Description
TellbySMS connects your WordPress site to the TellbySMS bulk SMS platform, giving you a complete suite of SMS tools right inside your WordPress dashboard.
Whether you want to notify customers about their WooCommerce orders, secure logins with two-factor authentication, grow an SMS subscriber list, or send scheduled marketing messages — TellbySMS has you covered.
📱 OTP & Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Add an extra layer of security to your WordPress login. When enabled, users receive a 6-digit verification code via SMS after entering their password. The code expires in 5 minutes and is invalidated after 5 failed attempts.
- Works on the standard WordPress login page
- Optional
[tellbysms_otp_form]shortcode for custom login flows - Resend code link included
📤 SMS Outbox
Every SMS sent through the plugin is automatically logged in a clean table — so you always know what was sent, to whom, when and why.
- Recipient, message, sender ID, status and trigger type
- Up to 500 recent messages displayed
- Accessible under TellbySMS Outbox
📋 SMS Subscribers
Build an SMS mailing list directly on your WordPress site. Visitors opt in using a shortcode or sidebar widget and you can broadcast to all active subscribers with one click.
[tellbysms_subscribe]shortcode — add to any page or post- Sidebar widget with customisable label and button text
- Welcome SMS sent automatically on new subscription
- Broadcast message to all active subscribers from WP admin
- Optional auto-sync of subscribers to a TellbySMS contact group
- Manage subscribers under TellbySMS Subscribers
⏰ Scheduled SMS
Schedule an SMS to go out at exactly the right time — to individual numbers, comma-separated lists or an entire TellbySMS contact group.
- Pick any future date and time using a datetime picker
- WP-Cron processes due messages every minute
- Cancel pending schedules before they fire
- Sent results logged to Outbox automatically
- Manage under TellbySMS Scheduled SMS
🔔 Admin Alerts
Stay informed about important site activity without having to check your dashboard.
- New post published — receive an SMS whenever a new blog post goes live
- WordPress/plugin update — SMS confirmation when an update completes successfully
- Admin login alert — security SMS with username and IP address whenever an admin logs in
All alert messages are fully customisable with variables like {site_name}, {post_title}, {author}, {user_name} and {ip}.
🛒 WooCommerce Integration
Keep customers informed at every stage of their order journey.
- SMS to customer on new order placement
- SMS to admin on new order (with order total and customer name)
- SMS on order status change — configure a custom message per status (processing, completed, shipped, cancelled, on-hold, refunded)
- Order notes added automatically for every SMS sent
- Personalisation variables:
{customer_name},{order_id},{order_total},{order_status},{site_name}
👤 WordPress Notifications
- Welcome SMS to new users on registration
- Password reset notification SMS
- Admin alert when a new user registers (with name and email)
📊 Dashboard Widget
A quick-glance SMS stats widget on your WordPress dashboard showing your current balance, total SMS sent, scheduled messages and total contacts — with a direct link to Send SMS.
✉️ Manual SMS
Send a message directly from WordPress admin to one or more phone numbers, a specific WordPress user, all users with a phone number, or an entire TellbySMS contact group. Includes a live SMS character counter.
🔄 Contact Sync
One-click sync of WordPress users and WooCommerce customers to your TellbySMS contact list — with optional target group assignment and a detailed sync log.
📌 Shortcodes
[tellbysms_balance]— Display your current credit balance[tellbysms_subscribe]— SMS subscription opt-in form[tellbysms_otp_form]— OTP verification form for custom login flows
🔑 Requirements
- A TellbySMS account at https://sms.scopehost.net
- Your API token from the API Access page
External Services
This plugin connects to the TellbySMS bulk SMS service operated by The ScopeHost Operating Company, a division of Cubic Systems Investments (Pty) Ltd.
What the service is:
TellbySMS is a bulk SMS platform that enables sending SMS messages through the Connect Mobile gateway network in Southern Africa.
When data is sent:
This plugin makes requests to https://sms.scopehost.net/api/v1 in the following situations:
* When sending an SMS notification (WooCommerce order, admin alert, OTP code, subscriber broadcast, scheduled SMS, or manual send)
* When checking your account credit balance (dashboard widget and Send SMS page)
* When syncing WordPress contacts to TellbySMS contact groups
What data is sent:
* Your API token (for authentication on every request)
* Recipient phone numbers
* SMS message content
* Sender ID (if configured)
No personal data is stored by the plugin beyond what is already in your WordPress database. All SMS sending and logging is handled server-side by TellbySMS.
- Service website: https://sms.scopehost.net
- Terms of Service: https://sms.scopehost.net/terms
- Privacy Policy: https://sms.scopehost.net/privacy
Installation
- Upload the
tellbysmsfolder to/wp-content/plugins/ - Activate the plugin in WordPress Admin Plugins
- Go to TellbySMS Settings Connection and enter your API token
- Click Test Connection to verify
- Configure notifications, OTP, WooCommerce and subscriber settings as needed
FAQ
-
Where do I get my API token?
-
Log in to https://sms.scopehost.net and go to API Access.
-
Does OTP work for all users?
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OTP works for any user who has a phone number stored in their profile (billing_phone, phone or mobile meta field). Users without a phone number will be able to log in without OTP.
-
Does this work without WooCommerce?
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Yes. WooCommerce features are only loaded when WooCommerce is active. All other features work independently.
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How does scheduled SMS work?
-
WordPress WP-Cron processes scheduled messages every minute. The message is sent via the TellbySMS API at the scheduled time and the result is logged in your Outbox.
-
What phone number format should I use?
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Include the full international number with country code (e.g. 26876123456 for Eswatini). The TellbySMS API normalises numbers automatically.
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How do I display the credit balance on my site?
-
Use the shortcode
[tellbysms_balance]on any page or widget.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“TellbySMS by ScopeHost” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
ContributorsTranslate “TellbySMS by ScopeHost” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
2.0.0
- Added OTP / Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) login
- Added SMS Outbox with full send history
- Added SMS Subscribers with shortcode, widget and broadcast
- Added Scheduled SMS with WP-Cron processing
- Added Admin Alerts: new post, WP update, admin login
- Added WordPress Dashboard stats widget
- Settings expanded to 6 tabs
1.0.0
- Initial release — WooCommerce order SMS, user registration, password reset, manual SMS, contact sync
