Gravity Forms & SMTP Configuration
Overview
WordPress sites frequently fail to deliver form notification emails because WordPress sends email natively via PHP — a method that is unreliable and commonly blocked by hosting environments. Resolving this requires two independent fixes: configuring a proper SMTP connection for outbound email, and ensuring the form plugin itself is set up correctly. Gravity Forms is the preferred form plugin at Asymmetric; WP Forms should be replaced when encountered.
The Core Problem
WordPress's default email mechanism uses PHP's mail() function. Most modern hosting environments either block or deprioritize PHP-originated email, meaning:
- Admin notification emails from forms silently fail to deliver
- There is no obvious error in the WordPress admin
- The problem can appear to be a form plugin issue when it is actually a mail delivery issue
"Email goes out of WordPress natively using PHP, and they almost never work."
— Mark Hope, 2026-02-24 weekly call
Recommended Stack
| Layer | Tool | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Form plugin | Gravity Forms | Preferred over WP Forms, Contact Form 7, etc. |
| Email delivery | SMTP plugin (e.g., WP Mail SMTP) | Required for reliable delivery |
| SMTP provider | Transactional email service | e.g., SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark |
Troubleshooting Workflow
When a client reports that form submissions are not generating admin notifications:
- Check the SMTP configuration first. The form plugin is rarely the root cause. If SMTP is not configured, no form plugin will reliably send email.
- Verify the form plugin. If WP Forms is in use, replace it with Gravity Forms. WP Forms has shown recurring notification delivery issues on client sites.
- Test end-to-end. After configuring SMTP, submit a test form entry and confirm the admin notification arrives. Check spam folders.
- Check Gravity Forms notification settings. Confirm the "To" address, subject, and "From" address are correctly set. The "From" address should match the sending domain authenticated in SMTP.
Why Gravity Forms Over WP Forms
- Gravity Forms has a more robust notification and conditional logic system
- It is the established standard in Asymmetric's WordPress workflow
- WP Forms has been observed switching away from Gravity Forms on client sites and then failing — suggesting the migration was attempted as a workaround rather than a fix
Client Example
On the [1] site, WP Forms was failing to send admin notifications. Investigation revealed the site had previously used Gravity Forms before being switched to WP Forms — likely in an attempt to resolve the same underlying issue. The correct resolution was to:
- Revert to Gravity Forms (handled by Sebastian / Eshock)
- Fix the SMTP configuration (handled by Mark)
See: [2] for original discussion.
Related
- [3]
- [4]