One of the limitations of Weblogs.us is that we don’t run an SMTP server. This means that by default, WordPress blog notifications (such as comment notification, or password reset) are NOT sent out. The reason that emails don’t get sent out is because WordPress defaults to using the php mail() function, and since we don’t have an SMTP server, the mail() function doesn’t do anything.
However, there is an easy work around! This awesome plugin: WP Mail SMTP (link #2). The plugin lets you use any SMTP server (including GMail). Once you have the plugin installed and configured, you will then be able to receive notifications from your blog. Yay!
Email can definitely compliment your blogging as WordPress makes effective use of email for notifications, password reset requests, as well as for plugins. Picking reliable email hosting is an essential decision and we’re happy to help if you have any questions or comments.
PS also make sure that in your wp-admin Dashboard that your Settings/General options has the correct email address specified, and that your Users/Authors & Users username has the correct email address set. Otherwise, if those email addresses aren’t set correctly, the notifications won’t be sent to the correct email address…
PSS There are two primary reasons we don’t run an SMTP server ourselves:
- spam – we don’t want our service to be used to send out unsolicited email
- security – we aren’t experts at SMTP server configuration and maintenance