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WP-EMail

By Lester Chan

Communication & Messaging / Transactional Email

Reviewed by Abdul Hameid

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

WP-EMail Review - In-Depth Analysis

WP-EMail allows users to recommend or send blog posts to friends via email. It provides customizable settings for email delivery.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.77/10

User Rating

4.5/5 (based on 11+ reviews)

Active Installations

1,000+

Update Frequency

Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

4 / 10 (Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

WP-EMail is a plugin that enables users to recommend or send your WordPress blog's posts and pages to friends through email. You can modify the settings under E-Mail Settings to choose how emails are sent.

To display the email link, you can add a specific code inside your theme's loop or use a shortcode to embed the link in selected posts or pages. This flexibility allows you to control where the email recommendation feature appears.

The plugin is open for development and contributions, and you can find its code on GitHub. Additionally, it supports translations to reach a wider audience. Donations are appreciated to support ongoing development and maintenance.

Comparing to Alternatives

WP-EMail is a well-regarded email plugin with several alternatives available that offer similar SMTP and email management features.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Highly flexible settings allowing customization to user preferences
Reliable and consistent email delivery performance
Regular updates and continuous support from the developer
Simple and user-friendly interface
Good overall user satisfaction with a high rating

Weaknesses

Has had multiple security vulnerabilities in the past, though fixed in recent versions
No pro version or premium features available
Security risk score is moderate, which may concern security-conscious users
Limited advanced features compared to some premium alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

Based on the 11 ratings with a strong majority of 4 and 5 star reviews, users generally express high satisfaction with WP-EMail's performance and support.

Positive highlights

"Awesome plugin! Works perfect, very flexible settings and can be customized to any liking." — bubencode
"Works like a charm. Thank you for this great plugin!" — mapdi
Users appreciate the continuous support and updates from the developer
The plugin is praised for its ease of use and reliability
High ratings indicate strong user trust and satisfaction

Common complaints

Weaknesses

Past security vulnerabilities may cause concern for some users
Lack of a paid version limits access to advanced features
Some users may desire more frequent feature enhancements

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a reliable and flexible free WordPress email plugin with good customization options and ongoing developer support will find WP-EMail suitable.

Not ideal for

Those requiring advanced premium features or who prioritize the highest security standards might prefer alternatives with active pro versions and stronger security track records.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers a robust set of features including flexible settings and reliable email delivery without any cost.

Final Verdict

WP-EMail stands out as a dependable and user-friendly email plugin with a strong positive reception from its user base. Its flexibility and continuous support make it a solid choice for many WordPress users seeking a free solution.

However, the plugin's history of security vulnerabilities and absence of a premium version may limit its appeal for users with advanced needs or heightened security concerns. Considering available alternatives might be beneficial for those users.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free WP-EMail plugin.

E-mail

Recommend

Screenshots

FAQ

Through wp_mail(), so it uses whatever WordPress itself is configured to use. The plugin dropped its own SMTP settings in 2.68.0; if you need SMTP, install an SMTP plugin and WP-EMail will follow it.

Edit the E-Mail Link Template under WP-Admin -> E-Mail -> Settings. It is the whole of the link’s markup, and it ships as:

<a href="%EMAIL_URL%" data-wp-email-popup="%EMAIL_POPUP%" title="Email This %POST_TYPE%" rel="nofollow">%EMAIL_ICON% Email This %POST_TYPE%</a>

Four variables are available:

%EMAIL_URL% — the e-mail page or popup for this post
%EMAIL_POPUP% — 1 when the E-Mail Link Type is the popup, 0 otherwise; it belongs inside the data-wp-email-popup attribute
%EMAIL_ICON% — the envelope glyph, drawn inline
%POST_TYPE% — the singular name of what is being viewed: Post, Page, or a custom post type’s own label

Leave one out to drop it. A template without %EMAIL_ICON% is a text link; one holding nothing but %EMAIL_ICON% is an icon, and the anchor’s title is then what a screen reader announces. Restore Default Template puts the shipped markup back.

An unrecognised variable is left in the markup as written rather than blanked, so a typo shows up on the page instead of silently emptying the link.

Setting the third parameter of email_link() to false returns the link instead of echoing it:

$email_link = function_exists( 'email_link' ) ? email_link( '', '', false ) : '';  echo $email_link;

The first two parameters are still accepted so that a theme written before 3.0.0 does not fatal, but they no longer do anything.

Insert this into your theme:

if ( function_exists( 'get_mostemailed' ) ) {     get_mostemailed( 'both', 10 ); }

The first parameter is what to list — post, page or both — and the second is how many.

get_emails() for everything sent, get_emails_success() for what went out successfully, get_emails_failed() for what did not, and get_email_count() for one post:

if ( function_exists( 'get_emails' ) ) {     get_emails(); }

Your site is behind a reverse proxy or CDN — Cloudflare, a load balancer, nginx in front of Apache — so the address PHP sees is the proxy’s, not the visitor’s. Because the interval between e-mails is keyed on that address, every visitor shares one interval and each of them is told to wait for somebody else’s send.

The real address is in a forwarded header, but WP-EMail ignores those by default: any client can send one with any value, so trusting them blindly lets a visitor forge an address and bypass the interval entirely. Opt in only if a proxy you control actually sets the header.

If you know which header it is, name it under WP-Admin -> E-Mail -> Settings in the Header That Contains The IP field — for example HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP for Cloudflare. That is the narrowest option, and the one to prefer.

To trust the usual set instead (X-Forwarded-For, CF-Connecting-IP and friends), add this to wp-config.php above the /* That's all, stop editing! */ line:

define( 'WP_EMAIL_TRUST_PROXY', true );

If you need to decide per request — say, only trust the header when the request arrives from your load balancer — use the filter instead:

add_filter( 'wp_email_trust_proxy', function () {     return isset( $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] ) && '10.0.0.1' === $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']; } );

With none of the three set, the plugin uses REMOTE_ADDR — correct on a plain host, and the proxy’s address behind one.

Add this to your wp-config.php:

define( 'WP_EMAIL_SHOW_REMARKS', false );

The constant was called EMAIL_SHOW_REMARKS before 3.0.0. The plugin only defines it if you have not, so your setting survives upgrades.

Wrap it:

[donotemail]Text within this tag will not be displayed when emailed[/donotemail]

The text inside will not appear in the message, but it will still show on the post or page as normal. Note that if you also run WP-Print, text inside [donotemail] will not be printed either.