Wordpress Email Advice

[alastairb]

Hi Folks,

I'm looking into a request from a client - they would like a way to provide a page on their website allowing a user to fill in a form, that will then send an email to a pre-configured destination - someone unrelated to the site though, e.g. their local MP. The email would contain the name and email address of the sender, and it could also include the details of my client.

The site is Wordpress based, and they currently use Mailchimp for email marketing. I'm wondering if I can just add an Elementor form and configure it to use Mailchimp ....

However, the main thing is that the emails have a high certainty of getting delivered and not ending up being filtered as spam. So I suppose I'm looking for some recommendations on plugins / email services that might help achieve this - anything relevant would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Alastair

 

[fisicx]

Most Wordpress contact form plugins let you configure the recipient. Certainty of delivery depends on your hosting not the plugin.

Or you could get something custom built. Won’t be expensive, I create custom forms for loads of clients and only takes a couple of hours. Most Wordpress developers will be able to help you with this.

Don’t use elementor for anything. A truly horrible plugin.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

There are several form plugins that I am sure does this e.g. WP Forms, Contact 7 etc.

The delivery issue is a different thing and will depend on how you send them (server, your email provider, third party service), who sends them, the setup (SPF, DKIM etc) and the wording of the email.

 

[alastairb]

Thanks for the replies!

From what the client has said so far, their hosting service sounds like it might not be up to the job - so a 3rd party service might be what is needed - I saw that SendGrid provides a free service level which might suffice for now, depending on the setup of it (not sure if it allows us to change the sender email address, or if its fixed).

fisicx - interesting comment about Elementor - I've been using it casually for a while now and find it OK, saves me a lot of time from creating themes by hand (which takes me ages). Any particular points you don't like, and alternatives you prefer??

 

[TargetICT]

For email deliverability
Zoho or Google workspace for the mails with a plugin like GoSMTP to send mail through those providers.
Like was mentioned before, make sure SPF, DKIM and Dmarc are configured correctly

 

[alastairb]

I know that the client is in the process of moving to Microsoft 365 for all of their company emails and data ... so I don't know if this means they cannot use the likes of Zoho or Google workspace?

 

[zigojacko]

so I don't know if this means they cannot use the likes of Zoho or Google workspace?

365 will offer them the same capabilities but just on Microsoft's servers.

 

[alastairb]

Ah! Perfect .. that might be the solution I need - excellent ?

 

[TargetICT]

Yes 365 (Outlook) would be the same thing

 

[alastairb]

Just had a quick look at setting this up ... one small detail I'm wondering about - can it be set up so that the email appears to be from the user filling in the form, not from the company domain? This would be the key thing we'd need to implement.

 

[zigojacko]

Just had a quick look at setting this up ... one small detail I'm wondering about - can it be set up so that the email appears to be from the user filling in the form, not from the company domain? This would be the key thing we'd need to implement.

Yes you can but that will largely affect email deliverability because the sender address domain will not be in the safe senders list or specified in the SPF record.

You would be better off to send the email from the website where the contact form is hosted and set the reply-to address to that of the form submitters specified email address.

 

[fisicx]

Just had a quick look at setting this up ... one small detail I'm wondering about - can it be set up so that the email appears to be from the user filling in the form, not from the company domain? This would be the key thing we'd need to implement.

Fraught with problems. Better to send from a domain email address and use the client as the Reply To (as @zigojacko also said. I need to type faster).

fisicx - interesting comment about Elementor - I've been using it casually for a while now and find it OK, saves me a lot of time from creating themes by hand (which takes me ages). Any particular points you don't like, and alternatives you prefer??

Clunky and slow (will affect performance which will affect ranking). It's also poorly resonsive which means the UI/UX on a phone is naff. And Google measures everything from the point of view of a mobile phone user.

 

[alastairb]

Thanks guys - really helpful replies, I think this is a lot clearer now, and we can now plan the way forward.

Thanks very much!

fisicx - will bear that in mind for Elementor, out of interest, what tools do you prefer? Writing your own themes, or using the wordpress blocks?

 

[zigojacko]

or using the wordpress blocks?

The Gutenberg blocks in WordPress are the worst introduction of anything on the web literally in the history of it. They are riddled with limitations and are just generally an absolute massive time waster.

If you can't tell. I hate them. As do almost every tech-savvy / developer I have spoken to.

 

[alastairb]

The Gutenberg blocks in WordPress are the worst introduction of anything on the web literally in the history of it. They are riddled with limitations and are just generally an absolute massive time waster.

If you can't tell. I hate them. As do almost every tech-savvy / developer I have spoken to.

I've not played with them much, but I tend to agree from what I've seen ...

 

[fisicx]

fisicx - will bear that in mind for Elementor, out of interest, what tools do you prefer? Writing your own themes, or using the wordpress blocks?

I build my own themes. No need for plugins or blocks.

Once you have a core theme sorted you can do just about anything.

The simpler you make a site the better it it is for everybody - visitors, Google and your clients.

 

[WESH.UK]

I'm looking into a request from a client - they would like a way to provide a page on their website allowing a user to fill in a form, that will then send an email to a pre-configured destination - someone unrelated to the site though, e.g. their local MP. The email would contain the name and email address of the sender, and it could also include the details of my client.

Hi Alastair

If you do decide to go ahead with this, it's worth being mindful that this is a risky practice and can get your client's hosting account and the server/IP it's on, blacklisted.

They would essentially be allowing complete strangers to send emails to complete strangers, with your client accepting the liability for its use, abuse and all/any spam too.

Should the third party decide they dont want to get 100 replies a day and decide to start reporting the emails as spam, your client will be the one who suffers, and likely gets shut down with a bill for the blacklisting too.

If your hosting company does allow this, then be very wary of what else they allow that can encourage spam and dodgy practices.

What we would advise any client asking this would be, if you absolutely must let the forms get submitted, let them sit on hold, in a queue, so that they do not get sent onward without being manually checked and approved for abuse and spam.

It's just a bad idea to do this anyway because you are essentially creating an open mail relay of sorts that requires zero authentication.

Spammers will write all sorts of malicious garbage in those forms, and find ways to submit thousands of them with swearing and obscenities, links and more in them, too, so to prevent a poop-storm, never let them be sent on automatically.

You might want to only allow access to the form to select people and password-protect the page or form so that it's not even viewable by those who don't even need to access it, such as users in other countries. Very easy to set up a form that has its access controlled by country too, and prevents multiple submissions per-IP-address.

Either way, it's got a lot of potential headaches for you and your client. Work with your hosting company to avoid any potential exposure of their network to undue risks.

Good luck mate...

 

[alastairb]

This is really useful advice ... it's always good to hear that a solution is possible, but then there is the practical side of it, and the implications of putting it in place. I'd been thinking a bit about this myself, and now you mention it, it is pretty obvious that there are some problems with what it being suggested. I'm going to pass all of this back to the client to see what they think - it could be that we just put in place something a bit more watered down, where we provide details of a contact that people could use if they want to, and avoid the use of a form altogether.

Thanks very much for the detailed answer, really helpful.

 

[WESH.UK]

Very welcome and happy to help.

 

[RedRoot]

Hi Folks,

I'm looking into a request from a client - they would like a way to provide a page on their website allowing a user to fill in a form, that will then send an email to a pre-configured destination - someone unrelated to the site though, e.g. their local MP. The email would contain the name and email address of the sender, and it could also include the details of my client.

The site is Wordpress based, and they currently use Mailchimp for email marketing. I'm wondering if I can just add an Elementor form and configure it to use Mailchimp ....

However, the main thing is that the emails have a high certainty of getting delivered and not ending up being filtered as spam. So I suppose I'm looking for some recommendations on plugins / email services that might help achieve this - anything relevant would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Alastair

Hi Alistair,

There is actually a plugin for Mail Chimp specifically, I cannot post the URL to it however the official Word Press plug in is called mailchimp-for-woocommerce

I cannot say how good it is as I have never used it.

I specifically use Contact Form 7, its free, you can create multiple forms which can all be configured to email different addresses.

 

[Daybooks]

Apologies for being late to this thread. The sending of unsolicited email would in my view contravene the spirit ( at least ) of GDPR rules.

UK GDPR guidance and resources

ico.org.uk

Be sure to report them.

 

[manojspsmobile]

Google workspace is best solution for email I am using it from long time

 

[fisicx]

Google workspace is best solution for email I am using it from long time

How do you integrate this into a Wordpress site?

 

[manojspsmobile]

With the help of WP Mail SMTP plugin

 

[fisicx]

With the help of WP Mail SMTP plugin

That doesn’t answer the original question.

 

[catshill]

The Gutenberg blocks in WordPress are the worst introduction of anything on the web literally in the history of it. They are riddled with limitations and are just generally an absolute massive time waster.

If you can't tell. I hate them. As do almost every tech-savvy / developer I have spoken to.

Actually I’ve moved away from pre Gutenberg sites and now build sites with the block builder. It’s a different mindset but I believe now is the time to move in that direction.

 

[Hooble]

I know that the client is in the process of moving to Microsoft 365 for all of their company emails and data ... so I don't know if this means they cannot use the likes of Zoho or Google workspace?

Microsoft have removed the ability to authenticate with username and password, but you may be able to find a plugin that lets you use oauth to send as a mailbox in the 365 environment, all else use another outbound gateway and ensure they are in the DKIM, SPF and add a DMARC too for good measure.