Introduction

The email service maintenance in X-Cart is a crucial part of the configuration of your Online Store as the deliverability of email messages to your end-users depends on it. X-Cart sends email notifications for almost all events happening on your store from user profile creation to order modifications.

By default, X-Cart is configured to utilize the PHP mail function to send outgoing emails. However, that is not always the correct approach because often (especially on shared servers), the Outbound Mail IP address of the server gets blacklisted. This leads to any outbound emails being rejected. This is one of the main reasons to consider sending your emails via SMTP.

Configuring SMTP server details in X-Cart is a relatively simple task, which can be completed within a few steps.

Accessing the E-Mail Transfer Settings

For a start, please log in to your X-Cart Admin Area and navigate through the left-hand side menu bar to Store setup > Email notifications.

Once you are located on the "Email Settings" page, please switch to the "E-mail transfer settings" tab.

The "E-mail transfer settings" tab is split into two sections. Under the first "FROM/REPLY-TO settings", you can configure the "From" address to be used for all outgoing email messages automatically generated by your store and the "Reply-To" address to receive all incoming email replies submitted by your customers.

Please bear in mind that if the email address you are attempting to configure for SMTP does not match the address specified under the "Contacts" section in X-Cart, you have to select the "Email address specified below" and enter the desired email address into the empty field beneath "Email to use for the FROM field".

The main focus of our tutorial, as you might have guessed, is going to be on the second "SMTP" section under which you have to configure your SMTP server connection details.

Configuring SMTP Server Connection Details

As you can see, the "Use SMTP Server" option is switched to off by default. To enable it, you have to click on the toggle switch button. With this done, a new section appears where you need to set your custom SMTP parameters.

The information required is typically acquired from your email service provider or hosting provider. In case you are a HostArmada customer, you can find the required details in the welcome email containing all the essential information about your hosting account with us. You can review the email directly from your Client Area by clicking on the email icon located at the top menu bar. In case you have any difficulties finding the details, please make sure to submit a ticket request to our Support Team, and they will gladly provide you with them.

Now, back to the details:

• SMTP server - In this field, you need to enter the SMTP server hostname of the email service provider. Typically, you can use "mail.domain.com" where "domain.com" represents your domain name. Note that for that setup to work, the DNS records of your domain name should be configured accurately. Alternatively, you can always use the hostname of the SMTP server directly (e.g., ger1.armadaservers.com).
• SMTP port - Indicates the connection port. You can use port 25 (Non-encrypted), port 465 (Secure - SSL/TLS), or port 587 (Secure - STARTTLS).
• User authentication - This setting determines whether the SMTP server requires the email account to authenticate to send emails. To be able to successfully send emails through the SMTP server, please set it to "On".
• Username - In this field, you have to enter the full email address of the email account to be used, e.g., [email protected],
• Password - In this field, you need to enter the password associated with the above email address.
• Secure connection - Determines the encryption method used to connect to the server. Depending on the port you intend to use, you need to select the corresponding encryption type. Port 25 - "None", port 465 "SSL", port 587 "TLS".

To avoid possible errors, please double-check the details and ensure they are entered exactly as obtained from your provider. When ready, click on the "Submit" button to save the configuration.

When this is done, we strongly recommend you to go ahead and test the SMTP properties to ensure the email account is properly functioning. If you are not sure how to do that, please refer to our tutorial based on How to test your X-Cart Email Configuration using mail-tester.com.

Well done! Congratulations on learning how to configure your X-Cart Online Store to send emails using SMTP. We hope you have found this tutorial helpful and easy to follow. In case you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our Technical Support Department by submitting a ticket request from your HostArmada Client Area.