About email sending

Your survey site sends invitations, reminders and notifications by email. Out of the box it uses the LimeSurvey Cloud mail servers, so it works without any setup. If you want emails to come from your own mail server and address, switch to SMTP. You set this on the Email settings tab of Global settings, and you need the Settings & plugins permission.

Choose the email method

1. Click the gear icon in the sidebar of the workspace to open Global settings, and go to the Email settings tab.
2. Under Email method, choose:
   • LimeSurvey Cloud: our mail servers send your emails. Nothing else to set up.
   • SMTP: your own mail server sends them. Fill in the fields below.
   • Plugin: an email plugin sends them. Pick it under Email plugin.
3. Save.

Send through your own SMTP server

Ask your email provider or IT team for the details of the SMTP server, then fill in:

• SMTP host: the name of the mail server. If it uses a special port, add it with a colon, for example smtp.example.com:587.
• SMTP username and SMTP password: the login of the mailbox that sends. The username is often the email address.
• SMTP encryption: Off, SSL/TLS or StartTLS, as your provider says.

Default site admin email and Administrator name are the sender of the emails of the site itself. Save, then use Send test email to check the connection.

Tip: If the test fails, set SMTP debug mode to On errors and send the test again: the error shows what went wrong. Switch it back to Off afterwards.

Note: Invitations and reminders use the sender address in the settings of each survey. Enter an address there that your SMTP server is allowed to send from. If your mail server only accepts known senders, ask your IT team to allow the IP address of your survey site.

Pace large mailings

Email batch size and Email sending rate control how many emails go out at once and how fast. Lower them if your mail server limits the number of emails per minute.

Next steps

• Get your invitations delivered
• Global settings
• Edit the email templates

FAQ

Which address do emails come from with the LimeSurvey Cloud method?

From a LimeSurvey address, with your address as the reply address, so replies reach you. To send from your own address, use SMTP.

Do I see bounced emails?

With your own SMTP server, bounces come back to your mailbox. To mark bounced participants automatically, see Get your invitations delivered.

Microsoft 365 rejects my username and password. Why?

Microsoft 365 no longer accepts a username and password for SMTP and needs an OAuth setup. Ask your IT team, or use the LimeSurvey Cloud method.