README

A clean, reusable PHP class wrapper for sending emails via Zoho Mail SMTP using PHPMailer. Perfect for applications requiring reliable email delivery with support for attachments, templates, and multiple recipients.

Features

• ✅ Zoho Mail Integration — Configured for Zoho's India region (smtp.zoho.in:587)
• ✅ Fluent Interface — Chain methods for clean, readable code
• ✅ File Attachments — Attach files to emails easily
• ✅ Template Support — Load HTML/text templates with variable replacement
• ✅ Multiple Recipients — Add To, CC, and BCC recipients
• ✅ Debug Mode — Toggle SMTP debug output for troubleshooting
• ✅ Error Handling — Comprehensive exception handling and error messages
• ✅ 2FA Support — Works with Zoho App Passwords for accounts with 2FA enabled

Installation

Prerequisites

• PHP 7.0 or higher
• Composer (for dependency management)
• A Zoho Mail account (free or paid)

Step 1: Clone or Download

git clone https://github.com/mrsandipmandal/zoho-mail.git
cd zoho-mail

Step 2: Install Dependencies

composer install

This will install PHPMailer 7.0+ from Composer.

Install via Composer (recommended)

If you published the package to Packagist, install it into your project with Composer:

# stable release (preferred)
composer require php-zoho-mail/zoho-mail

If Packagist shows only a dev branch (no stable tag), require the dev branch explicitly:

composer require php-zoho-mail/zoho-mail:dev-master
# or use dev-main if your default branch is main
composer require php-zoho-mail/zoho-mail:dev-main

If you get a "minimum-stability" error, either add an explicit dev constraint (as above) or allow dev stability in your project's composer.json:

{
    "minimum-stability": "dev",
    "prefer-stable": true
}

Recommendation: publish a stable tag (e.g., v1.0.0) in your package repository and update Packagist — then projects can require the package without dev constraints:

# in your package repo
# git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "v1.0.0"
# git push origin v1.0.0

Step 3: Configure Credentials

Provide credentials when you instantiate the ZohoMail class (do not edit package files).

You can pass credentials directly to the constructor or load them from environment variables. Example:

// prefer using Composer autoload and environment variables
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use ZohoMail\ZohoMail;

$zoho = new ZohoMail(
    'your-email@zohomail.in',      // Your Zoho Mail address
    'your-app-password',           // Your Zoho password or App Password
    true                           // Debug mode (true for development, false for production)
);

Getting Your Zoho Credentials

Standard Password

If your Zoho account does not have 2FA enabled, use your regular account password.

App Password (Recommended for 2FA)

If your Zoho account has 2FA enabled, you must create an App Password:

1. Log in to https://accounts.zoho.com
2. Navigate to Security → App Passwords
3. Select "Mail" from the application dropdown
4. Click Generate
5. Copy the generated password and paste it into the index.php script

Usage

Basic Email

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use ZohoMail\ZohoMail;

try {
    // Construct with (username, password/app-password, debug)
    $zoho = new ZohoMail('your-email@zohomail.in', 'your-app-password', false);

    $zoho->setFrom('your-email@zohomail.in', 'Your Name')
         ->addTo('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name')
         ->setSubject('Hello!')
         ->setBody('This is a test email.', true) // second param is isHTML (default true)
         ->send();

    echo "✓ Email sent successfully!";
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo "✗ Error: " . $e->getMessage();
}

Email with Attachments

$zoho->setFrom('your-email@zohomail.in', 'Sender')
    ->addTo('recipient@example.com')
    ->setSubject('Invoice')
    ->setBody('Please see the attached invoice.', false) // plain text body
    ->attachFile('/path/to/invoice.pdf', 'invoice.pdf')
    ->attachFile('/path/to/receipt.txt', 'receipt.txt')
    ->send();

Email with Templates

Create a template file templates/welcome.html:

<h1>Welcome, {{name}}!</h1>
<p>Your account {{email}} has been created successfully.</p>
<p>Click <a href="{{link}}">here</a> to get started.</p>

Use it in your code:

$zoho->setFrom('your-email@zohomail.in', 'Team')
     ->addTo('newuser@example.com')
     ->setSubject('Welcome to Our Service!')
     ->attachTemplate('templates/welcome.html', [
         'name' => 'John Doe',
         'email' => 'john@example.com',
         'link' => 'https://example.com/activate'
     ])
     ->send();

Multiple Recipients

$zoho->setFrom('your-email@zohomail.in', 'Sender')
     ->addTo('recipient1@example.com', 'Recipient 1')
     ->addTo('recipient2@example.com', 'Recipient 2')
     ->addCC('cc@example.com', 'CC Person')
     ->addBCC('bcc@example.com', 'BCC Person')
     ->setSubject('Group Email')
     ->setBody('Message for everyone.')
     ->send();

With Plain Text Alternative

$zoho->setFrom('your-email@zohomail.in', 'Sender')
     ->addTo('recipient@example.com')
     ->setSubject('Newsletter')
     ->setBody('<h1>Hello</h1><p>HTML content here</p>', true)  // HTML
     ->setAltBody('Hello\n\nPlain text content here')           // Plain text fallback
     ->send();

ZohoMail Class Reference

Constructor

new ZohoMail($username, $password, $debug = false)

• $username (string) — Zoho Mail email address
• $password (string) — Zoho password or App Password
• $debug (bool) — Enable SMTP debug output (default: false)

Methods

Core Methods

Attachment Methods

Utility Methods

Troubleshooting

535 Authentication Failed

Cause: Incorrect credentials or Zoho account configuration.

Solutions:

1. Verify your email address and password are correct
2. If you have 2FA enabled, generate and use an App Password instead
3. Confirm your Zoho account is not locked or requiring verification
4. Check that SMTP access is enabled in your Zoho account security settings

Connection Timeout

Cause: Firewall or network blocking port 587.

Solutions:

1. Check if port 587 is open on your server/machine
2. Contact your ISP or hosting provider if blocked
3. Ask your network administrator for firewall access

Certificate Verification Error

Cause: SSL certificate verification issues (rare).

Solution (Development Only): Uncomment the certificate bypass in index.php (not recommended for production):

$zoho->getMailer()->SMTPOptions = [
    'ssl' => [
        'verify_peer' => false,
        'verify_peer_name' => false,
        'allow_self_signed' => true,
    ]
];

Template Variables Not Replacing

Cause: Variable syntax mismatch.

Solution: Ensure variables use double curly braces: {{variableName}}

// Template file
Hello {{name}}, your email is {{email}}.

// PHP code
attachTemplate('path/to/template.html', [
    'name' => 'John',
    'email' => 'john@example.com'
])

Configuration Details

The class is pre-configured for Zoho Mail India region (smtp.zoho.in). If you use a different region, edit the $config array in the ZohoMail constructor:

// US region example
$this->config = [
    'host' => 'smtp.zoho.com',  // US endpoint
    'port' => 587,
    'secure' => PHPMailer::ENCRYPTION_STARTTLS,
];

// EU region example
$this->config = [
    'host' => 'smtp.zoho.eu',   // EU endpoint
    'port' => 587,
    'secure' => PHPMailer::ENCRYPTION_STARTTLS,
];

Debug Mode

Enable debug output during development by setting the third parameter to true:

$zoho = new ZohoMail('email@zohomail.in', 'password', true);

This will display detailed SMTP server communication. Disable for production (false) to avoid exposing sensitive information.

Security Best Practices

1. Never hardcode credentials in production. Use environment variables:

   $zoho = new ZohoMail(
       $_ENV['ZOHO_EMAIL'],
       $_ENV['ZOHO_PASSWORD'],
       $_ENV['ZOHO_DEBUG'] ?? false
   );

2. Use App Passwords if 2FA is enabled on your Zoho account

3. Disable debug mode in production

4. Keep dependencies updated:

   composer update

5. Validate email addresses before sending:

   if (filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
       $zoho->addTo($email)->send();
   }

Testing

Run a quick test from the command line:

php index.php

Or access via a web browser:

http://localhost:8000/index.php

(Make sure to start a PHP development server first: php -S localhost:8000)

Environment Setup (Optional)

Create a .env file to store credentials securely:

ZOHO_EMAIL=your-email@zohomail.in
ZOHO_PASSWORD=your-app-password
ZOHO_DEBUG=false

Then in your code:

require 'vendor/autoload.php';
$dotenv = \Dotenv\Dotenv::createImmutable(__DIR__);
$dotenv->load();

include 'index.php';

$zoho = new ZohoMail($_ENV['ZOHO_EMAIL'], $_ENV['ZOHO_PASSWORD'], $_ENV['ZOHO_DEBUG']);

(Install vlucas/phpdotenv via Composer for .env support)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add new feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/my-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE file for details.

Support

• PHPMailer Documentation: https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer
• Zoho Mail Help: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/
• Issues: Open an issue on GitHub with detailed information

Changelog

v1.0.0 (2025-11-27)

• Initial release
• ZohoMail class with fluent interface
• Support for Zoho Mail (India region)
• File attachments and template support
• Multiple recipient handling
• Comprehensive error handling

Author

Created for reliable Zoho Mail SMTP integration in PHP applications.

Happy emailing! 📧