Email configuration
Whether mail from the site actually reaches an inbox: a real test email sent through its configured mailer, checked for SPF, DKIM and DMARC, a personal mailbox as the sender, and how long it took to arrive.
12 checks in this group.
Sent is not the same as arrived
Joomla and WordPress will both tell you a message was sent when all that happened is the web server accepted it. Whether it then reached anyone’s inbox is a separate question, and it is the one these checks answer. At the start of every audit, the site sends a short email through its own configured mail settings, the same path a contact form or a password reset uses, to mailer-test@mysites.guru. The first check is simply whether it arrived.
The other five read the email that did arrive. SPF, DKIM and DMARC say whether the sending domain vouches for the server that sent it, which is what Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook now look at before they accept mail. A message that passes neither SPF nor DKIM is rejected before it reaches us, so the first check fails too. The sender check flags a site sending as a personal mailbox, such as a Gmail or Outlook address, because those credentials sit in the site’s configuration and a hacked site gives them away. The last check times the delivery, with a warning once mail takes five minutes or more to arrive.
A site that never sends mail can skip the test with the per-site Skip the email test setting, on the Advanced tab of its Config. Sites on SiteGround servers are skipped, because SiteGround blocks the test email.
When you have just changed a site’s SMTP settings or moved it to a new host, you don’t have to wait for the next audit. Send a Test Email runs the same checks on up to 20 sites at once and shows each result as it comes in. If a site is sending mail it shouldn’t, the files that can send email check lists every Joomla file containing the word mail, which is where a hidden spam relay usually turns up.
Joomla
Joomla Global Email Configuration Should Work
Sends a test email through your configured mail settings and confirms it arrives, since silent failures mean lost password resets and form submissions.
Test Email Passes SPF
Checks the audit test email passed SPF, so receiving servers accept your site's server as allowed to send mail for your domain.
Test Email Passes DKIM
Checks the audit test email carried a valid DKIM signature, which proves the message was not altered and came from your domain.
Test Email Passes DMARC
Checks the audit test email passed DMARC, so your domain tells receivers what to do with mail that fails SPF and DKIM.
Test Email Not Sent From A Personal Mailbox
Checks the site does not send mail as a Gmail or similar personal mailbox, which exposes that account if the site is hacked.
Test Email Arrives Promptly
Checks the audit test email arrived within five minutes, since slow mail delays password resets and form submissions.
WordPress
WordPress Email Configuration Should Work
Sends a test email from your site and confirms it actually arrives, catching a broken mail setup before you notice password resets have stopped working.
Test Email Passes SPF
Checks the audit test email passed SPF, so receiving servers accept your site's server as allowed to send mail for your domain.
Test Email Passes DKIM
Checks the audit test email carried a valid DKIM signature, which proves the message was not altered and came from your domain.
Test Email Passes DMARC
Checks the audit test email passed DMARC, so your domain tells receivers what to do with mail that fails SPF and DKIM.
Test Email Not Sent From A Personal Mailbox
Checks the site does not send mail as a Gmail or similar personal mailbox, which exposes that account if the site is hacked.
Test Email Arrives Promptly
Checks the audit test email arrived within five minutes, since slow mail delays password resets and form submissions.
Find out which of these your sites fail
Connect a site and every check in this group runs against it automatically, with the result and the fix in one place. These run as part of the full audit, which most sites schedule weekly.
Run a free audit