Category Archives: Tutorials

How to Fix WordPress Not Sending Email Issue

how to send email in wordpress using gmail smtp server, Tutorials, use gmail for wordpress emails, wordpress email, wordpress not sending email

One of the most commonly asked questions on WPBeginner is how to fix WordPress not sending email problem. Many of our beginner level users ask us why their contact form plugin is not sending emails, or why they are not seeing any WordPress notifications. In this article, we will show you how to fix WordPress not sending email issue.

Why You Are Not Getting Emails from Your WordPress Site

The most common reason for this is that your WordPress hosting server is not configured to use PHP mail() function.

Even if they would allow it to work, many email service providers use a variety of tools to reduce email spam. These tools often try to detect that an email is originating from the location it claims to be originating from, and often emails sent by WordPress websites fail this test.

In such cases, when an email is sent out from your WordPress site, it never even makes into spam folder of the destination. This is why we recommend not using WordPress to send your email newsletter.

This is also the reason why that we recommend using SMTP to send emails in WordPress. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the industry standard for sending emails. Unlike PHP mail function, SMTP uses proper authentication which increases email deliverability.

There are many different SMTP services available, but in this article we will show only two that we recommend: MailGun and Gmail.

Sending Your WordPress Emails Using Mailgun

Mailgun is a popular email service provider. They allow website owners to send large amounts of emails with high deliverability.

As a dedicated email service provider, they spend a lot of money and time on making sure that your email reaches its destination.

While Mailgun is a paid service, it offers first 10,000 emails for free every month. That’s more than enough for most folks who just started their blog or website.

Here is how to setup your WordPress site to use Mailgun for sending emails.

First you need to signup on the Mailgun website. After signing up, you need to click on the “Add your domain” button.

Add your domain to Mailgun

You will now see an add domain page. Here you need to add a subdomain on your WordPress website’s domain name. For example, mail1.yourdomain.com.

You can create a new subdomain on your existing domain name by following the instructions below.

First, you need to visit the cPanel dashboard of your hosting account. Next, click on the subdomains icon under the domains section.

cPanel subdomains

On the next page, you need to enter your subdomain and then select your root domain from the drop down menu.

Enter your subdomain

After that click on the create button, and you will see a success message that your subdomain has been created.

You can now add this subdomain on Mailgun’s add domain page. After you add the domain, Mailgun will show you a few DNS records.

Mailgun DNS records

Switch back to your cPanel dashboard and then click on ‘Advanced DNS Zone Editor’.

DNS zone editor

You will be asked to select the domain for which you want to change the DNS records. Once you select your root domain name, you will see options to add new DNS records.

The first TXT entry will be your subdomain. You need to start by entering the subdomain in the Name field and then select TXT as record type. After that you need to add 14400 in TTL field and copy the value shown on Mailgun domain verification settings page into TXT Data field.

Adding DNS TXT record

Repeat the process to add the other TXT record.

Once you are done, switch back to the cPanel dashboard and click on the MX Entry icon.

MX Entry icon in cPanel

You will be asked to select your root domain, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There you will see the option to add a new MX Entry.

Enter the priority and destination values and click on create new record button.

You have successfully added your domain to Mailgun. It will need to verify that your domain has proper DNS records. This may take a while because DNS records may take sometime to update.

You can check the status of your domain verification by visiting the Domains page in your Mailgun account.

Mailgun will show active status next to your domain name once it can verify the DNS changes you made.

Mailgun active domains

Once your domain is active, you can setup your WordPress site to start using Mailgun for sending emails.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » WP Mail SMTP to configure plugin settings. First you need to provide your sender email address and the name you want to use for the sender.

WP Mail SMTP settings

Next, you need to select Mailgun as your mailer and check the box next to set the return path to match the from email address.

Select Mailgun as your mailer

Lastly, you need to provide your Mailgun private API key and the mailgun sub-domain. Click on the links below each field to get this information from your Mailgun account.

API key and domain name

Don’t forget to click on save settings button to store your changes.

That’s all, you have successfully setup your WordPress site to send emails using Mailgun.

You can now click on the ‘Email Test’ tab on plugin’s settings page to send a test email and see if everything is working fine.

Email test

Sending WordPress Emails Using Gmail SMTP Servers

Another alternative is to send your WordPress emails is using Gmail SMTP servers. You can use any regular Gmail account with this method to send out your emails. However, your email deliverability will be much better if you are using Google Apps for Work with your custom email address. See our guide on how to setup a professional email address with Google Apps and Gmail.

Whether you use paid or free Gmail address, rest of the instructions are the same.

First, you will need to install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » WP Mail SMTP page to configure plugin settings. First you need to provide your gmail address in the ‘From Email’ field and the name you want to display as sender.

WP Mail SMTP settings for Gmail

Next, you need to scroll down to the mailer option. There are two ways you can use Gmail servers to send WordPress emails.

First, method is to use Gmail APIs to send emails. This method is recommended because it is more secure and reliable. Second method is to use your Gmail account’s SMTP server manually.

We will show you both methods, however we recommend that you use the first method.

Method 1: Setting up Gmail to Send WordPress Emails Using OAuth Protocol

First, you need to select Gmail as your mailer under WP Mail SMTP settings page. Check the box next to set the return path to be the same as sender, not checking this box will make bounced and failed messages to be lost forever.

Select Gmail as Mailer

Next, you will see the option to enter your Client ID, Client Secret, and a URL in ‘Authorized redirect URI’ field.

Creating an App and Generate API Keys for Gmail

To use Gmail’s APIs for sending WordPress emails, you need to create an app and generate an API key. To do that, visit the Google Developers Console website and create a new project.

Create Google Developer Console project

If you don’t see the blue button to create a project, then you can also click on ‘Select a project’ drop down and create a new project.

You’ll be asked to provide a name for your project. Give it a meaningful name so that next time you are here, you can easily recognize it.

Name your project

Click on the create button to continue.

Developer console will now create your project and take you to its dashboard. Google allow developers to access many of their APIs and services. Now that your project is setup, you need to enable the APIs that you will be needing.

Enable APIs

Click on Enable APIs and services button to continue.

This will bring you to the APIs library page. Type Gmail in the search box to quickly find Gmail API and click to select it.

Select Gmail API

You will now see an overview of the API and what it can do. Simply click on the ‘Enable’ button to continue.

Enable Gmail API

Now that your API is enabled, the next step is to create credentials that you can use in your WP Mail SMTP plugin settings.

Click on the create credentials button to continue.

Create credentials

On the next screen, you will need to select ‘Web browser JavaScript’ in ‘Where you’ll be calling the API from’ field. After that click on the ‘User Data’ option.

To continue, click on the ‘What credentials do I need?’ button.

You will now be asked to provide a name for your OAuth client name. You can enter ‘WP Mail SMTP’ here.

Step 2 of API credentials

Under JavaScript origins field, add your website’s domain name. Next, you need to copy and paste the authorized redirect URL from WP Mail SMTP plugin settings.

Click on ‘Create client ID’ button to continue.

Next, you need to enter a name for OAuth consent screen. You can put the plugin’s name here.

API credentials step 3

Click on the continue button and developer console will show your client ID. You can copy it and paste it in WP Mail SMTP plugin’s settings page. However, you will still need client secret key.

Getting client ID

Click on the Done button to move on.

You will now be taken to your project’s credentials page. You will see your recently created credentials listed there. Click on the edit button next to your credentials.

Edit credentials

This will bring you to edit credentials page where you will be able to see your client secret key. You need to copy and paste the key in your plugin’s settings page.

Client secret key

Return back to plugin’s settings page in your WordPress admin area. Now that you have both client ID and client secret keys, you need to click on the save settings button to continue.

Save Api keys

The plugin will now store your settings and reload the page. After that you need to scroll down to the bottom of the settings page and click on the ‘Allow plugin to send emails using your Google account’ button.

Allow plugin to connect

This will take you to your account on Google and you will be asked to give the website permission to send emails on your behalf.

Allow WP Mail SMTP to send emails

After that you will be redirected back to your website where you will see a success message.

You have successfully set up WordPress to use Gmail SMTP servers for sending emails using the OAuth protocol. You can now click on the ‘Email Test’ tab on plugin’s settings page to send a test email and see if everything is working fine.

Email test

Method 2: Setting Gmail to Send WordPress Emails Using SMTP

This method allows WP Mail SMTP to manually connect to Gmail’s SMTP servers for sending WordPress emails.

First, you need to visit Settings &raquo WP Mail SMTP page to configure the plugin settings.

Provide the Gmail address you want to use as From email field and your name as from name field.

Gmail SMTP

Select ‘Other SMTP’ as your mailer and check the box next to return path.

Scroll down to Other SMTP section to configure more settings.

Gmail SMTP settings for WP Mail SMTP

Here is how to fill out the plugin settings:

  • SMTP Host: smtp.gmail.com
  • SMTP Port: 465
  • Encryption: Use SSL encryption
  • Authentication: Turn on authentication
  • Username: Your complete Gmail address, e.g. [email protected] or [email protected]
  • Password: Password of your Gmail account

Click on the save changes button to store your settings.

That’s all, you have successfully setup WP Mail SMTP to use Gmail SMTP servers.

You can now click on the ‘Email Test’ tab on plugin’s settings page to send a test email and see if everything is working fine.

Email test

We hope this article helped you learn how to fix WordPress not sending email issue, You may also want to see our list of the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Fix WordPress Not Sending Email Issue appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Choose the Best WooCommerce Hosting Company?

Tutorials

Are you looking for the best WooCommerce hosting to create your online store? Choosing the best hosting provider is one of the most important decision you’ll make for your eCommerce business.

A typical shared hosting provider may not always be a good choice for WooCommerce. That’s because you will need more resources, SSL certificate, and WooCommerce-centric support platform. In this guide, we will help you choose the best WooCommerce hosting for your online store.

At WPBeginner, we have helped more than 100,000+ users start their websites. As the largest unofficial WordPress resource site and years of experience with hosting services, we know the importance of choosing the best WooCommerce hosting for an eCommerce startup. Our goal is to offer insights on things you need to consider when choosing a WooCommerce hosting company.

To make the process easier, we have created the ultimate guide on how to choose the best WooCommerce hosting company.

The post How to Choose the Best WooCommerce Hosting Company? appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Manage WordPress Comment Notification Emails

Tutorials, wordpress comment email notifications, wordpress comment notifications, wordpress comments, wordpress email notifications

Do you want to improve your WordPress comment notification emails? Comments drive discussion and user engagement on many blogs. However, WordPress doesn’t do such a great job when it comes to notifying users about comment activity. In this article, we will show you how to better manage WordPress comment notification emails and boost user activity on your website.

How to manage WordPress comment notifications

Why Improve WordPress Comment Notification Emails

Comments are an important activity on many WordPress websites, particularly news sites and blogs. More comments mean a more engaged audience which results in more page views and ultimately more revenue.

However, default WordPress comment system is fairly limited. It sends comment notifications only to site administrators and article authors. Apart from that, there isn’t a default option for other users to be notified of new comments.

Wouldn’t it be nice if users were able to get comment notifications for the posts they like? or when someone replies to their comment?

In this article, we will show you how you can extend the default WordPress comment notification emails for a more engaged user experience on your website.

The Default Comment Notification Options in WordPress

By default, WordPress does not have an option to send notifications to commenters. However, it does have an option to send email notifications to you when a new comment is published and when a comment is held for moderation.

Default WordPress comment email notifications

Both these notifications are sent to the site administrators. WordPress also sends an email notification to post author about new comments.

If you don’t want to receive notifications for comments held for moderation, then you can simply uncheck the box here. This is particularly helpful if you get a lot of comments on your website.

Let Users Know When Their Comment is Approved

Users have no idea whether you approved their comment or not. They do see that their comment is awaiting moderation when they leave a comment. Many of these users never return to your website, and they don’t even know that you approved their comment or replied to it.

You can fix this by installing and activating Comment Approved plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Comment Approved allow users to be notified when their comment is approved. Users can check the option when leaving a comment. You can also customize the email message sent to users after their comment is approved.

Comment Approved settings

For detailed instructions, see our article on how to notify users when their comment is approved in WordPress.

Allow Users to Subscribe to Comments in WordPress

Your commenters have no way of knowing whether you or others replied to their comment. Once they leave a comment, they will have to manually visit your website again to see if someone replied.

To solve this, you need to install and activate Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

It allows your users to subscribe to comments on any article with or without leaving comments. It also makes it easier for users to unsubscribe at any time.

Subscribe to Comments Reloaded settings

For detailed step by step instructions, see our article on how to allow users to subscribe to comments in WordPress.

Allow Users to Subscribe to Only their own Comments in WordPress

Many users may not want to receive notifications for all comments on an article. However, they may want to know if someone replied only to their own comments.

You can add this feature as well using the same Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin. Simply visit the plugin’s settings page and click on yes next to ‘Advanced Subscription’ option.

Subscribe to Comments Reloaded settings

For more details, see our article on how to notify users on replies to their own comments in WordPress.

Allow Authors to Subscribe To Other Author’s Posts

If you run a multi-author blog, then other authors may want to keep up with discussions across your website. If you already have comment subscriptions enabled, then each author can manually go and subscribe to comments.

However, if you wanted certain users to recieve all comment notifications, then you can do this with cbnet Multi Author Comment Notification plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After installing and activating the plugin, you need to visit Settings » Discussion page to configure plugin settings.

Multi author comment notification settings

It allows you to select the user roles that you want to be notified of new comments. You can also add email addresses of individual users you want to notify.

This is particularly useful if you have registered users who are responsible for comment engagement and moderation.

Creating Custom Comment Notification in WordPress

Want to create your own custom comment notifications in WordPress? Custom notifications can allow you to change the notification sent by WordPress and replace them with your own.

First you will need to install and activate the Better Notifications for WordPress plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Notifications » Add New page to create your custom comment notifications.

Add new custom notification

You can modify the new comment, comment awaiting moderation, and comment reply notifications. You can send notifications to any user role, individual users, or add email addresses manually.

It also allows you to completely customize the email sent by WordPress. You can use shortcodes inside the email text to add custom tags.

For more details see our article on how to add better custom notifications in WordPress.

Improve Deliverability of WordPress Email Notifications

All above tips will fail if your WordPress site fails to send email notifications, or if those emails are marked spam by email providers.

To fix WordPress email issues and improve email deliverability, you need to install and activate WP Mail SMTP plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, visit Settings » WP Mail SMTP page to configure plugin settings.

WP Mail SMTP settings

This plugin allows you to use SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to send emails. SMTP is a much better and reliable method than the default mail function used by WordPress.

It works with any email service that supports SMTP. This includes your free Gmail account as well as Gsuite or Google Apps for Work, Mailgun, and Sendgrid.

For details see our article on how to use SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

We hope this article helped you learn how to efficiently manage WordPress comment notifications for more user engagement and pageviews. You may also want to see our ultimate step by step guide on improving WordPress speed and performance for beginners.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Manage WordPress Comment Notification Emails appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Use SMTP Server to Send WordPress Emails

send wordpress emails using smtp server, Tutorials, wordpress email issues, wordpress not sending email, wordpress smtp email

Are you having trouble receiving or sending emails from your WordPress site? One solution for that is to use third party email services such as Mailgun. However, these services will cost you extra money. In this article, we will show you how to use a SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

Using SMTP Server to Send WordPress Emails

The Problem with WordPress Emails

WordPress uses mail function in PHP to send emails. Many shared hosting providers do not have this function configured properly, or they have disabled it entirely to avoid abuse. In either case, this causes your WordPress emails to not be delivered.

The alternative solution is to use a third party email service to send out your emails. You can use services like Mailgun, Google Apps for work, or Sendgrid.

You will have to pay for your account, and the cost will vary depending on how many users/accounts you add or the number of emails you send. See our tutorial on how to fix WordPress not sending email issue.

What if we told you that there is another option, and most likely you are already paying for it?

Using Email Accounts by Your Host

Most WordPress hosting providers offer email services for each domain you host with them. This means you can create email accounts with your own domain name like [email protected].

First you will need to create an email account. For the sake of this example, we will show you how to create an email account in cPanel. Your hosting service provider may use some other account management system, but the basic process is the same on most hosting services.

Log into your hosting account, and click on email accounts under the mail section.

Email accounts

This will show you a simple form where you need to fill out information required to create your email account.

Since we will be using this account to send WordPress emails, we recommend that you create an email account like [email protected]. Make sure to replace example.com with your own domain name.

Creating email account in cPanel

After creating your email account, you are now ready to use it in WordPress. But before you do that, you will need the following information from your hosting service provider.

  1. SMTP Host for your email address.
  2. SMTP Port for secure login.

You can check the support section on your host’s website for this information. Most likely there will be an article providing this information. If you don’t find it, then you should contact the hosting support to request this information.

Using Your Branded Email Address in WordPress

You will now need to install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » Email to configure the plugin settings.

WP-Mail-SMTP Settings

First you need to enter the email address you just created. After that you can add a from name, this will be used as the sender name.

If you do not add a from name, then the plugin will use the default WordPress.

Next, you need to choose the mailer. Go ahead and click on the ‘Other SMTP’ option to select it.

Choose Mailer

After that, you need to check the box next to ‘Return Path’ option. This option sets the return path to match the sender email address. If you leave it unchecked, bounced messages and non-delivery receipts will be lost.

Next, you need to set up SMTP options.

SMTP settings

First you need to enter your SMTP host and port. You can obtain this information from your hosting provider. Typically, SMTP host is mail.yourdomain.com (replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name). For SMTP Port 465 is commonly used.

Next, you need to choose encryption. Most WordPress hosting companies support SSL and TLS. We recommend using TLS option when available.

After that turn on the authentication toggle and provide your SMTP username and password. Normally, your email address is also your SMTP username.

Your password is stored as plain text, which is not safe. Don’t worry, we will show you how to make more secure later in this article.

Don’t forget to click on the save settings button to store your changes.

Testing Your SMTP Settings

Now that you have set up WP Mail SMTP to send emails, let’s test if everything is working fine. On the plugin’s settings page, click on the ‘Email Test’ tab.

Send test email

You need to provide an email address where you would like to receive test email. This could be any valid email address that you can access. After that click on the Send Email button to continue.

WP Mail SMTP will now send an email message using the SMTP settings you entered earlier. You will see a success message when email is sent successfully.

Securing Your Email Password

You may need to enter your email account password in WP MAIL SMTP settings. This password is normally stored as plain text which is unsafe.

However, the plugin also provides you an option to make it more secure. To do that, you will need to add some code to your wp-config.php file. If you haven’t done this before, then please see our guide on how to edit wp-config.php file in WordPress.

First you will need to connect to your website using a FTP client or File Manager app in cPanel. Once connected, you will find your wp-config.php file in the root folder of your website.

You can edit this file using any plain text editor like Notepad or TextEdit.

Locate the line that says ‘That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging’ and add the following code just before it. 

define( 'WPMS_ON', true );
define( 'WPMS_SMTP_PASS', 'your_password' );

Don’t forget to replace ‘your_password’ with your actual SMTP password. After that, save and upload your wp-config.php file back to server.

You can now visit your WordPress admin area and go to Settings » WP Mail SMTP page. Scroll down to the SMTP options section and you will see password field is now disabled.

SMTP password disabled

Troubleshooting WordPress Email Issues

The most common reason for errors in sending emails using SMTP is incorrect SMTP host or port. Make sure that you are entering the correct host and port settings provided by your hosting provider.

Make sure that you select the correct encryption method. Usually SSL works on most environments, but we recommend that you check with your web host if your emails are not getting delivered.

Pros and Cons of Using Your Web Host’s Mail Servers for WordPress Emails

First and the most obvious advantage is that you can use your own branded email address for outgoing emails in WordPress.

Another advantage is that you have already paid for this service when signing up for your hosting account. You will not need to pay any extra money for sending and recieving emails.

However, some WordPress hosting providers enforce limitations on outgoing emails. This is why we don’t recommend using WordPress to send newsletter emails.

Another common problem with shared hosting providers is that their mail servers can be quite unreliable at times. If you notice delays in email delivery, then you should consider using third party email services like Google Apps for Work, Mailgun, or SendGrid.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use SMTP server to send WordPress emails. You may also want to see our list of the must have WordPress plugins for businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Use SMTP Server to Send WordPress Emails appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Add User Role Label Next to Comments in WordPress

Tutorials

One of our readers asked if it was possible to highlight user role next to each comment in WordPress? Displaying user role label gives weight to comments made by registered users on your website specifically authors, editors, and admins. In this article, we will show you how to easily add user role label next to comments in WordPress.

Add user role next to comments in WordPress

Why Show User Role Label Next to Comment Author Name in WordPress?

If you allow user registration on your website or run a multi-author WordPress website, then user labels can introduce users to each other based on their user roles.

For example, users with the editor user role will show a badge next to their name in comments letting other users know that this comment was made by an editor.

It builds up user trust and increases user engagement in comments on your website.

Many WordPress themes only highlight comments made by post author. They don’t show labels for any other user roles even if other comments are made by registered users or site administrators.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily add user role label next to comments in WordPress.

Adding User Role Label Next to Comment Author Name in WordPress

This tutorial requires you to add code to your WordPress theme files. If you haven’t done this before, then please take a look at our guide on how to easily copy and paste code in WordPress.

First thing you need to do is add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin. 



if ( ! class_exists( 'WPB_Comment_Author_Role_Label' ) ) :
class WPB_Comment_Author_Role_Label {
public function __construct() {
add_filter( 'get_comment_author', array( $this, 'wpb_get_comment_author_role' ), 10, 3 );
add_filter( 'get_comment_author_link', array( $this, 'wpb_comment_author_role' ) );
}

// Get comment author role 
function wpb_get_comment_author_role($author, $comment_id, $comment) { 
$authoremail = get_comment_author_email( $comment); 
// Check if user is registered
if (email_exists($authoremail)) {
$commet_user_role = get_user_by( 'email', $authoremail );
$comment_user_role = $commet_user_role->roles[0];
// HTML output to add next to comment author name
$this->comment_user_role = ' <span class="comment-author-label comment-author-label-'.$comment_user_role.'">' . ucfirst($comment_user_role) . '</span>';
} else { 
$this->comment_user_role = '';
} 
return $author;
} 

// Display comment author                	
function wpb_comment_author_role($author) { 
return $author .= $this->comment_user_role; 
} 
}
new WPB_Comment_Author_Role_Label;
endif;

This function code above hooks into WordPress filters used to display comment author name to include user role label.

You can now visit any post with comments to see it in action. Comments made by registered users will display their user role next to the comment author name. Any comment made by non-registered users will only display comment author name.

User role label shown next to their comment

Now that we have added the user role, it’s time to style it and make it look clean.

In our code, we have added a CSS class for each user role, so we can use these CSS classes to customize each user badge differently (i.e use different colors, etc)

You can use the following sample CSS as an starting point: 

.comment-author-label {
    padding: 5px;
    font-size: 14px;
    border-radius: 3px;
}

.comment-author-label-editor {	
background-color:#efefef;
}
.comment-author-label-author {
background-color:#faeeee;
}

.comment-author-label-contributor {
background-color:#f0faee;	
}
.comment-author-label-subscriber {
background-color:#eef5fa;	
}

.comment-author-label-administrator { 
background-color:#fde9ff;
}

Feel free to adjust the CSS to your liking. This is how it looked on our demo website:

User role badges displayed with their comments

We hope this article helped you learn how to add user role label next to comments in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to lazy load gravatars in WordPress comments.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add User Role Label Next to Comments in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Set Up WordPress Error Logs in WP-Config

Tutorials

Do you want to set up WordPress error logs in wp-config file? The wp-config file in WordPress not only controls your WordPress site settings, it is also a very a useful debugging tool to help you find and fix errors. In this article, we will show you how to set up WordPress error logs in the wp-config file.

Setting up WordPress error logs

Why and When You Need to Set up WordPress Error Logs in WP-Config

The wp-config.php file is a WordPress configuration file that contains important WordPress settings. These settings tell your website how to connect to your WordPress database, which database table prefix to use, and generates authentication keys to make your WordPress site more secure.

To learn more about wp-config file, please see our article on how to edit wp-config file in WordPress.

Apart from default WordPress settings, wp-config file can also be used to define several other parameters. It can also enable WordPress debugging mode and save WordPress error logs.

This helps you find WordPress errors by identifying the plugins or scripts that are causing them. You can then go ahead and find a fix for those WordPress errors.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to enable and setup WordPress error logs in wp-config file.

Setting up WordPress Error Logs in WP-Config File

First, you will need to edit your wp-config.php file. You can access it by connecting to your website using an FTP client or File Manager app in cPanel.

Edit wp-config file

You will find wp-config.php file in the root directory of your website. Open the file in any text editor and look for the line that says ‘That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging.’

Just before this line you need to add the following code:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );

It is possible that this code is already in your wp-config.php file and is set to false. In that case, you just need to change it to true.

This line alone will turn on WordPress debug mode. However the downside of using this debugging alone is that you will see WordPress errors and warnings inside your admin area as well as front page of your website.

If you want errors to be logged, then you will also need to add the following code in your wp-config.php file just below the WP_DEBUG line. 

define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );

Don’t forget to save your changes and upload your wp-config.php file back to your website.

Reviewing Your WordPress Error Logs

First you need to visit your WordPress site and access the pages that were resulting in errors or warnings. After that, you will need to connect to your website using a FTP client or file manager app in your WordPress hosting cPanel.

Once connected, go to /wp-content/ folder and inside it your will find a file called debug.log.

Debug log

You can download, view, or edit this file. It will contain all WordPress errors, warnings, and notices that were logged.

WordPress errors logged

That’s all we hope this article helped you learn how to set up WordPress error logs in WP-Config file. You may also want to see our ultimate list of most wanted WordPress tips, tricks, and hacks for beginners.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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How to Turn Off PHP Errors in WordPress

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Recently one of our readers asked how to turn off PHP errors in WordPress? PHP warnings and notices help developers debug issues with their code. However it looks extremely unprofessional when they are visible to all your website visitors. In this article, we will show you how to easily turn off PHP errors in WordPress.

How to turn off PHP errors in WordPress

Why and When You Should Turn Off PHP Errors in WordPress?

PHP errors that you can see on your WordPress site are usually warnings and notices. These are not like internal server error, syntax errors, or fatal errors, which stop your website from loading.

Notices and warnings are the kind of errors that do not stop WordPress from loading your website. See how WordPress actually works behind the scenes for more details.

PHP errors in WordPress admin area

The purpose of these errors are to help developers debug issues with their code. Plugin and theme developers need this information to check for compatibility and best practices.

However, if you are not developing a theme, plugin, or a custom website, then these errors should be hidden. Because if they appear on the front-end of your website to all your visitors, it looks extremely unprofessional.

WordPress warning errors on homepage

If you see an error like above on on your site, then you may want to inform the respective theme or plugin developer. They may release a fix that would make the error go away. Meanwhile, you can also turn these errors off.

Let’s take a look at how to easily turn off PHP errors, notices, and warnings in WordPress.

Turning off PHP Errors in WordPress

For this part, you will need to edit the wp-config.php file.

Inside your wp-config.php file, look for the following line: 

define('WP_DEBUG', true);

It is also possible, that this line is already set to false. In that case, you’ll see the following code: 

define('WP_DEBUG', false);

In either case, you need to replace this line with the following code: 

ini_set('display_errors','Off');
ini_set('error_reporting', E_ALL );
define('WP_DEBUG', false);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

Don’t forget to save your changes and upload your wp-config.php file back to the server.

You can now visit your website to confirm that the PHP errors, notices, and warnings have disappeared from your website.

Turning on PHP Errors in WordPress

If you are working on a website on local server or staging area, then you may want to turn on error reporting. In that case you need to edit your wp-config.php file and replace the code you added earlier with the following code: 

define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', true);

This code will allow WordPress to start displaying PHP errors, warnings, and notices again.

We hope this article helped you learn how to turn off php errors in WordPress. You may also want to see our list of the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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How to Fix Secure Connection Error in WordPress

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Are you seeing ‘Unable to establish secure connection error’ in WordPress? It is a common WordPress error and usually occurs when you are trying to install or update a WordPress plugin or theme from official WordPress.org directory. In this article, we will show you why this error occurs and how to easily fix secure connection error in WordPress.

Fixing secure connection error in WordPress

What Causes Unable to Establish Secure Connection Error in WordPress?

WordPress comes with a built-in system to manage updates. This system regularly checks for updates and show notifications for you to install plugin / theme updates.

However, it needs to connect to the WordPress.org website in order to check for updates or install them. Due to some misconfiguration on your WordPress hosting server, your website may fail to connect with WordPress.org website.

This will result in a secure connection error, and you will see an error message like this:

An unexpected error occurred. Something may be wrong with WordPress.org or this server’s configuration. If you continue to have problems, please try the support forums. (WordPress could not establish a secure connection to WordPress.org. Please contact your server administrator.) in /home/username/public_html/wp-admin/includes/update.php on line 122

Secure connection error in WordPress

That being said, let’s see how to easily fix secure connection error in WordPress.

Fixing Secure Connection Error in WordPress

There are multiple ways to fix the unexpected secure connection error in WordPress. You can try one of the following solutions based on your situation.

Hosting and Server Related Issues

If your shared hosting server is under DDoS attack, then it is likely that the connection to WordPress.org will timeout causing the secure connection error.

In that case, you can wait for a few minutes and try again. If the error persists, then you need to reach out to your web hosting company’s support team.

Cloud or VPS Server Connectivity Issue

If you are on a cloud or VPS hosting, then it is possible that your server is unable to connect to WordPress.org due to some DNS issues.

In that case, you can point your server directly to WordPress.org servers. You will need to connect to your server using SSH.

SSH is short for secure shell which is an encrypted protocol that allows you to connect to your server using command line tools.

Windows users can use a tool called PuTTy whereas Mac / Linux users can use the terminal app.

You will need login credentials for the account with shell access to your hosting account. You can get this information from your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard or ask your web hosting server provider.

In the terminal, you can connect to your server like this: 

ssh [email protected]

Don’t forget to replace username with your own username and example.com with your own domain name.

Once connected, you need to run the following command: 

sudo nano /etc/hosts

This will open a file, and you will need to add the following code at the bottom of the file: 

66.155.40.202 api.wordpress.org

You can now save your changes and exit the the editor. Visit your website to see if this resolved the error.

Fixing WordPress Secure Connection Error on Localhost

If you are running WordPress on your own computer (localhost), then you may not have cURL extension enabled for PHP. This extension is required to access WordPress.org for updates.

You will need to edit the php.ini file on your computer. This file is usually located in the PHP folder of your Mamp, Xampp, or WAMP folder.

If you are on a Windows computer, then look for the following line:

;extension=php_curl.dll

Mac and Linux users would have to look for this line:

;extension=curl.so

Now you need to remove the semicolon before the text to enable the extension. Don’t forget to save your php.ini file.

Lastly, don’t forget to restart the Apache server for changes to take affect.

Check Open Ports in Firewall

If cURL extension is properly installed on your local server, then the next step is to check your internet connection firewall.

Your computer’s firewall may be blocking outgoing connections from local server to WordPress.org. If you are on Windows, then press the start button and search for Windows Firewall. Mac users can find firewall settings in System Preferences » Security & Privacy

You need to add Apache to your firewall’s allowed programs and allow both incoming and outgoing connections.

Firewall Apache

You will need to restart Apache for changes to take effect.

We hope this article helped you solve the WordPress secure connection error. You may also want to see our ultimate step by step WordPress security guide for beginners.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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How to Remove v=XXXX string from WordPress URLs

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Are you seeing strange v=xxxx string in your WordPress URLs? Recently, one of our readers asked us how to get rid of v=xxxx string from their WordPress URLs. This string is made up of seemingly random letter and numbers added as a parameter to your permalinks. In this article, we will show you how to easily remove v=xxxx string from your WordPress URLs.

How to Remove v=xxxx string from WordPress URLs

Why Are You Seeing v=XXXX String in Your WordPress URLs?

This string appears on websites running an online store using WooCommerce. It is not a bug or an error, but an actual feature of the plugin.

String with letters and numbers added to WordPress URLs by WooCommerce

The purpose of this string is to help WooCommerce calculate tax and shipping based on a user’s geographic location. The string helps make the feature compatible with WordPress caching plugins like WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache.

However, if you don’t need to calculate shipping and taxes based on different locations, then you probably accidentally enabled this feature.

Let’s take a look at how to easily disable it and remove the random v=xxxxxx strings from your WordPress URLs.

Removing v=xxxx String from WordPress URLs

First you need to login to your WordPress admin area and head over to the WooCommerce » Settings page.

Under the General tab, you need to scroll down to ‘Default customer location’ option.

Disable Geolocation

It would be set to ‘Geolocate (with page caching support)’. You need to change it to either ‘No location by default’ or ‘Shop base address’.

Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.

If you are using a caching plugin, then you will need to clear your WordPress cache. After that you can visit your website, and the geolocation string will disappear from your WordPress URLs.

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How to GeoLocate Default Location Without the URL String?

You can do that by selecting the ‘Geolocate’ option in the ‘Default customer location’ setting.

Geolocate without caching

However, this option is not compatible with static caching plugins, and it will show incorrect shipping and tax information to users due to previously cached page.

Running WooCommerce without caching is not recommended because it will slow down your site’s speed and performance.

If you must use Geolocate to calculate shipping and taxes on the fly, then for the time being you will have to tolerate the ugly v=xxxx string in your WordPress URLs.

We hope this article helped you learn how to remove v=xxxx string from your WordPress URLs. You may also want to see our ultimate list of the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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