Sending Emails with Laravel Mail

1. Setting Up Mail Configuration

Before sending emails, you need to configure your mail settings. Laravel provides several drivers, such as SMTP, Mailgun, and Postmark. The configuration is stored in the .env file.

Example: Configuration in .env File

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=your_username
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=no-reply@example.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

2. Creating the Mailable Class

In Laravel, you can create a "Mailable" class that will represent the email being sent. Use the Artisan command to generate this class.

Example: Creating a Mailable Class

php artisan make:mail WelcomeEmail

3. Building the Mailable Class

In the generated WelcomeEmail.php file, you can define the email content, subject, and other parameters.

Example: Mailable Class Definition

namespace App\Mail;

use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Mail\Mailable;
use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;

class WelcomeEmail extends Mailable
{
    use Queueable, SerializesModels;

    public $user;

    public function __construct($user)
    {
        $this->user = $user;
    }

    public function build()
    {
        return $this->subject('Welcome to Our Platform')
                    ->view('emails.welcome')
                    ->with(['name' => $this->user->name]);
    }
}

4. Creating the Email View

The next step is to create the email content view. You can use Blade templates for this.

Example: Creating Email View

Create a Blade file in resources/views/emails/welcome.blade.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Welcome to Our Platform</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Hello, {{ $name }}</h1>
    <p>Thank you for joining our platform. We are excited to have you!</p>
</body>
</html>

5. Sending the Email

To send the email, you can use the Mail facade and the to() method, specifying the recipient's email address.

Example: Sending the Email

use App\Mail\WelcomeEmail;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;

public function sendWelcomeEmail($user)
{
    Mail::to($user->email)->send(new WelcomeEmail($user));
}

6. Queueing the Email for Later Sending

For performance reasons, especially with large volumes of emails, you might want to queue the email instead of sending it immediately.

Example: Queueing the Email

In the WelcomeEmail mailable class, add the ShouldQueue interface:

use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;

class WelcomeEmail extends Mailable implements ShouldQueue
{
    // Existing code
}

7. Testing the Email

You can test your email functionality in a local development environment using services like Mailtrap or by setting up SMTP with your own email provider.

Example: Testing Email

Ensure your .env configuration is set to use a test email service like Mailtrap and check your inbox for the sent email.

8. Conclusion

Laravel provides an easy-to-use mail system that allows you to send personalized emails quickly. With features like Mailables, email views, and queueing, you can build and send robust email systems for notifications, confirmations, and more. Simply configure your mail settings, create a mailable class, build the content, and send it!

LARAVEL