How to integrate SendGrid with your WordPress site at Rocket.net

Although php's mail() function is supported for sending notifications such as password resets from WordPress, we highly recommend using a service like SendGrid to ensure maximum delivery rates of other mail sent from your WordPress site.

There are also very good  services like Zoho and Google suite, but if you are looking for something more basic that supports custom domains for sending mail, the free package on SendGrid is a solid choice.

SETUP ON SENDGRID
 

To get started with SendGrid, create your account here: https://signup.sendgrid.com/ and follow along with the screenshots below:

First, click the down arrow by your name, and click Setup Guide.

Click on "Authenticate your Domain"

Now, choose your domain registrar or select "other" and write the name manually:

In the next step, write the domain or subdomain that you want to use to send emails:

You will see the below screen. Make sure to add the CNAME records on your DNS zone. If you need help setting up the DNS zone, please Submit a Ticket to our Support Team and we'll be glad to help.

Wait about 1 minute and click on verify:

The next step is to set up SMTP. To do so, go to this link: https://app.sendgrid.com/guide/integrate

Create a API name. The name is not important, but should reflect the name of the website you're using with it.

Setting up WordPress 

Finally, before we close this screen, we need to configure WordPress. To do so, use an SMTP plugin such as WP-Mail-SMTP, which we'll demonstrate in the screenshots below. First, log into your WordPress Dashboard, and install the WP Mail SMTP plugin, then go to Settings:

From email: Fill the email you want to use to send emails. You can use anything@yourdomain.com. A very common choice is no-reply@yourdomain.com

From name: Choose a name that will appear in the mailbox of the clients.

In the sender, choose “other SMTP”:

Fill in the following details:

• SMTP Host: smtp.sendgrid.net
• Encryption: SSL
• Port: 465
  
• Auto TLS: ON
• Authentication: ON
• SMTP Username: apikey
• SMTP Password: Copy and paste the password from your account:
  

Finally, save the settings. You'll now be able to send a test mail to make sure that the integration is functional:

If everything is ok, you should see a screen like this one:

You can safely ignore the warnings because SendGrid will handle the records that make your email trustworthy.

If it worked properly, you'll get an mail that looks like this:

To save all of your settings, click the button in the bottom right corner as shown below:

If you have any issues or require assistance, please do not hesitate to Submit a Ticket to our Support Team.