Hey technoz, previously we’ve seen how to send an email directly from php script in which we have used php mail() function. But now, we will use phpmailer – a third party, open source library which makes this process quite easier. Sending Email using phpmailer library has various advantages over traditional php mail() function as follows:
- It is open source library i.e. Free to use
- Guaranteed delivery (in just 3-5 seconds)
- Very easy to integrate
- No need to learn new API
- Works efficiently across all php versions
- Object oriented approach
- Most CMS like WordPress, Drupal, 1CRM, SugarCRM, Yii, Joomla! uses phpmailer
Considering all above these benefits, most developers prefer to use this library. This tutorial will guide you how to integrate it in our php website.
1. Download PHPMailer
We will first need to download the phpmailer library. Please go through this link to download.You will get a .rar file. Extract it, rename it as phpmailer, and put the folder in your working directory.
2. Design the mail template
We will now design the email template. create file template.html and paste the following code in it.
<html>
<head>
<meta name='viewport' content='width=device-width' />
<meta http-equiv='Content-Type' content='text/html; charset=UTF-8' />
<title>send mail using phpmailer - Technopoints</title>
<style>
/* -------------------------------------
GLOBAL RESETS
------------------------------------- */
img {
border: none;
-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;
max-width: 100%; }
body {
background-color: #f6f6f6;
font-family: sans-serif;
-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
font-size: 14px;
line-height: 1.4;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;
-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; }
table {
border-collapse: separate;
mso-table-lspace: 0pt;
mso-table-rspace: 0pt;
width: 100%; }
table td {
font-family: sans-serif;
font-size: 14px;
vertical-align: top; }
/* -------------------------------------
BODY & CONTAINER
------------------------------------- */
.body {
background-color: #f6f6f6;
width: 100%; }
/* Set a max-width, and make it display as block so it will automatically stretch to that width, but will also shrink down on a phone or something */
.container {
display: block;
Margin: 0 auto !important;
/* makes it centered */
max-width: 580px;
padding: 10px;
width: 580px; }
/* This should also be a block element, so that it will fill 100% of the .container */
.content {
box-sizing: border-box;
display: block;
Margin: 0 auto;
max-width: 580px;
padding: 10px; }
/* -------------------------------------
HEADER, FOOTER, MAIN
------------------------------------- */
.main {
background: #ffffff;
border-radius: 3px;
width: 100%; }
.wrapper {
box-sizing: border-box;
padding: 20px; }
.content-block {
padding-bottom: 10px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.footer {
clear: both;
Margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 100%; }
.footer td,
.footer p,
.footer span,
.footer a {
color: #999999;
font-size: 12px;
text-align: center; }
/* -------------------------------------
TYPOGRAPHY
------------------------------------- */
h1,
h2,
h3,
h4 {
color: #000000;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-weight: 400;
line-height: 1.4;
margin: 0;
Margin-bottom: 30px; }
h1 {
font-size: 35px;
font-weight: 300;
text-align: center;
text-transform: capitalize; }
p,
ul,
ol {
font-family: sans-serif;
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: normal;
margin: 0;
Margin-bottom: 15px; }
p li,
ul li,
ol li {
list-style-position: inside;
margin-left: 5px; }
a {
color: #3498db;
text-decoration: underline; }
/* -------------------------------------
BUTTONS
------------------------------------- */
.btn {
box-sizing: border-box;
width: 100%; }
.btn > tbody > tr > td {
padding-bottom: 15px; }
.btn table {
width: auto; }
.btn table td {
background-color: #ffffff;
border-radius: 5px;
text-align: center; }
.btn a {
background-color: #ffffff;
border: solid 1px #3498db;
border-radius: 5px;
box-sizing: border-box;
color: #3498db;
cursor: pointer;
display: inline-block;
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: bold;
margin: 0;
padding: 12px 25px;
text-decoration: none;
text-transform: capitalize; }
.btn-primary table td {
background-color: #3498db; }
.btn-primary a {
background-color: #3498db;
border-color: #3498db;
color: #ffffff; }
/* -------------------------------------
OTHER STYLES THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL
------------------------------------- */
.last {
margin-bottom: 0; }
.first {
margin-top: 0; }
.align-center {
text-align: center; }
.align-right {
text-align: right; }
.align-left {
text-align: left; }
.clear {
clear: both; }
.mt0 {
margin-top: 0; }
.mb0 {
margin-bottom: 0; }
.preheader {
color: transparent;
display: none;
height: 0;
max-height: 0;
max-width: 0;
opacity: 0;
overflow: hidden;
mso-hide: all;
visibility: hidden;
width: 0; }
.powered-by a {
text-decoration: none; }
hr {
border: 0;
border-bottom: 1px solid #f6f6f6;
Margin: 20px 0; }
/* -------------------------------------
RESPONSIVE AND MOBILE FRIENDLY STYLES
------------------------------------- */
@media only screen and (max-width: 620px) {
table[class=body] h1 {
font-size: 28px !important;
margin-bottom: 10px !important; }
table[class=body] p,
table[class=body] ul,
table[class=body] ol,
table[class=body] td,
table[class=body] span,
table[class=body] a {
font-size: 16px !important; }
table[class=body] .wrapper,
table[class=body] .article {
padding: 10px !important; }
table[class=body] .content {
padding: 0 !important; }
table[class=body] .container {
padding: 0 !important;
width: 100% !important; }
table[class=body] .main {
border-left-width: 0 !important;
border-radius: 0 !important;
border-right-width: 0 !important; }
table[class=body] .btn table {
width: 100% !important; }
table[class=body] .btn a {
width: 100% !important; }
table[class=body] .img-responsive {
height: auto !important;
max-width: 100% !important;
width: auto !important; }}
/* -------------------------------------
PRESERVE THESE STYLES IN THE HEAD
------------------------------------- */
@media all {
.ExternalClass {
width: 100%; }
.ExternalClass,
.ExternalClass p,
.ExternalClass span,
.ExternalClass font,
.ExternalClass td,
.ExternalClass div {
line-height: 100%; }
.apple-link a {
color: inherit !important;
font-family: inherit !important;
font-size: inherit !important;
font-weight: inherit !important;
line-height: inherit !important;
text-decoration: none !important; }
.btn-primary table td:hover {
background-color: #34495e !important; }
.btn-primary a:hover {
background-color: #34495e !important;
border-color: #34495e !important; } }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' class='body' style='padding-top:2%'>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class='container'>
<div class='content'>
<!-- START CENTERED WHITE CONTAINER -->
<span class='preheader'>New Contact Form Entry.</span>
<table class='main'>
<tr>
<td class='wrapper'>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0'>
<tr>
<td><center>
<p><img src='https://i2.wp.com/technopoints.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Technopoints-logo.png?w=512&ssl=1' width='40%' height='40%'></p>
<p style="text-shadow: 2px 2px #548BE9; font-size:30px; color:#23221E;"><b>Technopoints</b></p></center>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<!-- START MAIN CONTENT AREA -->
<tr>
<td class='wrapper'>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0'>
<tr>
<td>
<p>Hi, $name</p>
<p>You have successfully sent email using phpmailer library.</p>
<p>Custom Message: $msgbody</p>
<p>You can assign some custom url on the button below</p>
<p> <center><a href="https://technopoints.co.in" target='_blank' style='width:80%; display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: #3498db; border: solid 1px #3498db; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 12px 25px; text-transform: capitalize; border-color: #3498db;'>Visit Technopoints</a></center></p>
<p>Thanks for watching the tutorial.</p>
<p>If you are having trouble implementing this tutorial, then feel free to contact us at <a href="mailto:support@technopoints.co.in">support@technopoints.co.in</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<!-- END MAIN CONTENT AREA -->
</table>
<!-- START FOOTER -->
<div class='footer'>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0'>
<tr>
<td class='content-block'>
<span class='apple-link'>Technopoints, You can put your postal address here.</span>
<br> This is service email sent as per your request by Technopoints.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class='content-block powered-by'>
Powered by <a href='https://technopoints.co.in'>Technopoints</a>.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<!-- END FOOTER -->
<!-- END CENTERED WHITE CONTAINER -->
</div>
</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
After running the above file, you will get an idea how our mail will look like. However, there are some php variables in the file which will be printed as it is currently. See the screenshot of page below.
3. Creating form
Now, we have to create the form which takes name, email and recipient’s message as an input. Following php file is index.php
<html> <head> <title>send email using phpmailer</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css"> </head> <body> <center> <h1>Send Email using phpmailer - Technopoints</h1> <div> <form action="sendmail.php" method="post"> <input type="text" id="name" name="name" placeholder="Enter name" required/><br/> <input type="text" name="msgbody" placeholder="Enter message" required/><br/> <input type="text" name="email" placeholder="Enter recipient email" required/><br/> <button class="button" style="vertical-align:middle" type="submit"><span>Send</span></button> </form> <h4><i>Powered by <a href="https://technopoints.co.in">Technopoints</a></i></h4> </div> </center> </body> </html>
style the form by making file index.css as shown below.
.button {
display: inline-block;
border-radius: 4px;
background-color: #f4511e;
border: none;
color: #FFFFFF;
text-align: center;
font-size: 28px;
padding: 20px;
width: 200px;
transition: all 0.5s;
cursor: pointer;
margin: 5px;
}
.button span {
cursor: pointer;
display: inline-block;
position: relative;
transition: 0.5s;
}
.button span:after {
content: '\00bb';
position: absolute;
opacity: 0;
top: 0;
right: -20px;
transition: 0.5s;
}
.button:hover span {
padding-right: 25px;
}
.button:hover span:after {
opacity: 1;
right: 0;
}
input[type=text], select {
width: 100%;
padding: 12px 20px;
margin: 8px 0;
display: inline-block;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
border-radius: 4px;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
div {
border-radius: 5px;
background-color: #f2f2f2;
padding: 20px;
}
Let’s see our creation below.
4. Sending Email using phpmailer library
Lets create the actual code responsible for sending an email using phpmailer library. code the following file sendmail.php
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.7/css/bootstrap.min.css">
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.7/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<?php
$name=$_POST['name'];
$msgbody=$_POST['msgbody'];
$email=$_POST['email'];
require_once "phpmailer/class.phpmailer.php";
$message="
<html>
<head>
<meta name='viewport' content='width=device-width' />
<meta http-equiv='Content-Type' content='text/html; charset=UTF-8' />
<title>send mail using phpmailer - Technopoints</title>
<style>
/* -------------------------------------
GLOBAL RESETS
------------------------------------- */
img {
border: none;
-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;
max-width: 100%; }
body {
background-color: #f6f6f6;
font-family: sans-serif;
-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
font-size: 14px;
line-height: 1.4;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;
-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; }
table {
border-collapse: separate;
mso-table-lspace: 0pt;
mso-table-rspace: 0pt;
width: 100%; }
table td {
font-family: sans-serif;
font-size: 14px;
vertical-align: top; }
/* -------------------------------------
BODY & CONTAINER
------------------------------------- */
.body {
background-color: #f6f6f6;
width: 100%; }
/* Set a max-width, and make it display as block so it will automatically stretch to that width, but will also shrink down on a phone or something */
.container {
display: block;
Margin: 0 auto !important;
/* makes it centered */
max-width: 580px;
padding: 10px;
width: 580px; }
/* This should also be a block element, so that it will fill 100% of the .container */
.content {
box-sizing: border-box;
display: block;
Margin: 0 auto;
max-width: 580px;
padding: 10px; }
/* -------------------------------------
HEADER, FOOTER, MAIN
------------------------------------- */
.main {
background: #ffffff;
border-radius: 3px;
width: 100%; }
.wrapper {
box-sizing: border-box;
padding: 20px; }
.content-block {
padding-bottom: 10px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.footer {
clear: both;
Margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 100%; }
.footer td,
.footer p,
.footer span,
.footer a {
color: #999999;
font-size: 12px;
text-align: center; }
/* -------------------------------------
TYPOGRAPHY
------------------------------------- */
h1,
h2,
h3,
h4 {
color: #000000;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-weight: 400;
line-height: 1.4;
margin: 0;
Margin-bottom: 30px; }
h1 {
font-size: 35px;
font-weight: 300;
text-align: center;
text-transform: capitalize; }
p,
ul,
ol {
font-family: sans-serif;
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: normal;
margin: 0;
Margin-bottom: 15px; }
p li,
ul li,
ol li {
list-style-position: inside;
margin-left: 5px; }
a {
color: #3498db;
text-decoration: underline; }
/* -------------------------------------
BUTTONS
------------------------------------- */
.btn {
box-sizing: border-box;
width: 100%; }
.btn > tbody > tr > td {
padding-bottom: 15px; }
.btn table {
width: auto; }
.btn table td {
background-color: #ffffff;
border-radius: 5px;
text-align: center; }
.btn a {
background-color: #ffffff;
border: solid 1px #3498db;
border-radius: 5px;
box-sizing: border-box;
color: #3498db;
cursor: pointer;
display: inline-block;
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: bold;
margin: 0;
padding: 12px 25px;
text-decoration: none;
text-transform: capitalize; }
.btn-primary table td {
background-color: #3498db; }
.btn-primary a {
background-color: #3498db;
border-color: #3498db;
color: #ffffff; }
/* -------------------------------------
OTHER STYLES THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL
------------------------------------- */
.last {
margin-bottom: 0; }
.first {
margin-top: 0; }
.align-center {
text-align: center; }
.align-right {
text-align: right; }
.align-left {
text-align: left; }
.clear {
clear: both; }
.mt0 {
margin-top: 0; }
.mb0 {
margin-bottom: 0; }
.preheader {
color: transparent;
display: none;
height: 0;
max-height: 0;
max-width: 0;
opacity: 0;
overflow: hidden;
mso-hide: all;
visibility: hidden;
width: 0; }
.powered-by a {
text-decoration: none; }
hr {
border: 0;
border-bottom: 1px solid #f6f6f6;
Margin: 20px 0; }
/* -------------------------------------
RESPONSIVE AND MOBILE FRIENDLY STYLES
------------------------------------- */
@media only screen and (max-width: 620px) {
table[class=body] h1 {
font-size: 28px !important;
margin-bottom: 10px !important; }
table[class=body] p,
table[class=body] ul,
table[class=body] ol,
table[class=body] td,
table[class=body] span,
table[class=body] a {
font-size: 16px !important; }
table[class=body] .wrapper,
table[class=body] .article {
padding: 10px !important; }
table[class=body] .content {
padding: 0 !important; }
table[class=body] .container {
padding: 0 !important;
width: 100% !important; }
table[class=body] .main {
border-left-width: 0 !important;
border-radius: 0 !important;
border-right-width: 0 !important; }
table[class=body] .btn table {
width: 100% !important; }
table[class=body] .btn a {
width: 100% !important; }
table[class=body] .img-responsive {
height: auto !important;
max-width: 100% !important;
width: auto !important; }}
/* -------------------------------------
PRESERVE THESE STYLES IN THE HEAD
------------------------------------- */
@media all {
.ExternalClass {
width: 100%; }
.ExternalClass,
.ExternalClass p,
.ExternalClass span,
.ExternalClass font,
.ExternalClass td,
.ExternalClass div {
line-height: 100%; }
.apple-link a {
color: inherit !important;
font-family: inherit !important;
font-size: inherit !important;
font-weight: inherit !important;
line-height: inherit !important;
text-decoration: none !important; }
.btn-primary table td:hover {
background-color: #34495e !important; }
.btn-primary a:hover {
background-color: #34495e !important;
border-color: #34495e !important; } }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' class='body' style='padding-top:2%'>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class='container'>
<div class='content'>
<!-- START CENTERED WHITE CONTAINER -->
<span class='preheader'>Message sent from tutorial on Technopoints.</span>
<table class='main'>
<tr>
<td class='wrapper'>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0'>
<tr>
<td><center>
<p><img src='https://i2.wp.com/technopoints.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Technopoints-logo.png?w=512&ssl=1' width='40%' height='40%'></p>
<p style='text-shadow: 2px 2px #548BE9; font-size:30px; color:#23221E;'><b>Technopoints</b></p></center>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<!-- START MAIN CONTENT AREA -->
<tr>
<td class='wrapper'>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0'>
<tr>
<td>
<p>Hi, $name</p>
<p>You have successfully sent email using phpmailer library.</p>
<p>Custom Message: $msgbody</p>
<p>You can assign some custom url on the button below</p>
<p> <center><a href='https://technopoints.co.in' target='_blank' style='width:80%; display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: #3498db; border: solid 1px #3498db; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 12px 25px; text-transform: capitalize; border-color: #3498db;'>Visit Technopoints</a></center></p>
<p>Thanks for watching the tutorial.</p>
<p>If you are having trouble implementing this tutorial, then feel free to contact us at <a href='mailto:support@technopoints.co.in'>support@technopoints.co.in</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<!-- END MAIN CONTENT AREA -->
</table>
<!-- START FOOTER -->
<div class='footer'>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0'>
<tr>
<td class='content-block'>
<span class='apple-link'>Technopoints, You can put your postal address here.</span>
<br> This is service email sent as per your request by Technopoints.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class='content-block powered-by'>
Powered by <a href='https://technopoints.co.in'>Technopoints</a>.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<!-- END FOOTER -->
<!-- END CENTERED WHITE CONTAINER -->
</div>
</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>";
// php mailer code starts
$mail = new PHPMailer(true);
$mail->IsSMTP(); // telling the class to use SMTP
//$mail->SMTPDebug = 0; // enables SMTP debug information (for testing)
$mail->SMTPAuth = true; // enable SMTP authentication
$mail->SMTPSecure = "tls"; // sets the prefix to the servier
$mail->Host = "mx1.domain.com"; // set your SMTP server name
$mail->Port = 587; // set your SMTP server port number
$mail->Username = 'mail@example.com'; //change email with yours
$mail->Password = 'XXXXXXXXX'; //Enter your password here
$mail->SetFrom('mail@example.com', 'Organization');
$mail->AddAddress($email);
$mail->Subject = trim("Email Tutorial - Technopoints");
$mail->MsgHTML($message);
try {
$mail->send();
$msg = "Email Sent Successfully!";
$msgType = "success";
} catch (Exception $ex) {
$msg = "Something went wrong!";
$msgType = "danger";
//$msg = $ex->getMessage();
}
if ($msg <> "") { ?>
<div class="alert alert-dismissable alert-<?php echo $msgType; ?>">
<a href="#" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-label="close">×</a>
<center><b><?php echo $msg;?></b></center>
</div>
<?php }
?>
</body>
</html>
The above file receives variables $name, $email and $msgbody which are used in the email. To send the email with the above code, we are putting the whole code of template.html file in variable $message which is the actual code to be sent via email. Remember to update username and password credentials with yours in above files.
That’s it! Our code is now able to send email using phpmailer library. We will see the acknowledgement after successful mail delivery as shown in image below.
This code is free to include in your projects. Thanks for reading this tutorial. Feel free to comment below if you have any queries.
If you want to directly download and apply the code including phpmailer library, click on the link below.
You can also see android tutorial to implement a cool style snackbar in app.