Node.js Email

Last modified on: October 19, 2024

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<h3>Node.js Email: A Comprehensive Guide</h3>
<p>Sending emails is a common feature in many web applications, and Node.js makes it straightforward to implement this functionality using various packages. This guide will focus on using the <strong>Nodemailer</strong> package, a popular and powerful library for sending emails from Node.js applications.</p>
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<h3>What is Nodemailer?</h3>
<p><strong>Nodemailer</strong> is a module for Node.js applications to send emails easily. It supports various transport methods, including SMTP, and provides a simple API for composing and sending emails.</p>
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<h3>Setting Up a Node.js Project</h3>
<p>To get started, you need to set up a new Node.js project. Follow these steps:</p>
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<p><strong>Create a new directory for your project</strong>:</p>
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<pre class="language-javascript"><code>mkdir email-sender
cd email-sender</code></pre>
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<p><strong>Initialize a new Node.js project</strong>:</p>
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<pre class="language-javascript"><code>npm init -y</code></pre>
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<p><strong>Install Nodemailer</strong>:</p>
<p>You will need to install Nodemailer. Run the following command:</p>
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<pre class="language-javascript"><code>npm install nodemailer</code></pre>
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<h3>Sending an Email with Nodemailer</h3>
<p>Next, create a simple server that can send emails using Nodemailer. Follow these steps:</p>
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<p><strong>Create a new file named <code>server.js</code></strong>:</p>
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<pre class="language-javascript"><code>touch server.js</code></pre>
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<p><strong>Open <code>server.js</code> and add the following code</strong>:</p>
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<pre class="language-javascript"><code>const nodemailer = require('nodemailer');

// Create a transporter object using the default SMTP transport
const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
    host: 'smtp.example.com', // Replace with your SMTP server host
    port: 587, // Replace with your SMTP port
    secure: false, // true for 465, false for other ports
    auth: {
        user: 'your-email@example.com', // Replace with your email address
        pass: 'your-email-password' // Replace with your email password
    }
});

// Set up email data
const mailOptions = {
    from: '"Sender Name" &lt;your-email@example.com&gt;', // Sender address
    to: 'recipient@example.com', // List of recipients
    subject: 'Hello from Node.js', // Subject line
    text: 'This is a test email sent from a Node.js application!', // Plain text body
    html: '&lt;b&gt;This is a test email sent from a Node.js application!&lt;/b&gt;' // HTML body
};

// Send mail
transporter.sendMail(mailOptions, (error, info) =&gt; {
    if (error) {
        return console.log(`Error: ${error}`);
    }
    console.log(`Message sent: ${info.messageId}`);
});</code></pre>
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<h3>Explanation of the Code</h3>
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<li><strong>Nodemailer Configuration</strong>: You create a transporter object that specifies the SMTP server details, including the host, port, and authentication credentials.</li>
<li><strong>Email Options</strong>: The <code>mailOptions</code> object contains details about the email, including the sender's address, recipient's address, subject, and body (both plain text and HTML).</li>
<li><strong>Sending the Email</strong>: The <code>sendMail</code> function sends the email using the defined options. If an error occurs, it logs the error; otherwise, it confirms that the message was sent successfully.</li>
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<h3>Testing the Email Sender</h3>
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<p><strong>Replace the placeholder values</strong> in the <code>server.js</code> file with your SMTP server details and email credentials.</p>
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<p><strong>Run the server</strong>:</p>
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<pre class="language-javascript"><code>node server.js</code></pre>
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<p><strong>Check your email inbox</strong> to see if the email was received. You should see the message sent from your Node.js application.</p>
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<h3>Sending Emails with HTML Templates</h3>
<p>For more complex email content, you may want to use HTML templates. You can create a separate HTML file and read it using the <code>fs</code> module.</p>
<h4>Example: Sending an Email with an HTML Template</h4>
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<p><strong>Create an HTML file named <code>emailTemplate.html</code></strong>:</p>
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<pre class="language-markup"><code>&lt;!DOCTYPE html&gt;
&lt;html lang="en"&gt;
&lt;head&gt;
    &lt;meta charset="UTF-8"&gt;
    &lt;meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"&gt;
    &lt;title&gt;Email&lt;/title&gt;
&lt;/head&gt;
&lt;body&gt;
    &lt;h1&gt;Hello!&lt;/h1&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;This is a test email sent from a Node.js application!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/body&gt;
&lt;/html&gt;</code></pre>
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<p><strong>Modify your <code>server.js</code> to read the HTML file</strong>:</p>
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<pre class="language-javascript"><code>const nodemailer = require('nodemailer');
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
    host: 'smtp.example.com', 
    port: 587,
    secure: false,
    auth: {
        user: 'your-email@example.com',
        pass: 'your-email-password'
    }
});

const emailTemplate = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'emailTemplate.html'), 'utf-8');

const mailOptions = {
    from: '"Sender Name" &lt;your-email@example.com&gt;',
    to: 'recipient@example.com',
    subject: 'Hello from Node.js',
    html: emailTemplate // Use the HTML template
};

transporter.sendMail(mailOptions, (error, info) =&gt; {
    if (error) {
        return console.log(`Error: ${error}`);
    }
    console.log(`Message sent: ${info.messageId}`);
});</code></pre>
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<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>In this guide, you learned how to send emails from a Node.js application using the Nodemailer package. By following these steps, you can implement email functionality in your applications easily.</p>
<p>You covered:</p>
<ul>
<li>Setting up a basic Node.js project.</li>
<li>Configuring Nodemailer to send emails.</li>
<li>Sending plain text and HTML emails.</li>
<li>Using HTML templates for email content.</li>
</ul>
<p>With this knowledge, you can integrate email features into your Node.js applications, enhancing user communication and engagement.</p>
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