Recommended phpList Settings for Email Delivery

What is phpList Used For?

phpList is an open-source email marketing software that allows users to easily manage mailing lists and distribute newsletters, news, and ads to subscribers. It's written in PHP and stores data through the MySQL database.

Recommended phpList Settings

If phpList isn't sending all messages, you may see the error: "Could not instantiate mail function." Follow the steps below to optimize phpList performance:

1. Locate the config.php file. You can locate your files in File Manager or your FTP client.
   • If you installed phpList with defaults from Marketplace, the full path will be /home#/username/public_html/list/config/config.php.
2. Please make a backup at this point.
3. Locate the Miscellaneous Section.
4. Below the Miscellaneous section, you will find the following code:

   # define the amount of emails you want to send per period. If 0, batch processing
   # is disabled
   # [% provinfo.name %] suggest a default of 150 per hour.
   define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE",0);
   
   # define the length of one batch processing period, in seconds (3600 is an hour)
   define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD",3600);

   Update it with the suggested code below:

   # define the amount of emails you want to send per period. If 0, batch processing
   # is disabled
   # [% provinfo.name %] suggests a default of 150 per hour.
   define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE",150);
   
   # define the length of one batch processing period, in seconds (3600 is an hour)
   define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD",3600);

   The above settings tell phpList to send 150 emails per hour.
5. Next, go to the Experimental section, and you will find the following code:

   # Mailqueue autothrottle. This will try to automatically change the delay
   # between messages to make sure that the MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE (above) is spread evently over
   # MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD, instead of firing the Batch in the first few minutes of the period
   # and then waiting for the next period. This only works with mailqueue_throttle off
   # it still needs tweaking, so send your feedback to mantis.tincan.co.uk if you find
   # any issues with it
   define('MAILQUEUE_AUTOTHROTTLE',0);

6. Change the MAILQUE_AUTOTHROTTLE to 1.

   # Mailqueue autothrottle. This will try to automatically change the delay
   # between messages to make sure that the MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE (above) is spread evently over
   # MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD, instead of firing the Batch in the first few minutes of the period
   # and then waiting for the next period. This only works with mailqueue_throttle off
   # it still needs tweaking, so send your feedback to mantis.tincan.co.uk if you find
   # any issues with it
   define('MAILQUEUE_AUTOTHROTTLE',1);

Summary

phpList is a tool for managing mailing lists and distributing news, newsletters, and advertisements to subscribers. To optimize phpList performance, users should locate the config.php file, back it up, and update it with the recommended codes.