Luxa SMTP — Frequently Asked Questions

What does Luxa SMTP actually do?

It replaces WordPress’s default wp_mail() function — which normally uses your host’s PHP mail() function, unauthenticated and easy for spam filters to distrust — with a real, authenticated SMTP connection to a provider like Gmail, Outlook, SendGrid, Mailgun, or Amazon SES. Every plugin and every core WordPress feature that sends email (password resets, WooCommerce order emails, contact forms, anything using wp_mail()) automatically goes through this connection instead, with no code changes needed anywhere else on your site.

Is the free version genuinely usable, or is it a crippled trial of Pro?

It’s a complete, standalone tool. Authenticated SMTP sending, all 6 provider presets, the test-email tool with SMTP debug output, and the full success/failed Email Log (with filtering and automatic retention cleanup) are all included free, permanently, on unlimited sites. Pro adds five optional add-ons on top — it doesn’t unlock anything that was artificially limited in Free to begin with.

Do I need to keep the free plugin active if I install Pro?

Yes. Pro is an add-on to the free plugin, not a replacement for it — it has no SMTP-sending code of its own. If the free plugin is ever deactivated, Pro will show a notice and stop doing anything until it’s reactivated.

Does Luxa SMTP work with [my hosting provider]?

Yes — it doesn’t depend on your hosting provider’s mail configuration at all. It connects directly to your chosen SMTP provider over the internet, bypassing your host’s own mail sending entirely, which is exactly why it works even on hosts that otherwise block or badly handle outgoing email.

Can I use more than one SMTP plugin at the same time?

No — only one plugin should control outgoing mail at a time. If you’re switching from another SMTP plugin, deactivate the other one first. They both hook the same underlying WordPress mechanism, and having two active at once leads to unpredictable behavior (usually whichever plugin loads last “wins”, but not reliably).

How is my SMTP password stored?

Encrypted with OpenSSL (AES-256-CBC), using a key derived from your own site’s AUTH_KEY and AUTH_SALT secrets in wp-config.php — not plain text, and not the simple base64 encoding (which isn’t encryption at all, and is trivially reversible) that some SMTP plugins still use. A database leak alone isn’t enough to read your password; someone would also need PHP code execution on your specific site.

What happens to my password if I migrate my site to a new server?

If you carry over your original wp-config.php (with the same AUTH_KEY/AUTH_SALT), the password decrypts normally and nothing changes. If you generate fresh secrets on the new server instead, the previously-stored password can no longer be decrypted, and you’ll need to re-enter it once in Settings. This is expected, not a bug — it’s the tradeoff of the key being tied to your site rather than a portable, and therefore weaker, alternative.

Does the Email Log store the full content of every email?

Not by default. Free only ever logs the recipient, subject, status, and (for failures) the error message — never the email body or attachments. Storing the full body and attachment file paths is an opt-in capability that Pro’s Resend From Log add-on can turn on, specifically so there’s something to resend later — and it stays off until you explicitly enable it from the Add-ons page, since it’s a real increase in what’s stored in your database.

What happens to my data if I uninstall the plugin?

Nothing, by default. Deleting the plugin through the Plugins screen leaves your settings and Email Log history in place, in case you reinstall later. If you want everything removed instead, check Delete data on uninstall under Settings → SMTP Configuration before you delete the plugin — that’s a one-way, explicit opt-in, never automatic.

Gmail says my password is wrong, but I’m sure it’s correct.

Gmail doesn’t accept your normal account password for SMTP — you need an App Password instead. Enable 2-Step Verification on the Gmail account, then generate an App Password at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords, and use that generated password in Luxa SMTP’s Password field.

My test email fails — how do I figure out why?

Go to Luxa SMTP → Test Email and send one. If it fails, a debug panel appears right on the page showing the raw SMTP conversation — this almost always points directly at the problem (wrong port, wrong encryption setting TLS/SSL, rejected credentials, etc.).

An email shows as “failed” in the log — will WordPress retry it automatically?

No — WordPress’s wp_mail() never retries on its own; a failure is final unless something else intervenes. This is exactly what Pro’s Backup Connection (automatic retry through a second SMTP server) and Resend From Log (manual resend, one click) add-ons are for.

Can I get notified automatically when an email fails, instead of checking the log?

Yes — that’s Pro’s Failure Alerts add-on: email, Slack, Discord, or a generic webhook, with a configurable cooldown so a burst of failures doesn’t flood you with one alert per failure.

Why does has_update/the WordPress “update available” notice for Pro sometimes not appear right away?

Luxa SMTP Pro’s license check runs on a daily background schedule (plus whenever you click “Check License Now”), not on every single page load — this is intentional so your license status never adds network latency to your site’s normal traffic.

What’s the difference between “Expires” and “Support & Updates” on the License tab?

Expires is when the license itself stops being valid — if this is blank, it’s a lifetime license and never expires. Support & Updates is a separate date tracking how long you’ll receive plugin updates and customer support. A license can still be fully active after its support period ends — every Pro feature keeps working exactly as before, you simply stop receiving new version updates until you renew. The two are deliberately independent so that “my support window lapsed” never means “my plugin stopped working”.

I got an “activation limit reached” error — do I need to contact support?

Not necessarily. The License tab shows every domain currently using your key, each with a one-click Deactivate this domain button — free up an old/unused one yourself (e.g. an abandoned staging site), then try activating again. See the Installation & License Setup Guide, §5, for the full walkthrough.

If my license expires or my internet/the license server has a brief outage, will Pro suddenly stop working?

No. Luxa SMTP Pro is deliberately built to fail safe: only a definitive “invalid” answer from the license server is ever allowed to disable a feature. A network timeout, a DNS hiccup, or the license server having a brief outage all leave your last-known-good license status untouched — the plugin simply tries again later rather than assuming the worst.

Can I turn off one Pro add-on without affecting the others or my license?

Yes. Backup Connection, Failure Alerts, Resend From Log, Export CSV/XLSX, and Weekly Report each have their own independent on/off switch on the Add-ons page. Turning one off:

• Doesn’t touch your license status at all.
• Doesn’t affect any other add-on.
• Keeps that add-on’s own settings saved — turn it back on later and everything is exactly as you left it.

Can I use one Pro license on multiple sites?

Each license allows a limited number of simultaneously-active domains (shown on your purchase confirmation, and as “Domains: X of Y used” on the License tab once activated). You’re free to activate, deactivate, and reactivate on different domains as needed, as long as you stay within that limit at any given moment.

Does Resend From Log resend the exact original email?

Yes — same recipient, subject, body, headers, and attachments (as file paths) as the original. One limitation: if an attachment’s original file (often a temporary one, e.g. a WooCommerce-generated invoice PDF) no longer exists on disk by the time you resend, the email still goes out, just without that attachment.

Does “Resend All” resend emails that already sent successfully too?

Only if you’re viewing the “Success” or “All” filter when you click it — the button and its confirmation message change depending on which view you’re in (“Resend All Failed” on the Failed view, “Resend All Successful” on the Success view, “Resend All” — the strongest warning of the three — on the unfiltered All view). This is intentional so you never bulk-duplicate successful emails by accident.

Is there a limit on how many rows I can export at once?

Exports (both CSV and XLSX) are capped at 10,000 rows per export, to keep a single request from timing out on a very busy site’s log. If you regularly need more than that, export in smaller date-filtered batches, or contact support about your specific use case.