General settings: Mail server

The Mail server tab of General settings sets the outgoing mail server the system uses to send e-mails such as password reset links, and the sender those e-mails come from. You can send a test e-mail to check the settings.

Until a server is saved here, the mail settings set when the system was installed are used. Only a super-admin can open this screen.

How to open this tab

1. From the side menu, open Settings, then click General settings.
2. Click the Mail server tab.

What’s on this screen

• Mail server: Sending method, then, for SMTP server, SMTP host, Port, Encryption, Username and Password.
• Sender: “The address and name e-mails come from.”, with From address and From name.
• Test e-mail: “Sends an e-mail with the saved settings. Save your changes first.”, with the Send to field and the Send test button.
• The save bar at the bottom (it stays visible while scrolling): one Save button for the whole tab, active only after you change something, with “You have unsaved changes.” and a Discard button that puts back the saved values.

How to set up the mail server

1. In Sending method, choose SMTP server.
2. Fill in SMTP host, Port and Encryption as given by your e-mail provider, and the Username and Password of the mailbox.
3. In Sender, fill in From address and, if you like, From name.
4. Click Save. The message “Settings saved.” appears.

How to send a test e-mail

1. Save your changes first: the test uses the saved settings.
2. In Send to, type an e-mail address.
3. Click Send test. The message “A test e-mail was sent to …” appears, or “The test e-mail could not be sent: …” followed by the server’s error.

Fields

• Sending method (required): SMTP server, or Log only (do not send), which writes e-mails to the log file instead of sending them (for testing). With Log only the server fields are hidden.
• SMTP host (required for SMTP): the server’s address, for example smtp.example.com.
• Port (required for SMTP): a number from 1 to 65535, usually 587 for TLS or 465 for SSL.
• Encryption (required): TLS (STARTTLS, usually port 587), SSL (usually port 465) or None.
• Username and Password: the mailbox account, if the server asks for one.
• From address (required for SMTP): a valid e-mail address.
• From name: up to 100 characters. When empty, the company name from the Branding & appearance tab is used.
• Send to: a valid e-mail address.

Note

The password is stored encrypted and is never shown again, not even to a super-admin. When a password is saved, the field is empty with the hint “A password is saved; leave empty to keep it.”: leave it empty to keep the saved password, or type a new one to replace it.