Getting email into the inbox is mostly about proving to the receiving service that the mail really comes from you.
Use a mailbox on your own domain
Mail sent straight from your web server is often filtered to Junk because nothing vouches for it. Create a mailbox on your domain (for example hello@yourdomain.com) at your host, then in Leaf Email, SMTP, enter the mail server, the mailbox as the username and its password. Use the same mailbox as the sender in Delivery and in your campaigns. The password is stored encrypted.
SPF, DKIM and DMARC
- SPF: a TXT record on your domain that authorises your sending service. Your host shows the value.
- DKIM: turn on DKIM signing at your host and publish the record they give you.
- DMARC: publish _dmarc.yourdomain with at least
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:you@yourdomain. Tighten it to quarantine once reports look clean.
Sending speed and the queue
Leaf Email sends through a queue at a speed you set (Delivery, 1 to 100 a minute, default 10). Failed messages are retried. A message interrupted mid-send is marked outcome_unknown and is never resent automatically, so nobody gets a duplicate.
A real cron job
WordPress only runs scheduled tasks when someone visits the site, which can delay sending. Add a cron job at your host that runs every minute:
wget -q -O /dev/null "https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron=$(date +%s)"Leaf Email, Help shows this command with your own address filled in.
Start small
Send to a few addresses you control first. Watch Queue and Reports for failures before sending to everyone.