Title: why do emails for comments randomly fail?
Last modified: August 30, 2016

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# why do emails for comments randomly fail?

 *  Resolved [nicolasfox](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nicolasfox/)
 * (@nicolasfox)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/)
 * I have been using jetpack for about 2 years now and one thing that has been consistent
   is that when a someone posts a comment, I usually do NOT get an email notification.
   This has been going on for 2 years now and I have read about this several times
   before.
 * Why in the world do you *refuse* to solve this problem. I say refuse because 
   it is such an easy problem to solve…
 * Why won’t you solve this problem?
 * sincerely
    Nick Fox
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/)

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

 *  Plugin Author [Jeremy Herve](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeherve/)
 * (@jeherve)
 * Jetpack Mechanic 🚀
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640826)
 * I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you there, as these emails are not managed
   by the Jetpack plugin. They’re handled by WordPress itself, you do not need a
   plugin to manage such emails.
 * If your WordPress installation isn’t always able to send out emails, you could
   try to use a plugin like this, to bypass your server’s mail functions and use
   another email provider instead:
    [https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/)
   [https://wordpress.org/plugins/postman-smtp/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/postman-smtp/)
 *  Thread Starter [nicolasfox](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nicolasfox/)
 * (@nicolasfox)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640827)
 * I’ll give them a try, thank you very much Jeremy.
 * n
 *  [Jason Hendriks](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jasonhendriks/)
 * (@jasonhendriks)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640828)
 * > I say refuse because it is such an easy problem to solve…
 * It can actually be fairly complex to solve because everyone’s email is different.
   An SMTP plugin is a good first step. If it still doesn’t work, give this is a
   read: [WordPress emails are sent but not received](http://www.codingmonkey.ca/my-contact-form-emails-are-not-being-sent-to-yahoo-hotmail-gmail/).
 * You are not alone… [https://wordpress.org/tags/email-not-received](https://wordpress.org/tags/email-not-received)
 *  Thread Starter [nicolasfox](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nicolasfox/)
 * (@nicolasfox)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640829)
 * I honestly don’t know how complex a problem it is. That was just my anger speaking
   and I want to apologize for speaking without fully understanding the problem.
 * Nick
 *  Thread Starter [nicolasfox](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nicolasfox/)
 * (@nicolasfox)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640847)
 * Ok, this is not resolved. I installed wp-mail-smtp as you suggested and tested
   to make sure it was working. I am still not getting notification emails when 
   someone posts a comment on my Blog.
 * I don’t think there is anything wrong with the mail server on my website (websmithing.
   com).
 * Jeremy, why do you say the emails are not handled by Jetpack? I am looking at
   the subscriptions part of the Jetpack plugin and I have “Notify me of follow 
   up comments by email” and “Notify me of new posts by email” checked.
 * How is this not part of Jetpack?
 * n
 *  [Jason Hendriks](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jasonhendriks/)
 * (@jasonhendriks)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640848)
 * Would you post your email domain name, and the hostname of the SMTP server you
   are using.
 *  Plugin Author [Jeremy Herve](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeherve/)
 * (@jeherve)
 * Jetpack Mechanic 🚀
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640852)
 * > Jeremy, why do you say the emails are not handled by Jetpack? […]
   >  How is this
   > not part of Jetpack?
 * I believe we’re talking about 2 different things here. Let me see if I can clarify,
   so you can let me know where you’re having trouble exactly.
 * > I am still not getting notification emails when someone posts a comment on 
   > my Blog.
 * These notification emails are not handled by Jetpack. They’re part of WordPress
   itself. Whether you use a plugin or not, WordPress tries to send an email from
   your site to the post author every time a comment is posted, as long as that 
   option is checked under Settings > Discussion in your dashboard.
 * If that doesn’t work on your site, it could be because your server cannot send
   out any emails, or because the emails are filtered out as spam before they reach
   your inbox. Something like Jason’s [Postman plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/postman-smtp/)
   should help you figuring that out.
 * > I am looking at the subscriptions part of the Jetpack plugin and I have “Notify
   > me of follow up comments by email” and “Notify me of new posts by email” checked.
 * That’s indeed a Jetpack feature. However, it is meant to allow others to subscribe
   to your blog, or to specific posts on your site. It doesn’t work like WordPress’
   default comment notification system. The emails are actually sent from WordPress.
   com servers, and are only sent to people who subscribe to the blog / post.
 * If you’re having trouble with that option, would you mind contacting me [via this contact form](http://jetpack.me/contact-support/),
   and let me know one of the posts where you experience issues, as well as the 
   email address of one of the subscribers (it could be you, or one of your readers)
   who did not receive a notification email).
 * I’d recommend against posting that email address here, since the forums are public.
 * Thanks!
 *  [Jason Hendriks](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jasonhendriks/)
 * (@jasonhendriks)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640854)
 * > I’d recommend against posting that email address here, since the forums are
   > public.
 * Just the domain! Domains are not, for the most part, secret. It’s hard to give
   advice about MX and SPF and whatnot without a domain to go on.
 *  Plugin Author [Jeremy Herve](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeherve/)
 * (@jeherve)
 * Jetpack Mechanic 🚀
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640855)
 * > Just the domain! Domains are not, for the most part, secret. It’s hard to give
   > advice about MX and SPF and whatnot without a domain to go on.
 * Agreed. Although I can’t do much about checking WordPress.com email logs with
   just a domain. 🙂 That recommendation applied to the second part of my post.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

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## Tags

 * [email not received](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/email-not-received/)

 * 9 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Jeremy Herve](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeherve/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-do-emails-for-comments-randomly-fail/#post-6640855)
 * Status: resolved