site they wont send unless I put the email address of the mailbox I have configured as the reply address it then goes fine - if I put something like email@hotmail.com it fails - so i have just sent to php mailer which is hit and miss
I speak with the onsite team at the datacenter who tell me that the outbound mail servers are very rigid on the compliance and many webforms fail because they are placing the reply address aas the senders address on the mail package and its failing delivery by the smtp servers and tell me the form needs re writing.

Now there are two possibilities here - 1 they are right or 2 they are wrong and just fobbing me off with a stock answer - so I get onto the ai lanhguage models and ask they tell me all about wp smtp and joomla for setting a fixed email address on their online forms.

So my concern is that it may have been missed with ect..

If it hasnbt then I appologise and would welcome some help getting the email configured so it works as I am struggling to get the smtp mailsend to work on a site that was updated a few days ago - sand the customer is giving me hell as the customers some are getting their aknowledgements others not and its all very patchy

Help!!

and sorry if I have confised things or not explained things or accidentally offended anyone when short answering on my ipad not sat at a computer

Have you tried using the ECT built in contact form? This form uses the email settings that are set in your admin.

https://www.bettapages.com/contact.php



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it is the ecommerce templates contact form I am refering to

its also the order acknowledgments, notify when back in stock etc etc etc everything triggered by the shopping cart

I have spent the last 2 hours putting in
10 checking the mailbox works without issue on my computer mail app my phone and also webmail - it works no problem
I have put in and deleted several times the details to the email form settings in main settings / email settings
I can not get the form to work unless it is set to default php mail function and this is patchy it delives to some peoplke confirmations but not to the majority - the mail just isnt delivered

If I add $debugmode - true

i get a couple of issues ....

1) I see an error on the main settings page in the admin
2) when sending a form I get an error
6-18 13:08:03 SERVER -> CLIENT: 220 mail.extendcp.co.uk ESMTP extendcp.co.uk<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 CLIENT -> SERVER: EHLO www.baby-barn.co.uk<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250-mail.extendcp.co.uk250-PIPELINING250-SIZE 73400320250-ETRN250-STARTTLS250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES250-8BITMIME250-DSN250-SMTPUTF8250 CHUNKING<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 CLIENT -> SERVER: STARTTLS<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 SERVER -> CLIENT: 220 2.0.0 Ready to start TLS<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 CLIENT -> SERVER: EHLO www.baby-barn.co.uk<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250-mail.extendcp.co.uk250-PIPELINING250-SIZE 73400320250-ETRN250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES250-8BITMIME250-DSN250-SMTPUTF8250 CHUNKING<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 CLIENT -> SERVER: AUTH LOGIN<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 SERVER -> CLIENT: 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 CLIENT -> SERVER: [credentials hidden]<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 SERVER -> CLIENT: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:03 CLIENT -> SERVER: [credentials hidden]<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 SERVER -> CLIENT: 235 2.7.0 Authentication successful<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 CLIENT -> SERVER: MAIL FROM:<richard@webspaceunlimited.co.uk><br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250 2.1.0 Ok<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 CLIENT -> SERVER: RCPT TO:<richard@webspaceunlimited.co.uk><br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 SERVER -> CLIENT: 553 5.7.1 <richard@webspaceunlimited.co.uk>: Sender address rejected: not owned by user noreply@baby-barn.co.uk<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 SMTP ERROR: RCPT TO command failed: 553 5.7.1 <richard@webspaceunlimited.co.uk>: Sender address rejected: not owned by user noreply@baby-barn.co.uk<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 CLIENT -> SERVER: QUIT<br>
2025-06-18 13:08:04 SERVER -> CLIENT: 221 2.0.0 Bye<br>
SMTP Error: The following recipients failed: richard@webspaceunlimited.co.uk: <richard@webspaceunlimited.co.uk>: Sender address rejected: not owned by user noreply@baby-barn


It was me interpreting this error that precipitated this post - so... help would be appreciated please as I cant leave the site set to default php mail as its not reliably delivering everything

now by setting the email address the form sends to as the no reply mailbox it works! but we dont want the mail to go to that mailbox we need it to go to a different mailbox
hence the nominating a different email address to the one configured to sending the form and the point I was trying to raise at the start of this :)

so the answer is the email address needed for the mail on the site HAS to be the same as the one the form uses and cant nominate a different mailbox which was the point I was trying to make right at the outset