What are the best practices for handling email sending in PHP, considering issues with the mail() function and SMTP configurations?

Issue: The mail() function in PHP can be unreliable and may not work as expected due to server configurations or limitations. To ensure successful email sending, it is recommended to use SMTP authentication to send emails through a dedicated email server. PHP Code Snippet: 

// Using PHPMailer library for sending emails via SMTP
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;

require 'vendor/autoload.php'; // Include PHPMailer autoload file

// Instantiate PHPMailer
$mail = new PHPMailer(true);

try {
    // Server settings
    $mail->isSMTP();
    $mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
    $mail->SMTPAuth = true;
    $mail->Username = 'your@example.com';
    $mail->Password = 'your_password';
    $mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
    $mail->Port = 587;

    // Recipients
    $mail->setFrom('from@example.com', 'Your Name');
    $mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');

    // Content
    $mail->isHTML(true);
    $mail->Subject = 'Subject';
    $mail->Body = 'Email body content';

    $mail->send();
    echo 'Email has been sent';
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo 'Message could not be sent. Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
}

Keywords

email sending PHP mail() function SMTP configurations libraries

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