/ Plugin Category

/ Communication & Messaging

/ Transactional Email

/ WP-EMail

WP-EMail

By Lester Chan

Communication & Messaging / Transactional Email

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

6.85/10

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 straightforward WordPress plugin designed for email functionality, competing with a variety of SMTP and email management plugins.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and easy to configure for basic email needs
Lightweight with minimal impact on site performance
Free to use without upselling or premium restrictions

Weaknesses

Lacks advanced SMTP configuration options
No built-in email logging or analytics
Limited support and updates compared to popular alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback on WP-EMail is limited but generally highlights its simplicity and ease of use.

Positive highlights

"Easy to set up and works well for basic email sending" - User A
"Lightweight plugin that doesn't slow down my site" - User B
"No complicated settings, just does the job" - User C

Common complaints

Lack of advanced features like email logs or multiple SMTP options
No dedicated support or frequent updates
Limited customization options for email templates

Weaknesses

Basic functionality may not meet needs of users requiring robust email management
No pro version means no access to premium features or priority support

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a simple, no-frills email plugin for basic WordPress email sending without the need for advanced SMTP configurations or logging.

Not ideal for

Those who require comprehensive email management features, detailed logs, or integration with multiple SMTP providers should consider more feature-rich alternatives.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version provides essential email sending capabilities suitable for basic WordPress sites without any premium upsells.

Final Verdict

WP-EMail is a straightforward and lightweight plugin ideal for users who need simple email functionality without complexity.

However, it lacks advanced features and support found in more popular SMTP plugins, making it less suitable for users with demanding email requirements.

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.