SMTP Connection Failure: Resolving "SMTP Connect() failed" Error

In attempting to send emails using Gmail, you may encounter an error message stating "SMTP -> ERROR: Failed to connect to server: Connection timed out (110)\nSMTP Connect() failed. Message was not sent.\nMailer error: SMTP Connect() failed." This error indicates a problem with establishing a connection to the SMTP server.

To resolve this issue, you need to modify the PHP code responsible for sending emails. Specifically, remove or comment out the line:

$mail->IsSMTP();

The IsSMTP() method is deprecated and should not be used. By removing or commenting out this line, the code will automatically use SMTP for sending emails, eliminating the connection issue and allowing successful email delivery.

Here is the updated code with the modification:

require 'class.phpmailer.php'; // path to the PHPMailer class
require 'class.smtp.php';

$mail = new PHPMailer();

$mail->Mailer = "smtp";
$mail->Host = "ssl://smtp.gmail.com";
$mail->Port = 587;
$mail->SMTPAuth = true; // turn on SMTP authentication
$mail->Username = "[email protected]"; // SMTP username
$mail->Password = "mypasswword"; // SMTP password 
$Mail->Priority = 1;

$mail->AddAddress("[email protected]","Name");
$mail->SetFrom($visitor_email, $name);
$mail->AddReplyTo($visitor_email,$name);

$mail->Subject  = "Message from  Contact form";
$mail->Body     = $user_message;
$mail->WordWrap = 50;  

if(!$mail->Send()) {
echo 'Message was not sent.';
echo 'Mailer error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
} else {
echo 'Message has been sent.';
}