Configure email server

4 min

Configure an email server so Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) can send notifications (for example, to editors working with projects or content approvals) and so Forms can send emails from form submissions.

📘 Note For Optimizely Digital Experience Platform (DXP) deployments, see Configure the email server for the DXP-specific procedure.

Before you begin

Have the following SMTP values ready:

SMTP host

SMTP port

User name

Password

SSL requirement (true or false)

Default from-address

Configure the SMTP server

Specify an SMTP server endpoint that the site can reach and that sends emails from the configured from-address. The from-address acts as a fallback. Notifications, forms, and other features that use the .NET SMTP functionality can override it.

Configure settings in appSettings.json:

{
  "EPiServer": {
    "CMS": {
      "Smtp": {
        "DeliveryMethod": "Network",
        "Network": {
          "Host": "smtp.example.com",
          "Port": "25",
          "UserName": "user name",
          "Password": "password",
          "UseSsl": "true/false"
        },
        "SpecifiedPickupDirectory": "Pickup directory to place email files in"
      }
    }
  }
}

Default sender for notifications (optional)

Configure default sender settings for notifications. Specify an email address and display name for project, content approval, and similar editor notifications. A notification can override these defaults with a custom sender. When NotificationEmailAddress is empty, CMS falls back to the from-address on the SMTP settings in the previous section. When neither value is set, CMS cannot send notifications.

{
  "EPiServer": {
    "Cms": {
      "Notification": {
        "NotificationEmailAddress": "System default email address for notification emails.",
        "NotificationEmailDisplayName": "System default sender name for notification emails. Default value is Optimizely."
      }
    }
  }
}