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EMAIL_SETUP.md

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Email Configuration

The contact and subscription forms are now configured to use Django's proper email system.

Development Setup

In development mode (DEBUG=True), emails are printed to the console instead of being sent.

Production Setup

Gmail Setup (Recommended)

  1. Enable 2-Factor Authentication on your Gmail account

  2. Generate an App Password:

    • Go to Google Account settings
    • Security → 2-Step Verification → App passwords
    • Generate a password for "Mail"
    • Use this password, not your regular Gmail password

  3. Set Environment Variables:

export EMAIL_HOST_USER="your-email@gmail.com"
export EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD="your-16-character-app-password"
export DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL="noreply@charlesperry.com"

Alternative Email Providers

You can use other SMTP providers by setting:

export EMAIL_HOST="smtp.your-provider.com"
export EMAIL_PORT="587"  # or 465 for SSL
export EMAIL_USE_TLS="true"  # or "false" for SSL

Popular Alternatives:

  • SendGrid: smtp.sendgrid.net:587
  • Mailgun: smtp.mailgun.org:587
  • AWS SES: email-smtp.region.amazonaws.com:587

Testing

To test the email functionality:

  1. Start the development server: python manage.py runserver
  2. Navigate to /bio/contact/
  3. Fill out and submit the contact form
  4. Check the console output (in development) or your email (in production)

Security Notes

  • Never commit email passwords to version control
  • Use environment variables for all sensitive email settings
  • Consider using app-specific passwords instead of main account passwords
  • In production, monitor email sending logs for any issues