This feature requires MailerPress Pro.
The WordPress Default provider sends MailerPress emails with wp_mail(), the standard WordPress sending function. If your site uses an SMTP plugin (an extension such as Fluent SMTP, Gravity SMTP or WP Mail SMTP that sends your site’s emails through an email service), that plugin handles the delivery. Use WordPress Default if your site’s emails already go through an SMTP plugin and you want MailerPress to follow the same path.
WordPress Default or PHP Mail?
- WordPress Default (MailerPress Pro) calls
wp_mail(): your SMTP plugin intercepts the emails and sends them through its email service, and you manage delivery and email logs in one place. - PHP Mail (MailerPress, free) calls PHP’s
mail()function directly. SMTP plugins don’t intercept these emails.
Without an SMTP plugin, wp_mail() uses your server’s mail function, with the same deliverability limits as PHP Mail. For larger lists, or if you need reliable bounce tracking, connect MailerPress directly to a dedicated provider instead, for example Brevo, Amazon SES or Postmark.
1. Prepare your SMTP plugin
Install and configure your SMTP plugin, and check that it sends your site’s emails correctly. WordPress Default needs no API key and no account.
2. Connect WordPress Default to MailerPress
- Go to MailerPress > Integrations and open the Email Service Providers tab.
- In Other Providers, click Configure on the WordPress Default card.
- Click Save changes. You can leave Bounce tracking provider on its default value (no bounce tracking) for now. The card moves to Configured Providers.
- Turn on the card’s Enable toggle, then click Set as primary provider. The card shows the Primary badge: only the primary provider sends your emails.
The WordPress Default settings have no sender fields: as the notice in the settings window says, your SMTP plugin manages the sender address and name. If your SMTP plugin forces its own sender address, it replaces the sender set in MailerPress.
3. Send a test email
- On the WordPress Default card, open the Actions menu (three dots) and click Send test email.
- Enter a recipient in Send to and click Send.
You should receive an email with the subject “This is a Sending Method Test”. If it doesn’t arrive, check your SMTP plugin’s email log and settings: once MailerPress hands the email to WordPress, delivery depends on your SMTP plugin.
4. Configure the sending speed
The right speed depends on your SMTP plugin and the email service behind it.
- Go to MailerPress > Settings > Sending frequency, or click Adjust sending frequency on the WordPress Default card.
- Under Configuration Mode, choose Profile and select one of the WordPress Default profiles below. You can also choose Automatic to let MailerPress pick a profile, or Manual to set your own values.
- Click Save settings.
| Profile | Emails per batch | Interval | Emails per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative (safe for most SMTP plugins) | 25 | 10 minutes | 150 |
| Standard | 100 | 10 minutes | 600 |
| Performance (dedicated SMTP provider) | 250 | 10 minutes | 1,500 |
Choose Performance only if your SMTP plugin is connected to a transactional email service with high sending limits.
The sending frequency is saved for the provider that is primary at that moment. Set WordPress Default as primary before you click Save settings. See How to change your sending frequency in MailerPress.
5. Enable bounce tracking
With WordPress Default, bounce tracking relies on the email service your SMTP plugin sends through. That service notifies MailerPress of bounces (emails returned as undeliverable, for example because the address doesn’t exist) through a webhook: a URL it calls automatically when an email bounces.
- On the WordPress Default card, click Configure.
- In Bounce tracking provider, select the service your SMTP plugin uses: Brevo, Mailgun, Mailjet, PostMark, SendGrid, Amazon SES, Emailit, SMTP2Go or Resend.
- Under Bounce webhook URL, click Copy. The URL ends with the provider’s key, for example
https://example.com/wp-json/mailerpress/v1/esp/bounce/postmark. - Click Save changes.
- In that provider’s dashboard, paste the URL in its webhook or bounce notification settings. The steps are the same as in the provider’s MailerPress article, for example Postmark or SendGrid.
Select the service your SMTP plugin actually uses. If your SMTP plugin sends through Postmark and you select Brevo, the webhook URL is wrong and no bounce is recorded.
MailerPress records these bounces only if the selected service is also configured on its own card in Email Service Providers, with its credentials and its Enable toggle turned on. Each notification must also be verified: Amazon SES notifications are verified through Amazon SNS, and other services must sign them with a key saved in MailerPress for that service (for example the SendGrid Webhook Verification Key). Unsigned notifications aren’t recorded for emails sent with WordPress Default.
6. Track your bounces
Go to MailerPress > Audience and click the Bounced tab of the contact list. Campaigns only go to subscribed contacts, so bounced contacts no longer receive them.
To compare WordPress Default with the other sending services, see Choose and configure your email sending service.