• Postie won't connect to my mailserver. Why Not?
  • How can I get postie to display inline images?
  • Mail is not showing up right when I send html (rich formatted) e-mail!
  • Do I need to any code to my theme for postie to work?
  • I read somewhere to add an iframe to my footer. Should I do this?
  • My mail host requires SSL, but postie will not allow me to select pop3-ssl or imap-ssl
  • Can I use postie to check a gmail account?
  • My posts show up as being posted by 'admin' instead of me. Why?
  • Images aren't showing up at all?
  • Can I delete the wp-files directory needed by postie version <1.3.0?
  • How can I get rid of stupid stuff my e-mail provider adds to my messages?
  • How can I add custom attachment icons?
  • Can I add special text to the body of the post when using postie?
  • Can I add special text to the title of the post when using postie?
  • Can I select tags or categories based on the content of the e-mail?
  • Is the IMAP extension required for postie?
  • How can I embed youtube or vimeo videos?
  • Something is going wrong, how do I see what is happening?
  • Why doesn't Postie automatically publish my emails when running manually works
  • Frequently Asked Questions

    Postie won't connect to my mailserver. Why Not?

    Make sure the port you are using is open. For example, bluehost seems to block ports 993 and 995 (for pop3-ssl and imap-ssl) by default. I have heard that you can request that they open them for you ( you might have to pay extra).

    You can check for open ports with the following command on your server:

    netstat -ln|grep -E ':::(993|995|143)'

    If nothing shows up, then the ports are not open.

    How can I get postie to display inline images?

    Make sure that you send e-mail formatted as html (richtext), and set postie to prefer html messages (in the message tab of the postie settings)

    Mail is not showing up right when I send html (rich formatted) e-mail!

    Make sure you set the preferred text type to html

    Do I need to any code to my theme for postie to work?

    No.

    I read somewhere to add an iframe to my footer. Should I do this?

    No. Do not add an iframe in your footer to get postie to check mail periodically. To check e-mail periodically, either set-up a cron job, or use cronless postie. See installation instructions

    My mail host requires SSL, but postie will not allow me to select pop3-ssl or imap-ssl

    You must have php-imap installed on your server for this to work. Ask your hosting provider about this.

    Can I use postie to check a gmail account?

    Yes. You can use either pop3-ssl or imap-ssl with a gmail account. Before attempting to use with postie, make sure that you enable pop or imap in your gmail preferences.

    My posts show up as being posted by 'admin' instead of me. Why?

    If your admin account is linked to bar@gmail.com, and you send mail from bar@gmail.com, it will show up as being posted by admin. If you have a wordpress user named "John Doe", which is linked to johndoe@gmail.com, make sure that you send e-mails from johndoe@gmail.com. It doesn't matter which e-mail address postie is checking. That is, if you send mail from johndoe@gmail.com to foo@gmail.com, it gets posted as "John Doe".

    If you send an e-mail to your postie address from an e-mail address that is no t linked to a wordpress user, it will get posted as admin.

    Images aren't showing up at all?

    There are a couple possible reasons for this. First, check to see if you can add an image through wordpress's normal posting mechanism. If not, then there is probably 1 or 2 problems: 1. Your server does not have the php-gd library installed. Ask your hosting provider about this.

    1. Your wp-content/uploads directory is not writable by the webserver. Make sure that it is

    Can I delete the wp-files directory needed by postie version <1.3.0?

    If you have posts published already by older versions of postie, getting rid of those directories will delete any files you might have had associated with those old posts. If you don't have any such posts, then you can safely delete them.

    How can I get rid of stupid stuff my e-mail provider adds to my messages?

    To strip off stuff that they add at the beginning of a message, start your post with :start

    To strip off stuff that they add at the end of a message, end your post with :end

    How can I add custom attachment icons?

    Simply upload the icons you want to the postie/icons/custom directory. You must name the icons according to the following scheme:

    {filetype}-{size}.png

    For example, for word documents, you could use:

    doc-32.png

    for a 32x32 pixel icon. (You can actually create any size icon you want, but if you name it 32, then it will only be used if you select to use size 32 icons)

    See the other directories in icons for more examples.

    Currently the following filetypes are supported:

    Can I add special text to the body of the post when using postie?

    Yes. You can create your own function, and use the postie_post filter. Two short examples are included in the filterPostie.php.sample file

    Can I add special text to the title of the post when using postie?

    Yes. You can create your own function, and use the postie_post filter. Two short examples are included in the filterPostie.php.sample file

    Can I select tags or categories based on the content of the e-mail?

    Yes. You can create your own function, and use the postie_post filter. See the filterPostie.php.sample file for examples.

    Is the IMAP extension required for postie?

    The IMAP extension is not required, but it is strongly recommended, especially is you are using non-English text. There is more information on php.net about installing the IMAP extension. If you have control over your server, it is often not hard to install.

    On Ubuntu, try

    sudo apt-get install php5-imap

    On Fedora, try

    sudo yuminstall php-imap

    The IMAP extension is known to be installed on the following popular webhosts: * Dreamhost

    How can I embed youtube or vimeo videos?

    Simply put the url in the body of your e-mail. (Make sure that you have the option to convert url into links turned on)

    Something is going wrong, how do I see what is happening?

    Add the following lines to your wp-config.php file

    define('WP_DEBUG', true);
    define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
    define('POSTIE_DEBUG', true);

    Various errors, warning and informational will be written to the wp-content\debug.log file. There may also be all sorts of warnings and messages in your site as well depending on how well behaved your other plugins and themes are, so you will not want to leave these settings set to true all the time.

    Why doesn't Postie automatically publish my emails when running manually works

    WordPress cron (which Postie relies on) doesn't run unless a page is accessed on the site. So if you send an email, but nobody accesses the site for 3 days Postie won't be given the chance to fetch the email and publish the post.

    To ensure that Postie runs smoothly on a low or no volume site you need to ensure that a page gets hit (any page is fine). Use something like cron + curl on Linux or install curl on Windows and use the Scheduled Tasks control panel. If you are using a hosting company that doesn't allow you access to cron you can use a service like SetCronJob.

    It is also possible to turn the WordPress cron off. Please make sure something like

    define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

    is not in your wp-config.php file.