The newsletter does not arrive¶
The causes in order — from the most likely to the rarest. Work through them in this order; every level rules out the ones above it.
Level 0: What exactly is not arriving?¶
Before you check anything, separate these three cases. They have different causes.
| Case | Continue at |
|---|---|
| No mail goes out at all, not even a test mail | Level 1 |
| The test mail arrives, the newsletter does not | Level 3 |
| The mail goes out but does not arrive, or lands in spam | Level 4 |
| The confirmation mail after signing up does not arrive | Level 1, then Level 4 |
Level 1: Does any mail go out at all?¶
The test: open a newsletter, enter your own address on the right under Test delivery and click Save and send test mail.
Does the test mail arrive?¶
Yes → the mail route works. Continue at level 3 or 4.
No → check whether your website sends any mail at all. The simplest test runs without this plugin: change your e-mail address under Users → Profile — WordPress then sends a confirmation mail.
| Result | What it means |
|---|---|
| That one does not arrive either | Your website sends no mail. That is not a problem with the plugin |
| That one arrives, the test mail does not | See below |
If your website sends no mail at all¶
That is the most common case of all, and the solution is almost always the same: an SMTP account.
Many hosts have switched off sending over mail() or set it up in such a way
that the big providers reject the mail. Set up an SMTP account — either
through an SMTP plugin (the mail route then stays on WP mailer) or directly
in the plugin under
Sending settings with the PHP
mailer route.
You get the credentials from your host.
If other mail arrives but the test mail does not¶
| Check | Where |
|---|---|
| Is a sender set? | Sender and subject, Global defaults |
| Is the sender address on your domain? | Same page. A free mail address is often rejected |
| Is the test address spelled correctly? | In the Test delivery box |
| Is there an error message in the backend? | At the top of the form after submitting |
Level 2: Does the newsletter have any recipients?¶
The test: open the newsletter and look below the target group selection. The number of recipients is there.
If it says 0, nothing goes out, for one of these reasons:
| Reason | How you see it |
|---|---|
| No target group chosen | The selection is empty |
| Nobody is in the group | Group list: the number next to the name |
| The subscribers are not active | Subscriber list, filter Active. Only confirmed ones get mail |
| The subscribers are in no group | Subscriber list, filter Unassigned |
The most common case: nobody is in a group
If no Group assignment after subscribing is set under Form configuration, subscriptions land in no group — and never receive a newsletter.
The way back: subscriber list → Unassigned → select all → bulk action Add to group. And set the setting.
The second most common: subscribers sit on Waiting for confirmation because the confirmation mail never arrived. Then you are back at level 1 — and should think about the bulk action Send opt-in mail again once the mail route works.
Level 3: Sending does not run¶
The newsletter is scheduled but nothing moves in the list.
0 / 440 subscribers have received the newsletter
The test: Sending settings → Last cron run.
| What it says | What it means |
|---|---|
| A time within the last hour or two | The cron is running. See below |
| Not yet run or an old time | The cron is not running |
If the cron is not running¶
WP-Cron depends on page views. On a site nobody visits for days, nothing happens.
Two routes:
- Get going right now: open your website in a browser. Or click Start sending in the newsletter form — that processes one portion.
- Fix it permanently: set up a real cron job with your host. The path and the address are under Sending settings; then set the Cron system field to External.
It may also be that WP-Cron is switched off in your wp-config.php
(DISABLE_WP_CRON). Then you need a real cron job in any case.
If the cron runs and still nothing happens¶
| Check | |
|---|---|
| Is the date in the future? | In the newsletter list, column Date |
| Is the newsletter scheduled at all? | If it says Draft, you only saved, you did not schedule |
| Is Newsletters sent per run set to 0? | Sending settings |
If sending stops halfway¶
200 / 440 subscribers have received the newsletter — and has done for hours
Either the cron has stopped running (see above), or your server aborts the run because it takes too long.
Set Newsletters sent per run lower, not higher. From 200 to 50, with very tight hosts to 25. A smaller run that completes is faster than a large one that aborts.
Also ask your host about the permitted number of mails per hour.
Level 4: The mail goes out but does not arrive¶
At this point it is no longer the plugin but delivery. The plugin can change nothing about that — the recipient's mail server decides.
4a. Is it in spam?¶
Check that first. With yourself and, if possible, with an address at one of the big providers.
4b. The sender address¶
It has to be on your own domain. A free mail address as the sender cannot be covered by SPF and DMARC; the big providers increasingly reject that.
Sender and subject, Global defaults.
4c. SPF and DKIM¶
These are records in your domain's DNS, not a setting in the plugin. They tell the recipient's mail server that your server may send in your domain's name.
Without them your mail increasingly lands in spam at Gmail, Outlook.com and GMX, or is rejected — with larger volumes, certainly.
Ask your host how to set up SPF and DKIM for your domain. With most of them it is a tick box in the customer area.
Check it
Send a test mail to one of your addresses and look at the source of the
mail (in almost every program through „show original"). Search for
Authentication-Results. It says spf=pass and dkim=pass — or it does
not.
4d. The content¶
If the sender and the technology are right and it still sticks:
| No text version | A mail without a text part is a signal. Set HTML and text mail and do not leave the text version empty |
| Only one big image and hardly any text | The classic build of a spam mail |
| Attachments | Office files above all. Link to them instead |
| Shortened links | A URL shortening service is grounds for suspicion |
| „Very high" as the priority | A bad sign on a newsletter |
| No unsubscribe link | Every supplied template has one. If you built your own layout, check it |
4e. Look at the bounces¶
Switch on bounce processing and read the texts of the bounce messages. They say why the mail did not arrive — in plain words, written by the other side's mail server.
That is the only reliable information you can get.
Level 5: It arrives but looks wrong¶
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Images missing | The mail program blocks them. The recipient has to click „display images" — or you switch on Embed images in mail (which costs you open tracking) |
%abo_vorname% appears in the text |
A typo or a switched-off module. The plugin reports it when you open the newsletter |
| „Dear ," without a name | The subscriber left no name |
| The layout falls apart in Outlook | Flexbox, grid or custom CSS classes in the editor. Use a supplied template and write only text, images and links |
| Everything is bold or everything is normal | A universal selector in a layout of your own |
| Umlauts are mangled | Almost always an import with the wrong character set. See Import and export |
If none of this fits¶
Report it in the forum. What belongs in the request is under Support — and the most important part of it: which level of this page you checked and what came out of it.