Why the WordPress Administration Email Should Match Your Website’s Domain

To ensure that your website’s email functions properly and that messages sent from WordPress do not get marked as spam or fail authentication checks, the administration email address under General > Settings should be set to an address that matches your website’s domain.

Key Technical Reasons

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

SPF records define which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. If your WordPress site sends email using an address from a different domain (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook), it may fail SPF checks, causing messages to be rejected or marked as spam.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

DKIM ensures email integrity by signing messages with a cryptographic signature associated with your domain. If the email address does not match your domain, DKIM authentication may fail, reducing deliverability.

SMTP Authentication Issues

Many email providers enforce strict authentication rules to prevent spoofing. If WordPress attempts to send emails using an address from an external domain, SMTP servers may reject the messages outright.

Example Scenario: Using a Yahoo.com Email as the WordPress Administrator Email

Let’s assume the WordPress website is example.com, and the site owner has set their administrator email to user@yahoo.com in Settings > General. When WordPress sends an email (e.g., a password reset request), the email must travel through several authentication steps. Below is a step-by-step breakdown of what happens:

1. WordPress Generates the Email

• The website (example.com) triggers an email from WordPress.
• The From: address is set to user@yahoo.com (since it’s set in WordPress settings).
• The email is handed off to the server’s mail function (typically PHP mail() or an SMTP relay like Postfix or Sendmail).

2. Mail Server Attempts to Send the Email

• The email is sent from your website's server.
• The SMTP server tries to send the email with From: user@yahoo.com.

3. SPF (Sender Policy Framework) Check Fails

• The receiving mail server (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, or another recipient) checks the SPF record for yahoo.com.
• SPF records for Yahoo.com specify that only Yahoo’s own servers are allowed to send email using @yahoo.com addresses.
• Since the email came from example.com’s hosting server (not Yahoo’s authorized mail servers), SPF fails.

🚨 Result: The email is likely flagged as spoofed or unverified and could be rejected or marked as spam.

4. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) Check Fails

• DKIM ensures that an email is properly signed by the domain owner.
• The recipient’s mail server checks the DKIM signature of the email.
• Since the email came from example.com, but the From address is user@yahoo.com, there is no valid DKIM signature from Yahoo.
• DKIM verification fails.

🚨 Result: The email is further weakened in authentication and may be discarded or sent to spam.

5. DMARC (Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) Policy Enforces Rejection

• Yahoo has a strict DMARC policy (p=reject), meaning emails that fail SPF and DKIM should be rejected outright.
• Because neither SPF nor DKIM passed, the recipient server follows Yahoo’s DMARC policy and rejects the email.

🚨 Final Result: The email is bounced and never reaches the intended recipient.

SMTP Relay and Server Authentication Issues

If the server is configured to send mail through an SMTP service (e.g., SendGrid, Postmark, or an email relay), the relay server may override the From: address or reject the message outright due to authentication failures.

Some web hosts block sending emails with a From address that doesn’t match the hosted domain to prevent spoofing issues.

Proper Fix: Use a Domain-Matching Email

✅ Instead of user@yahoo.com, use wordpress@example.com or another email address tied to the website’s domain. This ensures that:

• SPF passes (your domain’s mail servers are authorized to send email).
• DKIM passes (your email service can sign emails properly).
• DMARC aligns (email is verified as legitimate).
• SMTP authentication works correctly.

This is critical for ensuring WordPress notifications, contact form emails, and user communications don’t get lost or blocked.

Why Your Non-Domain Email (Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, etc.) “Seems to Work” – But Isn’t Reliable

You may have been using an email address like user@yahoo.com or user@gmail.com as your WordPress administrator email for years without noticing major issues. However, just because some emails appear to be delivered doesn’t mean they are consistently working or reaching all recipients.

Here’s why:

1. Some Emails Are Delivered, But Many Are Blocked or Marked as Spam

• When WordPress sends an email (like password resets, contact form notifications, or admin alerts), the recipient’s mail server checks SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication.
• Since your website’s server is not authorized to send email on behalf of Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, etc., most strict email providers reject or flag the email.
• Some email providers are more lenient and let messages through, especially if the recipient has previously received emails from you.
• However, other providers silently reject the email, so you never even see the failure.

✅ It works inconsistently. Some emails get through, but many do not.

2. Email Rules Have Gotten Stricter in Recent Years

• Over the last few years, email providers have significantly tightened their security policies to prevent spam and phishing.
• For example, Yahoo and Gmail now enforce strict DMARC policies (p=reject), meaning any email that fails SPF and DKIM will be outright rejected.
• Even if you didn’t notice issues before, deliverability is getting worse, and this setup is becoming increasingly unreliable.

✅ What worked before is not guaranteed to keep working.

3. Your Hosting Server May Be “Helping” Without You Realizing It

• Some web hosts may override the “From” email address to a domain-matching address when sending messages.
• This makes it look like emails are coming from your Yahoo/Gmail address, but they are actually being sent as something like wordpress@example.com instead.
• While this prevents outright failures, it causes confusion—replies to the email may go to the wrong place.

✅ Your emails might be getting “rewritten” without you knowing.

4. You’re Not Seeing the Failures

• If WordPress sends an email and it gets blocked or rejected, you don’t always get a bounce-back message.
• Many email servers reject emails silently, meaning you’ll never know if an important message didn’t reach its destination.
• Some emails may land in the recipient’s spam folder, which means they might never see them.

✅ Just because you’re not getting error messages doesn’t mean emails are always being received.

The Right Way to Fix This

To ensure all WordPress emails are delivered reliably, the best practice is to use an email address from your own domain (e.g., wordpress@example.com) and configure proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC).

📌 If you don’t have a domain-based email address yet, we can help you set one up with services like:

• 37SOLUTIONS Managed Email Hosting (less expensive IMAP, full-featured Microsoft Exchange, and Hybrid solutions)
• Google Workspace (Gmail for business)
• Microsoft 365 (Outlook for business)
• Zoho Mail (affordable hosted email)

This will ensure all WordPress emails authenticate correctly, improving deliverability and reducing the chances of important messages getting lost.

Best Practice

Use an email address that belongs to your domain (e.g., wordpress@yourwebsite.com). This aligns with authentication policies, improves email deliverability, and ensures important notifications (such as user registrations, password resets, and plugin alerts) reach their intended destination.

If your website is currently using a third-party email address, we can help update the settings and ensure proper email authentication is in place.

Reach out to support to get a proper mailbox configured for your website's domain name here.