ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email
Restrict outgoing emails to a whitelist and log every message. Non-whitelisted recipients are replaced with a fallback address. Ideal for dev/staging.
Use with caution
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. Was last updated 3 months ago, and scores 55/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (<10 active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| >100 | |
| filter | >100 |
| logger | #84 |
| staging | >100 |
| whitelist | >100 |
About ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email
From the official readme · v1.1.2Description
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email prevents WordPress from accidentally sending emails to real users in development or staging environments, and keeps a searchable log of everything that left the site.
Filtering is off by default after activation so a live site is not affected until you enable it. When filtering is on and the allowlist is empty, every recipient is redirected to the fallback address.
Features
- Whitelist-based filtering — only allowed email addresses receive emails.
- Wildcard domain support — allow entire domains with
*@example.com. - Fallback replacement — non-whitelisted recipients are replaced with your fallback address.
- Traceability — the original email is preserved in the display name (e.g.,
user@external.com <fallback@site.com>). - Outgoing email logger — capture To, subject, body, headers, attachments, and errors in a custom table.
- Filtered badge — logs show when the whitelist rewrote recipients and what the original address was.
- View / resend / delete — inspect HTML or raw bodies, resend a message, or clean up bulk rows.
- Retention rules — auto-prune by max row count and/or age.
- Highest priority filter — hooks at
PHP_INT_MINso filtering runs before any other mail plugin; logging runs last atPHP_INT_MAX. - CC/BCC filtering — also filters CC and BCC headers.
- PHP error log option — optionally log replacements to the PHP error log.
Use Cases
- Development environments where you don’t want emails going to real customers.
- Staging sites that mirror production data.
- QA testing where only testers should receive emails.
- Debugging which plugin sent which email (and whether it was filtered).
Privacy
When email logging is enabled, the plugin stores outgoing message metadata and bodies locally (recipients, subject, body, headers, attachment paths, status, errors, and server address). Access is limited to administrators (manage_options).
Retention options control automatic deletion by count and/or age. Individual or bulk logs can be deleted from the Email Logs screen. Uninstalling the plugin removes the log table, plugin options, and related scheduled events.
Suggested privacy-policy text is also registered with WordPress under Settings → Privacy for site owners to adapt.
The optional PHP error-log setting writes replacement events to the server error log only (no external service).
Installation
- Upload the
zdn-whitelist-outgoing-emailfolder to/wp-content/plugins/, or install the release zip via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu. Filtering starts disabled.
- Go to Outgoing Email → Whitelist.
- Set your fallback email address.
- Optionally add allowed email addresses (one per line). Leave empty to send all outgoing emails to the fallback when filtering is enabled.
- Enable filtering when you are ready.
- Browse captured mail under Outgoing Email → Email Logs.
Frequently asked questions
Will this break mail on a production site after I activate it?
No. Filtering is off by default. Mail is only rewritten after you enable filtering in settings.
What happens if filtering is on but the allowlist is empty?
Every To, Cc, and Bcc recipient is replaced with the fallback address. That is intentional for staging clones of production data.
Does resending a log send a real email?
Yes. Resend calls wp_mail again. If filtering is still enabled, recipients are filtered again. Only users who can manage options can resend.
Where are email logs stored?
In a custom database table ({prefix}zdnwhoue_email_logs) on your site. Nothing is sent to third-party servers by this plugin.
Changelog
1.1.2
- Fix email log detail modal contrast: design tokens now apply on the modal (not only the page wrap) so meta fields and Raw/HTML message views stay readable.
1.1.1
- Prefix all public PHP identifiers (classes, functions, options, hooks, script handles) with
zdnwhoue/ZDNWHOUEfor WordPress.org uniqueness guidelines. - Keep WordPress.org banner/icon assets out of the distributable plugin zip (SVN assets only).
1.1.0
- Initial release: whitelist-based outgoing email filtering with wildcard domain support (
*@example.com). - Replace non-whitelisted To/Cc/Bcc recipients with a fallback address while preserving the original in the display name.
- Hooks at
PHP_INT_MINso filtering runs before other mail plugins. - Filtering defaults off after activation for safer installs; empty allowlist redirects all recipients when filtering is on.
- Optional PHP error-log entries when a recipient is replaced.
- Outgoing email logger (custom table, list table, detail modal with HTML/raw views).
- Track whitelist rewrites on each log row (original recipient + Filtered badge).
- Logging settings: enable/disable, max logs, age-based retention.
- Resend, bulk delete, search, and status views (sent / failed / filtered).
- Top-level Outgoing Email admin menu with branded UI.
- Privacy policy helper content and uninstall cleanup of logs/options.
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email alternatives
All email plugins →
FAQ
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 6, 2026
Is ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email free?
Yes. ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email safe to use in 2026?
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. Was last updated 3 months ago, and scores 55/100 on our health check.
How many websites use ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email?
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email is active on <10 WordPress websites and has been downloaded 170 times since it launched in July 2026. It was downloaded 48 times in the last 30 days.
Does ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email work with WordPress 7.1?
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email is officially tested up to WordPress 7.0.7, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email need?
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email requires PHP 7.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email last updated?
The latest version, 1.1.2, was released on July 14, 2026 (3 months ago).
Who makes ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email?
ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email is developed and maintained by cuongquach.
What are the best alternatives to ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email?
The most popular alternatives to ZDN Whitelist Outgoing Email are WP Mail SMTP by WPForms (4M+ installs), MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPr… (1M+ installs) and Easy WP SMTP (500K+ installs).
Powered by PageForge
Want thousands of pages that rank like these? Build them in an afternoon.
This directory runs on the same engine as PageForge. Turn any spreadsheet, CSV or API into thousands of fast, SEO-ready WordPress pages — with schema, internal links and AI-written copy baked in.
- CSV, Google Sheets & API data sources
- AI content, schema & internal links per page
- Works with Elementor, Gutenberg, Yoast & Rank Math
- Free on WordPress.org — no credit card
