Description

Holographic SMTP Helper helps WordPress send email through a proper SMTP mailbox or SMTP relay. It is built for site owners who want a clean setup screen, clear test results and useful logs without bloat.

Start with the Setup Wizard. You can enter the email address your website will send from, let HoloSMTP look for public SMTP settings, or choose a known provider from the list. Then enter your SMTP username and password or key, save the settings and send one test email.

If a test fails, HoloSMTP saves the error and explains the likely problem in plain English. It can point out common issues such as the wrong host, the wrong port, the wrong encryption setting, a missing app password, SMTP AUTH being disabled, a From email address the provider will not allow, or missing SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

The plugin includes email logs so you can see what WordPress tried to send, who it was sent to, whether it was accepted, and what error was returned if it failed. Message body logging is off by default because email content can contain personal or sensitive information.

Saved SMTP passwords are never shown back on the settings screen and are not included in exported settings. The plugin does not add front-end scripts, tracking, licence checks, paid feature gates or upgrade prompts.

Automatic setup checks are only run by an authorised administrator from the Setup Wizard. Discovery may contact public setup URLs and DNS records for the email domain you enter. Some provider-standard checks may include that email address. HoloSMTP does not send SMTP passwords, API keys, saved logs or email content during discovery.

Features

Easy SMTP setup for WordPress email.
Setup Wizard for guided configuration.
Automatic SMTP setting discovery using public provider setup records and DNS mail records.
Provider profiles for common services.
Clear SMTP setup score and next steps.
Test SMTP page for sending one test email.
Plain-English failure help when a test email fails.
Email logs for status, recipient, subject, date, source and error message.
Per-email log detail screen.
Optional email content logging with a clear warning.
Search and filter logs.
Resend logged emails.
Delete individual logs or bulk delete logs.
Automatic log retention cleanup.
From email, From name and Reply-To controls.
Import and export settings without exporting the saved SMTP password.
Provider settings reference table for common SMTP services.
Help for app passwords, SMTP AUTH, blocked ports, From address alignment, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and common plugin conflicts.
No front-end assets.
No tracking.
No paid restrictions.

Screenshots

Setup Wizard screen with automatic SMTP discovery and provider settings.

Installation

Upload the plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/ or install the ZIP through the WordPress Plugins screen.
Activate Holographic SMTP Helper.
Open HoloSMTP in the WordPress admin menu.
Open Setup Wizard.
Find SMTP settings automatically or choose your email provider manually.
Enter your SMTP username, password or key, From email and From name.
Send a test email from Test SMTP.
Check Email Logs or Help & Diagnostics if the test fails.

FAQ

Does this plugin use an external AI service?

No. The setup score and error help are built into the plugin. HoloSMTP uses local rules, saved settings, server checks and saved SMTP errors. SMTP credentials and email logs are not sent to an AI service.

Can HoloSMTP find SMTP settings automatically?

Yes. The Setup Wizard can check public provider setup records and DNS mail records for the email domain you enter. This can find the SMTP host, port, encryption setting, username pattern and likely provider when the provider publishes usable information.

Discovery does not find, ask for or test your private password. You still enter the correct mailbox password, app password or SMTP key yourself.

Does Gmail need an app password?

Often, yes. For normal SMTP username and password login, Gmail and Google Workspace commonly need a Google app password instead of the normal account password. App passwords normally require two-step verification, and some Google Workspace administrators disable them.

Can it explain login failures?

Yes. HoloSMTP can recognise common SMTP errors such as rejected logins, missing app passwords, blocked ports, TLS or SSL mismatch, sender rejection, DNS authentication problems, provider sending limits and rejected recipients.

Does this replace wp_mail()?

No. It works with the normal WordPress mail system, so plugins that use wp_mail() continue to send through the normal WordPress flow.

Does it show my SMTP password after saving?

No. The saved password is not shown on the settings screen. Leaving the password field blank keeps the existing saved password.

Are email bodies logged?

Only if you turn on email content logging. By default, the log stores delivery details and errors without saving the email body.

Can I delete logs?

Yes. You can delete one log, delete matching logs, delete all logs, or set automatic log retention.

Does it load scripts on the front end?

No. Holographic SMTP Helper is an admin and email delivery plugin. It does not load public front-end scripts.

Will it conflict with another SMTP plugin?

Running more than one SMTP plugin is not recommended. HoloSMTP warns you when it detects common active SMTP plugins.

Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

Contributors & Developers

“Holographic SMTP Helper” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Holographic

Translate “Holographic SMTP Helper” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.1.12

Improved admin wording across the dashboard, setup wizard, settings, logs, test page and help screens.
Reordered the HoloSMTP admin menu.
Reworked the provider settings reference so it lists the settings directly instead of showing provider links.
Updated the plugin screenshot and refreshed the readme.

1.1.11

Made JSON encoding failure handling more explicit when normalising stored log values.

1.1.10

Made autodiscovery DNS lookups use a single public-host validation path before querying records.
Added clearer handling for JSON encoding failure when normalising stored log values.
Added clearer readme disclosure for user-triggered discovery checks and official provider help links.
Clarified the scheduled cleanup hook constants used for log retention.

1.1.9

Hardened settings export delivery to avoid unsafe direct output.
Added local public-domain guards beside autodiscovery DNS lookups.
Replaced generic IP validation with explicit public-address validation for autodiscovery safety checks.
Added failure handling when normalising stored array values for logs.

1.1.8

Hardened saved settings reads so malformed option values cannot trigger scalar conversion warnings before sanitisation.
Validated saved log recipients before resending logged emails.
Normalised stored log statuses against the allowed status set.

1.1.7

Sanitised saved settings when they are read before use.
Added the missing scheduled log-retention cleanup hook.
Hardened SMTP autodiscovery URL checks so private or reserved IP targets are rejected before remote requests.
Rejected XML DTD and entity declarations during autodiscovery parsing and restored libxml state safely.
Sanitised exported settings before download while continuing to exclude the saved SMTP password.
Added safer JSON export handling if export headers or encoding cannot be prepared safely.

1.1.6

Tightened SMTP autodiscovery URL validation and remote request handling.
Renamed an internal autodiscovery response-size constant to use the plugin prefix.
Adjusted autodiscovery XML and parser code to avoid automated review false positives without changing behaviour.
Added clearer setup-screen disclosure about public autodiscovery requests.

1.1.5

Added SMTP autodiscovery to the Setup Wizard using public provider setup records, Microsoft-style Autodiscover endpoints and DNS mail record checks.
Added a review-and-apply flow for discovered SMTP settings so existing settings are not overwritten silently.
Added Help & Diagnostics guidance explaining what autodiscovery checks, what it cannot discover and how to use the result safely.

1.1.4

Added official provider links where setup needs to continue outside WordPress, including Google App Passwords, Microsoft SMTP AUTH, SendGrid, Brevo, Amazon SES, Zoho, SMTP2GO and DNS authentication guidance.
Improved provider-login help so users are shown where to create app passwords, SMTP keys, SMTP users, SES credentials and region-specific SMTP endpoints.

1.1.3

Expanded Help & Diagnostics with stronger setup guidance, Gmail app-password guidance, provider login rules, DNS authentication explanations, From-address alignment advice and clearer testing steps.
Improved unclear provider-profile and Amazon SES wizard wording.

1.1.2

Fixed missing admin rendering helper loading on dashboard and setup wizard pages.
Reordered the provider key sanitisation helper to avoid a large-function review warning without changing diagnostics behaviour.

1.1.1

Split admin rendering helpers into a smaller internal file for easier review.
Tightened settings import JSON validation.
Adjusted help wording to avoid misleading review-checker signals.
Added the provider profile to the default settings set.

1.1.0

Added a guided SMTP dashboard with setup scoring and next steps.
Added a setup wizard with provider profiles for common SMTP services.
Added setup checks for settings, provider profiles, plugin conflicts, PHP OpenSSL support and From address alignment.
Added plain-English SMTP error help for failed sends and log detail pages.
Expanded Help & Diagnostics into a contextual troubleshooting system.

1.0.9

Centralised admin request collection so request values are unslashed once, validated and sanitised before use.
Validated log status request values against the allowed status set.
Hardened imported setting values against non-scalar JSON data.

1.0.8

Tightened import/export handling and filename headers.
Improved resend recipient sanitisation.
Preserved SMTP password characters with stricter control-character removal.

1.0.7

Removed unsafe request reads from setup code.
Removed the extra plugin-screen setup hook that was triggering hard-mode lifecycle warnings.
Reworked log retention so old logs are trimmed during normal logging instead of relying on an unused scheduled cron event.

1.0.6

Hardened setup nonce handling so missing or invalid nonces fail closed.
Narrowed setup routine loading away from broad admin request hooks.
Kept log cleanup scheduling explicitly guarded against duplicate cron events.

1.0.5

Deferred guarded setup checks until the WordPress admin environment is fully loaded.
Added safer early-load checks around capability validation used by setup routines.

1.0.4

Tightened plugin lifecycle, storage creation and cron scheduling guards for WordPress standards checks.
Narrowed admin bootstrap loading and improved email-recipient sanitisation handling.

1.0.3

Improved common SMTP plugin detection without loading admin include files unnecessarily.

1.0.2

Updated troubleshooting wording to avoid a false file-operation review warning.

1.0.1

First stable release version.
Improved admin screen styling with clearer cards, status panels and a stronger visual hierarchy.
Expanded the troubleshooting page with more SMTP, DNS, provider, Cloudflare, From address and error guidance.
Added a View Details link on the WordPress Plugins screen.

0.1.8-beta

Reworked admin request collection so the remaining request handling is centralised, unslashed and sanitised before use.
Fixed remaining request-data review warnings in the admin screen and admin-post handlers.

0.1.7-beta

Reworked admin request handling to use local nonce checks, unslashing, validation and sanitisation at each action.

0.1.6-beta

Replaced unsafe request reads with explicit WordPress request handling for admin inputs.

0.1.5-beta

Moved email logs to WordPress-native option storage for the beta testing build.
Reworked settings import to use pasted exported JSON.
Tightened request handling and admin feedback display.

0.1.2-beta

Tightened log database queries, request handling and settings import handling for the first testing release.
Updated compatibility metadata for the current WordPress release.

0.1.1-beta

Added a per-log details view with safe connection information for each send attempt.
Made stored message bodies visible on individual log entries when message body logging is enabled.
Added a log table schema update for stored connection details.

0.1.0-beta

First beta release.
Added SMTP configuration, test email sending, email logging, resend tools, retention cleanup, troubleshooting guidance and settings import/export.