[#]: subject: "Use Django to send emails with SMTP" [#]: via: "https://opensource.com/article/22/12/django-send-emails-smtp" [#]: author: "Sofiia Tarhonska https://opensource.com/users/sofiiatarhonska" [#]: collector: "lkxed" [#]: translator: " " [#]: reviewer: " " [#]: publisher: " " [#]: url: " " Use Django to send emails with SMTP ====== Numerous professions utilize simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) to deliver emails to their end users. SMTP also retrieves messages, though that has not been its primary use case. Open source frameworks like Django, a Python-based web framework, allows more control for sending emails using functions and expressions. This article shows how to configure an SMTP server and send emails in Django using SMTP. ### Project setup and overview Before proceeding, this tutorial requires a code editor (such as [VS Code or Codium][1]) on your preferred device. Start by creating a new directory using the command in the terminal: ``` mkdir exampledirectory ``` Then change into the directory using the command: ``` cd exampledirectory ``` Within the newly created directory, create a [virtual environment][2] using the built-in venv module in the command terminal: ``` python -m venv ``` This command creates a virtual environment within the folder created earlier. To activate it, use the following command in the terminal: On Linux and Mac: ``` source .virtenv/bin/activate ``` On Windows: ``` \Scripts\activate ``` ### Creating a Django project After activating the virtual environment, proceed to install the Django package from [pip][3]: ``` pip install django ``` Create a new Django project: ``` python -m django startproject NewEmailProject ``` This command creates a project with the name `NewEmailProject`. To run the project, head to the project directory (`NewEmailProject`) and run the server: ``` python manage.py runserver ``` Open the link for the developmental server in a browser. You see the Django homepage with release notes. ### Configuration for sending emails Next, open the `settings.py` file (in the `NewEmailProject` folder) to customize configurations for sending emails using Django. Scroll to the end of the code and update the file with the following code: ``` EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend' EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.yourserver.com' EMAIL_USE_TLS = False EMAIL_PORT = 465 EMAIL_USE_SSL = True EMAIL_HOST_USER = 'your@djangoapp.com' EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = 'your password' ``` Change the value of the `EMAIL_HOST` depending on your email client. Here are the acceptable values for common email clients: - **Gmail:**`smtp.gmail.com` - **Outlook:**`smtp-mail.outlook.com` - **Yahoo:**`smtp.mail.yahoo.com` You can change the `EMAIL_PORT` or leave 465 as the default. You can use the secure socket layer (SSL) and transport socket layer (TSL) interchangeably as they specify connection security. To figure out other custom configurations for your email server, check out the full [Django Project documentation][4]. ### SMTP email backend The `EMAIL_BACKEND` expression helps determine the most suitable backend when sending emails through the Django SMTP server. This variable points to `smtp.EmailBackend`, which receives all the parameters needed for sending emails. It tells Django to send the email to the recipient email using SMTP and not to the console. ### Sending emails with SMTP When the environment is set up and `settings.py` is updated, you can send emails in Django. You can use an HTML form that sends a post request of the necessary information needed for sending an email. Create a Django application for sending emails: ``` python manage.py startapp mail ``` Next, open the `settings.py` file and add the Django application (mail) to the `INSTALLED_APPS` list: ``` INSTALLED_APPS = [ "django.contrib.admin", "django.contrib.auth", "django.contrib.contenttypes", "django.contrib.sessions", "django.contrib.messages", "django.contrib.staticfiles", "mail"] ``` ### Send mail function In the mail application's `views.py` file, start by importing the `EmailMessage` and `get_connection` from `django.core.mail`: ``` from django.core.mail import EmailMessage, get_connection ``` The `EmailMessage` class is responsible for creating the email message itself. The `get_connection()` function returns an instance of the email backend specified in `EMAIL_BACKEND`. Now create a function that accepts a `POST` request, which contains form data submitted from the client side. Followed by the `get_connection()` functions parameters containing the email configurations created in the project `settings.py` file. Next, import the settings: ``` from django.conf import settings ``` This import allows access to the email configurations created in the `settings.py`. Next, create the variables: ``` subject, recipient_list, ``` Then you can `message`, and store the corresponding attributes used in the HTML form. The `email_from` variable contains the sender email, which is obtained from `EMAIL_HOST_USER` in the `settings.py` file. After the variables are processed, the `EmailMessage` class sends an email using the `sends()` method, and then closes the connection. The `send_email()` function renders the `home.html` file containing the email form. You can create a templates folder within your mail application and store the HTML files within that folder: ``` from django.core.mail import EmailMessage, get_connectionfrom django.conf import settingsdef send_email(request):      if request.method == "POST":        with get_connection(              host=settings.EMAIL_HOST,      port=settings.EMAIL_PORT,        username=settings.EMAIL_HOST_USER,      password=settings.EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD,      use_tls=settings.EMAIL_USE_TLS          ) as connection:              subject = request.POST.get("subject")              email_from = settings.EMAIL_HOST_USER              recipient_list = [request.POST.get("email"), ]              message = request.POST.get("message")              EmailMessage(subject, message, email_from, recipient_list, connection=connection).send()        return render(request, 'home.html') ``` This is a bootstrap form for generating a message: ```
 {% csrf_token %}  
               
   
               
   
               
     
``` This form sends a post request to the `send_email()` function. This processes the form data and sends the email to the recipients. Now open the `urls.py` file in the `NewEmailProject` folder to create the homepage URL. Update the `urlpattern` list by adding the code `path("", send_email)` . ### Sending email to multiple recipients To specify multiple recipients when sending the same email, create a new function called `send_emails` within the `views.py` file and modify the send function code: ``` def send_emails(request):       if request.method == "POST":         with get_connection(                 host=settings.EMAIL_HOST,         port=settings.EMAIL_PORT,          username=settings.EMAIL_HOST_USER,          password=settings.EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD,           use_tls=settings.EMAIL_USE_TLS         ) as connection:               recipient_list = request.POST.get("email").split()               subject = request.POST.get("subject")               email_from = settings.EMAIL_HOST_USER               message = request.POST.get("message")               print(type(recipient_list))             EmailMessage(subject, message, email_from, recipient_list, connection=connection).send()         return render(request, 'send_emails.html') ``` For the `recipient_list` variable, I'm using the Python `split()` method to convert the recipients email string to list so that I can email all of them. Next, create another HTML file called `send_emails.html` in the templates folder and use the same form code for the `home.html` file within it. To specify multiple email recipients, use a space between each email address: ``` first@gmail.com second@gmail.com third@gmail.com ``` You should also update the `urlpattern` list by adding the code: ``` path("send-emails/", send_email) ``` ### Sending HTML emails You can also send HTML emails with Django using a slightly modified version of the `send_email` function: ``` html_message = '''

this is an automated message

''' msg = EmailMessage(subject, html_message, email_from,recipient_list, connection=connection) msg.content_subtype = "html" msg.send() ``` ### Sending emails with attachment To include attachment to mails, create a variable and put it in the file path in a string like this: ``` attachment = "mail/templates/example.png" ``` Then, move the `EmailMessage` function to a variable and call the `attach_file` method followed by the `send` method: ``` msg = EmailMessage(subject, message, email_from, recipient_list, connection=connection) msg.attach_file(attachment) msg.send() ``` ### Django email libraries This guide on sending emails in Django would not be complete if I didn't mention the email libraries that are available to users. Here are some noteworthy email libraries. - **Django mailer** is a Django app for queuing as it saves emails in a database and sends the mail out at a designated time. - **Django templated email** aims to send templated emails. It offers features like configurable template naming and location, template inheritance, and adding recipients to the CC and BCC lists. - **Anymail** allows the use of an email service provider (ESP). By using `django.core.mail`, it provides a sustained API that avoids tying your code to a single ESP. ### Emailing with Django Sending emails in Django can sound daunting, but it's as simple as creating a virtual environment. You can add Django to the environment and create an email backend. Finally, you can set up an HTML template. Give it a try. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- via: https://opensource.com/article/22/12/django-send-emails-smtp 作者：[Sofiia Tarhonska][a] 选题：[lkxed][b] 译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID) 校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID) 本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出 [a]: https://opensource.com/users/sofiiatarhonska [b]: https://github.com/lkxed [1]: https://opensource.com/article/20/6/open-source-alternatives-vs-code#vscodium [2]: https://opensource.com/article/21/2/python-virtualenvwrapper [3]: https://www.redhat.com/sysadmin/install-python-pip-linux [4]: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.2/ref/settings/#email-backend