> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.hosting.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Installing and configuring the Postie plugin

> You can post to your WordPress site by sending e-mail messages. Learn how with the Postie plugin for WordPress.

This article describes how to use the Postie plugin to enable posting to WordPress by e-mail.

<Note>
  Postie is a WordPress plugin. You must install WordPress on your site before you can install Postie. For information about how to install WordPress, please see [this article](/docs/wordpress1).
</Note>

## Posting to WordPress by e-mail

There may be times when you want to be able to post to your WordPress site just by sending an e-mail. For example, if you are using a device such as a smartphone, it can be tedious to log in to the WordPress administration interface and compose a post. It is much easier and convenient to simply compose an e-mail message and send it to an e-mail account that WordPress monitors.

There are several WordPress plugins that allow you to do this. This article describes how to install and configure the Postie plugin.

<Warning>
  **Important**

  For Postie to work correctly and process e-mails in a timely manner, you must have the WordPress cron routine configured. For information about how to set up the WordPress cron routine, please see [this article](/docs/configuring-a-cron-job-for-wordpress).

  📘 Note

  The "Post via e-mail" feature on the **Settings > Writing** page of the WordPress administration interface is deprecated and will be removed in an upcoming version. Additionally, it does not support secure SSL connections. For these reasons, you should instead use a plugin like Postie if you want to enable e-mail posting.
</Warning>

## Installing Postie

To install the Postie plugin, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.

2. In the left-hand pane, click **Plugins**.

3. Click **Add New**.

4. In the **Search** text box, type `postie`, and then click **Search Plugins**.

5. In the **Name** column, locate **Postie**, and then click **Install Now**.

6. After WordPress finishes installing the plugin, click **Activate Plugin**.

## Configuring Postie

After you install the Postie plugin, you can configure it. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.

2. In the left-hand pane, click **Settings**, and then click **Postie**. The **Postie Settings** page appears.

3. On the **Mailserver** tab, in the **Mail Protocol** list box, select **POP3-SSL** or **IMAP-SSL**.

4. In the **Port** text box, type `993` if you selected **IMAP-SSL** in step 3. Otherwise, type `995` if you selected **POP3-SSL** in step 3.

5. In the **Mail Server** text box, type your server name (for example, *mi3-ss80.a2hosting.com* ).
   > 📘 Note
   >
   > For information about how to determine your server name, please see [this article](/docs/determining-your-accounts-server-name).

6. In the **Mail Userid** text box, type the e-mail address where you want to receive post submissions.

7. In the **Mail Password** text box, type the password for the e-mail account you specified in step 6.

8. In the **Check for mail every** list box, select how often you want Postie to check the e-mail account for new messages.
   > 📘 Note
   >
   > If you configured the WordPress cron routine as described in [this article](/docs/configuring-a-cron-job-for-wordpress), select **twice per hour** .

9. In the **Maximum number of emails to process** list box, select a limit on how many messages Postie can process at one time.
   > 🚧 Important
   >
   > We strongly recommend you set a maximum limit on the number of messages for Postie to process at one time. Otherwise, if there is a problem with the e-mail account, you could potentially have dozens (or more) extra posts on your WordPress site.

10. Click the **User** tab.

11. Confirm that the **Allow Anyone To Post Via Email** list box is set to **No**.
    > 🚧 Important
    >
    > If you set this to **Yes** , anyone can send an e-mail to the address you specified in step 6, and it will be posted on your site.

12. In the **Authorized Addresses** text box, type the e-mail address (or addresses) from which you want to allow post submissions.

13. There are many additional settings on the **Message**, **Image**, **Video and Audio**, and **Attachments** tabs that enable you to precisely control how Postie processes e-mail post submissions.
    > 👍 Tip
    >
    > For more information about all of these settings, click the **Help** and **FAQ** tabs.

14. Click **Save Changes**.

15. Under **Postie Settings**, click **Test Config**. Under **Connect to Mail Host**, you should see **Successful IMAP-SSL connection on port 993** or **Successful POP3-SSL connection on port 995**, depending on the protocol you selected in step 3. If you do not receive this message, check the settings you provided in steps 3 to 7, and then try again.

16. Use your e-mail client application or webmail to send a test e-mail message from the address you specified in step 12 to the recipient address you specified in step 6, and then click **Process Email**. The e-mail message should appear on your WordPress front page as a new post.
    > 📘 Note
    >
    > If you configured the WordPress cron routine as described in [this article](/docs/configuring-a-cron-job-for-wordpress), then future e-mail messages will be processed by Postie automatically every 30 minutes.

## More information

For more information about the Postie plugin, please visit [http://wordpress.org/plugins/postie](http://wordpress.org/plugins/postie).

## Related articles

* [Configuring a cron job for WordPress](/docs/configuring-a-cron-job-for-wordpress)

* [Scheduling post publishing in WordPress](/docs/scheduling-post-publishing-in-wordpress)