WP Panel v1.8.0 Officially Released: WordPress Managed Email Now Available

WP Panel v1.8.0 is officially released.

This update adds completeWordPress Managed Email: Server administrators can securely provide the panel's existing external SMTP to designated WordPress websites for sending low-frequency transactional emails, without handing over the SMTP host, account, or authorization code to the website.

It is not a marketing bulk email tool, nor an email server. v1.8.0 is more concerned with how critical emails such as password resets, account notifications, and form alerts are explicitly authorized, quota-limited, logged, and kept explainable in case of failure.

Dual confirmation from server and website

Managed email is disabled by default. Enabling it for a website requires two steps:

• The server administrator authorizes the website in WP Panel's website details;
• The website administrator confirms again on the Managed Email page in WP Panel Optimizer.

Only when the panel explicitly authorizes the current website will the companion plugin display the Managed Email tab and the WordPress „Settings“ sidebar entry. If unauthorized or the panel status is unavailable, it is hidden by default to prevent website administrators from seeing unusable configurations.

Website administrators can manage sender display information

Once authorized, website administrators can set the default sender name and default Reply-To in the plugin, without needing to contact the server administrator for these two settings. The SMTP sending mailbox remains controlled by the server and is not delivered to the website.

• Server administrators can lock the sender name; once locked, the plugin is read-only and the backend will reject bypass attempts;
• The plugin can send real test emails to the WordPress administrator email or a temporarily specified address;
• Test emails use the same managed pipeline as business emails, count toward quotas, and are written to the site's logs.

Conservative quotas and clear failure behavior

The panel simultaneously limits sending volume for individual websites and the entire server, and restricts the number of recipients, final size, and attachment count per email. Websites using the same SMTP account will not completely lose boundaries due to a sudden large volume of emails from one site.

• Alerts at 70% and 90% of total quota, and blocks further sending when 100% is reached;
• Explicit authentication failures, provider rate limiting, or consecutive failures for a single site trigger a temporary pause;
• Pauses takeover when known third-party SMTP plugins are detected, and does not automatically re-enable after conflicts are removed;
• If managed sending fails after starting, it will not silently fall back to PHP mail, nor automatically retry.

These rules keep failures visible, prevent the same email from being sent repeatedly in an uncertain state, or bypassing the SMTP path expected by the server administrator.

More complete site email logs

WP Panel Optimizer records recent managed emails in the current website database. After clicking „View“, the popup will display:

• Send date, status, subject, sender name, and Reply-To;
• To, CC, BCC, Message-ID, duration, and email size;
• Attachment information, custom email headers, isolated HTML preview, and fully escaped original content;
• Audit of body viewers and viewing times.

The full body is stored only on the corresponding website and does not enter the panel database. By default, a maximum of 250 entries and 7 days are retained; website administrators can shorten the retention period, reduce the number of entries, or disable body storage. Since the body may contain verification codes, password reset links, or personal information, viewing permissions should be granted only to administrators who need to troubleshoot.

Clearer SMTP diagnostics

The alerts page can now use saved configurations to diagnose DNS, IPv4/IPv6 connectivity, TLS or STARTTLS, authentication, and email submission in stages. Diagnostic reports do not include passwords or authorization codes, nor do they automatically modify firewall or network configurations.

Diagnostic emails and regular test emails are two separate sends: after running diagnostics, clicking „Send Test Email“ will result in the mailbox receiving one diagnostic email and one regular test email separately. Saving the SMTP configuration alone will not automatically send emails.

Upgrade and compatibility

• The panel database will automatically upgrade to schema version1.0.68；
• WP Panel Optimizer updated to1.1.38, and existing email logs will be retained;
• The upgrade will not automatically authorize websites, send test emails, or change existing SMTP settings;
• Does not modify installation scripts, Nginx, PHP-FPM, MariaDB, Redis, or firewall configurations;
• WordPress Multisite is not currently supported.

Upgrade now

WP Panel v1.8.0 has been officially released: viewv1.8.0 release page。

For detailed operations and limitations, please seeWebsites, Domains, SSL, Cache, and CDN与Software, Scheduled Tasks, Alerts, and Settings。