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Opened 8 years ago

Closed 5 years ago

Last modified 5 years ago

#39110 closed enhancement (fixed)

Better error handling when email cannot be sent during password reset

Reported by: johnbillion's profile johnbillion Owned by: johnbillion's profile johnbillion
Milestone: 5.3 Priority: normal
Severity: normal Version:
Component: Site Health Keywords: has-patch servehappy has-screenshots
Focuses: Cc:

Description

If an email cannot be sent during a password reset (due to server misconfiguration etc), this is potentially a blocker for the user. Currently the user is presented with the message:

The email could not be sent.
Possible reason: your host may have disabled the mail() function.

This is a dead end and there's no suggested next action for the user. There's a good chance that this is the first time the user has been made aware that their server is unable to send emails.

A few things could be done to make this situation less painful, or avoid arriving at this situation in the first place.

  1. During installation, if the New WordPress Site email fails to send then a flag should be set which triggers a dismissable notification in the admin area stating that outgoing emails don't appear to be working, with a link to some documentation on the subject.
  2. During password reset, the The email could not be sent error message should be presented in a nicer format (possibly returning a WP_Error from retrieve_password() instead of triggering a wp_die()) and should have some more helpful information, including a link to external documentation.

Attachments (3)

39110.patch (1.3 KB) - added by neelpatel7295 7 years ago.
Patch related to display error message instead of die
39110.2.patch (1.5 KB) - added by johnbillion 5 years ago.
email_disabled.png (105.2 KB) - added by johnbillion 5 years ago.

Download all attachments as: .zip

Change History (23)

#1 @neelpatel7295
7 years ago

  • Keywords has-patch added; needs-patch removed

I have done the half of job, added a patch related not die the . instead of
I have done the half of the work. I have added a patch related it will not die when displaying the message like "The email could not be sent". Instead of it will stay on same page and displaying the error message.

@neelpatel7295
7 years ago

Patch related to display error message instead of die

#2 follow-up: @johnbillion
7 years ago

  • Milestone changed from Awaiting Review to 5.0
  • Summary changed from Better error handling when emails cannot be sent (specifically during password reset) to Better error handling when email cannot be sent during password reset

I like this change, @neelpatel7295.

#3 in reply to: ↑ 2 @neelpatel7295
7 years ago

Replying to johnbillion:

I like this change, @neelpatel7295.

Thanks for your appreciation, actually i didn't found any documentation link which relevant to how to solve such problem. Also currently focusing on the first point and definitely provide related solution soon.

#4 @estelaris
6 years ago

  • Keywords ux-feedback removed

@neelpatel7295 your patch seems to solve the issue. A correction in the language

Email cannot be sent. Please check your hosting server have enabled the mail() function()

Make sure it says: "HAS enabled" not "HAVE enabled"

#5 @pento
6 years ago

  • Milestone changed from 5.0 to 5.1

#6 @pento
6 years ago

  • Keywords needs-refresh added
  • Milestone changed from 5.1 to 5.2

39110.patch needs updating to apply cleanly against trunk.

#7 @desrosj
6 years ago

  • Milestone changed from 5.2 to 5.3

Patch still needs a refresh.

#8 @johnbillion
5 years ago

  • Keywords servehappy added

@johnbillion
5 years ago

#9 @johnbillion
5 years ago

  • Keywords needs-refresh removed

39110.2.patch improves the terminology used in the error message and adds a localised link to the support article on resetting your password. This removes the dead-end nature of this error, and provides the user with some alternative methods for resetting their password.

#10 @johnbillion
5 years ago

  • Keywords has-screenshots added

#11 @desrosj
5 years ago

This is looking good. I have a few thoughts on 39110.2.patch, though.

  • At first glance, I would think that email_disabled is an error passed from a function like wp_mail() to indicate e-mails were intentionally disabled. Maybe the error code could be reset_email_failure, or something more specific to the action taking place (unless this same message can be triggered somewhere else and should be a bit more global feeling). email_disabled could also be an error in plugin land somewhere.
  • The wording still feels awkward to me. I think that having Possible reason: sandwiched between too proper sentences is throwing me off.

I also don't think that the message even needs to mention a server. Maybe something less technical could suffice.

Worked through this with @johnbillion in Slack and we arrived at: Error: The email could not be sent. Your site may not be correctly configured to send emails. Get support for resetting your password. (with the current bold/linking).

#12 @johnbillion
5 years ago

[45404] missed this ticket.

#13 @johnbillion
5 years ago

  • Resolution set to fixed
  • Status changed from new to closed

Closing this as fixed. If someone feels like picking up the email failure detection piece that I mentioned in the description then feel free to open a followup ticket.

#14 @SergeyBiryukov
5 years ago

  • Resolution fixed deleted
  • Status changed from closed to reopened

e-mail should be standardized to email, see [33774].

#15 @johnbillion
5 years ago

Huh. I did think that we'd standardised on email over e-mail. Turns out I was running English (UK) locally which uses e-mail.

#16 @johnbillion
5 years ago

  • Owner set to johnbillion
  • Resolution set to fixed
  • Status changed from reopened to closed

In 45405:

Mail: Use the standardised spelling of email in the password reset error message.

Fixes #39110

#17 @SergeyBiryukov
5 years ago

Note: The same string is also used in WP_Recovery_Mode_Email_Service::maybe_send_recovery_mode_email().

It should probably be updated as well for consistency, but that depends on where it is displayed and whether it supports HTML. Related: #47255.

#18 @TimothyBlynJacobs
5 years ago

but that depends on where it is displayed and whether it supports HTML

The WP_Error returned by the email service is not currently displayed anywhere. However, I'd expect that to change when #47192 lands. I think HTML could probably be supported in that context, but @spacedmonkey would have a better idea.

#19 @johnbillion
5 years ago

That email is for a different purpose, it just used the same string.

#20 @spacedmonkey
5 years ago

  • Component changed from Mail to Site Health
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