wiki/knowledge/wordpress/gravity-forms-smtp-configuration.md · 474 words · 2026-02-24
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.
- 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.