TROUBLE SHOOTING EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS FROM DRUPAL

Email is a fantastic tool, but can be very unreliable at times. If your Drupal website uses web forms you probably use email to notify you when a form on your site has been submitted. You might find that you’re not receiving those emails for one reason or another, so here is a few troubleshooting tips to try when that happens.

1. Check your spam/junk box.
2. If the emails are being delivered to your junk box, try marking them as “not spam” if your email client allows. You may also try creating a rule to have the messages sent to a specific folder.
3. If the emails are not being delivered:
   • Check the email addresses on the forms for accuracy. Be sure to check spelling carefully.
   • If you have recently gone live with a new site, check with your IT department to see if there are white/black lists or filters/firewalls that need to be configured.
   • Consider creating an account with Mandrill (www.mandrill.com) or SendGrid (www.sendgrid.com). These are companies that provide SMTP services.
   • Mandrill and SendGrid provide several different levels of service and range from Free to $395.95 per month. We have found that the Free account with Mandrill has been sufficient for the majority of our clients.
   • Mandrill will also allow you to add a dedicated IP address for $29.95 per month.
   • If you have your own SMTP server, the site can be configured to use that as well. Your IT department will likely have to make some firewall adjustments to allow the site to access the server.
   • Once you have a new SMTP server set up, there is some configuration required on the site. This is usually something that your web developer can help you with.
4. In the meantime, you can always track your form submissions via the website administrative interface. Just log into the site, navigate to the form in question, and click the tab titled “Results.” By doing so, you can ensure that you are not missing any submissions during the troubleshooting process.
5. It is recommended that you check the results tab on your forms on a regular basis; to be sure you never miss a submission.