Answers.Body: <p>If you want CiviCRM to send email, you'll need a means of delivering them! <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SMTP</a> is the internet protocol for doing this. Unlike Linux, Windows does not typically include an SMTP service out of the box. That's OK - you probably want to outsource that task to a provider!</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Since you're coming from a LAN, it may be that your internet provider offers an SMTP server you may use. This would be suitable for limited mail use, but <strong>not suitable for large mailouts</strong>. Consult with your ISP to understand their usage policy.</li>
  <li>You mention you're on a LAN at an institute. It's possible your institute provides an SMTP service already - your IT support (assuming you aren't the IT support yourself!) may be able to help.</li>
  <li>Dedicated SMTP providers (<a href="https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/Mailing+providers" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wiki listing</a>) are your next option.
  
  <ul>
  <li>Some of these offer a <strong>free tier</strong> (see my comment below). Free service may have some other cost associated, so choose a provider that you trust (they will be delivering your mail!) and can rely on. </li>
  <li>Some of these providers will <strong>require a plugin</strong> to work well with CiviCRM.</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li>It's possible to use some "regular" mail providers (Google Apps and similar providers) as an SMTP service. Unless this is a development or test instance, I would <strong>not recommend this</strong>. (Basically, if you depend on the mails being delivered quickly, choose a dedicated service from those above and pay a few bucks.)</li>
  <li>Since you're hosting on Windows, you can't use <code>mail()</code> or <code>sendmail</code> options without installing a local <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_transfer_agent" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Message Transfer Agent (MTA)</a>. This <strong>probably isn't the right option</strong> for you; choose this only if you have experience with managing internet-facing mail servers.</li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-07-05T23:09:03.847Z
Answers.Text: I've had good experience with testing Sendgrid's free tier in the past, and I've tested ElasticEmail recently too. For development instances I use a throwaway gmail account myself. Free providers should be selected carefully; expect conditions, limitations, and ask yourself what the deal really is (remember - your contact data may be sensitive, so you want to consider privacy and trust issues in depth, for your organisation and your contacts sake).
Answers.UserDisplayName: Chris Burgess
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-07-06T00:07:02.947Z
Answers.Text: You also said you wanted to send from Gmail. You can send "as" your Gmail account from anywhere, but unless it originates from Gmails servers, it may be flagged as spam. Your best options there are (1) send via gmail (with caveats above), or (2) select an address / domain you control to send from and use that instead.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Chris Burgess
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-07-10T16:25:26.067Z
Answers.Text: We've been very happy with the free tier (100K free messages/month) from SparkPost (I'm not affiliated with them)
Answers.UserDisplayName: MtnPavlas
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-07-26T13:09:59.763Z
Answers.Text: I am the IT Admin :) with no experience of it, learning on the job !!
Answers.UserDisplayName: Parthibaraj Rajasekar
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-07-05T23:06:32.883Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-07-06T00:02:18.797Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2017-07-06T00:02:18.797Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Chris Burgess
Body: <p>I am running CiviCRM 4.7.20 on Windows 7, Wordpress. CiviCRM will be accessible only in our LAN network. Want to use the mail functionalities. Got stuck with the email configuration. Bit confused with the steps. I need to send emails to my contacts from 1. Gmail 2. My institute's email addresses.</p>
  
  <p>Is SMTP necessary? If yes how to proceed? If no, what other options?</p>
  
  <p>New to Web technology. Any help would be appreciated. Little better explanation than help docs is needed</p>
  
  <p>Thanks,
  Partha</p>
  
Tags: <civimail><email><mailing><configuration><settings>
Title: configuring SMTP on windows 7 for Civicrm
ThreadText: # configuring SMTP on windows 7 for Civicrm
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-05)
  
  I am running CiviCRM 4.7.20 on Windows 7, Wordpress. CiviCRM will be accessible only in our LAN network. Want to use the mail functionalities. Got stuck with the email configuration. Bit confused with the steps. I need to send emails to my contacts from 1. Gmail 2. My institute's email addresses.
  
  Is SMTP necessary? If yes how to proceed? If no, what other options?
  
  New to Web technology. Any help would be appreciated. Little better explanation than help docs is needed
  
  Thanks,
  Partha
  
  **Tags:** civimail, email, mailing, configuration, settings
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2017-07-05. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  If you want CiviCRM to send email, you'll need a means of delivering them! [SMTP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol) is the internet protocol for doing this. Unlike Linux, Windows does not typically include an SMTP service out of the box. That's OK - you probably want to outsource that task to a provider!
  
  * Since you're coming from a LAN, it may be that your internet provider offers an SMTP server you may use. This would be suitable for limited mail use, but **not suitable for large mailouts**. Consult with your ISP to understand their usage policy.
  * You mention you're on a LAN at an institute. It's possible your institute provides an SMTP service already - your IT support (assuming you aren't the IT support yourself!) may be able to help.
  * Dedicated SMTP providers ([Wiki listing](https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/Mailing+providers)) are your next option.
    + Some of these offer a **free tier** (see my comment below). Free service may have some other cost associated, so choose a provider that you trust (they will be delivering your mail!) and can rely on.
    + Some of these providers will **require a plugin** to work well with CiviCRM.
  * It's possible to use some "regular" mail providers (Google Apps and similar providers) as an SMTP service. Unless this is a development or test instance, I would **not recommend this**. (Basically, if you depend on the mails being delivered quickly, choose a dedicated service from those above and pay a few bucks.)
  * Since you're hosting on Windows, you can't use `mail()` or `sendmail` options without installing a local [Message Transfer Agent (MTA)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_transfer_agent). This **probably isn't the right option** for you; choose this only if you have experience with managing internet-facing mail servers.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: I've had good experience with testing Sendgrid's free tier in the past, and I've tested ElasticEmail recently too. For development instances I use a throwaway gmail account myself. Free providers should be selected carefully; expect conditions, limitations, and ask yourself what the deal really is (remember - your contact data may be sensitive, so you want to consider privacy and trust issues in depth, for your organisation and your contacts sake).  
  > **username_1**: You also said you wanted to send from Gmail. You can send "as" your Gmail account from anywhere, but unless it originates from Gmails servers, it may be flagged as spam. Your best options there are (1) send via gmail (with caveats above), or (2) select an address / domain you control to send from and use that instead.  
  > **username_2**: We've been very happy with the free tier (100K free messages/month) from SparkPost (I'm not affiliated with them)  
  > **username_0**: I am the IT Admin :) with no experience of it, learning on the job !!  
  
  ---
  
  