Error Message in emailing statements

[pam.page]

We are getting an error message of "A problem occurred connecting to SMTP server prior to sending the emails. Authentication unsuccessful user credentials are incorrect." It won't let me get past this and send our statements out by email. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[sgbani]

Do you use GMAIL for your email service, or some other similar email service, or is it self-hosted email server?

We use Gmail, and before sending out the statements, you have to authorized powerchurch to use gmail using Gmail's authorization server.
This sounds complicated, I know, but powerchurch made it easy.
Therefore, my advice gambles on the fact you may be using Gmail. If it is another hosting service, then the authentication process may differ.

When you get to the 'Advanced Email Settings' section of emailing the contribution statements. This is the screen where it shows the Display Name, and Email address (as well as reply-to email address) fields. The email address you have there needs to be the one you actually use the login to gmail (not an alias).
Then, there is a button in the middle of the window you can click 'More...' Click that, and then you can click 'authorize'.
That brings you to Gmails' authorization page where you click on your email, then checkmark on powerchurch authorization to send emails on your behalf.
Once that happens, a powerchurch looking webpage shows up saying you can close the window. At that point, you can send the email statements.

Again, the above assumes Gmail. If you are using a different email hosted service, then somehow you need to have your authorization / authentication allowed for Powerchurch to be used to send emails. You would need to look up how this is done, or talk with your IT person if you have a self-hosted email server / domain.

Hope this gives some insight.

[NeilZ]

We are getting an error message of "A problem occurred connecting to SMTP server prior to sending the emails. Authentication unsuccessful user credentials are incorrect." It won't let me get past this and send our statements out by email. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Do you use any sort of email program, like Outlook?? If so, the settings for Powerchurch should be the same. That said, I'm assuming you're using desktop Powerchurch, if you're using PC Online, there's a different procedure.

Here is a tutorial that will point you in the right direction:

https://www.powerchurch.com/support/434 ... owerchurch

[jadamwilson]

I am using PC Online for the first time this year.
In previous years, I have been able to send the contribution statements from PC, but this year I am stuck at the Authorization Request screen. I click the continue button, but nothing happens after the Continue button disables.

After waiting for a few minutes, I hit the cancel button and I get the screen that says:
A problem occurred in connecting to the SMTP server prior to sending the emails.
Authorization is required to send an email through this server.

As this process has worked for me in past years, I am guessing that it has something to do with the PC Online setup.

I am attempting to send using smtp.gmail.com.
I looked at the article posted about setting up for PC Online, but I can't pinpoint what I might be missing. Any assistance is appreciated.

[NeilZ]

I am using PC Online for the first time this year.
In previous years, I have been able to send the contribution statements from PC, but this year I am stuck at the Authorization Request screen. I click the continue button, but nothing happens after the Continue button disables.

After waiting for a few minutes, I hit the cancel button and I get the screen that says:
A problem occurred in connecting to the SMTP server prior to sending the emails.
Authorization is required to send an email through this server.

As this process has worked for me in past years, I am guessing that it has something to do with the PC Online setup.

I am attempting to send using smtp.gmail.com.
I looked at the article posted about setting up for PC Online, but I can't pinpoint what I might be missing. Any assistance is appreciated.

As I mentioned above ... the setup for Powerchurch Online email is much the same as for regular Powerchurch, but there is a specific requirement that you may need to do.

Here's the link to the email setup document, please take note of the last paragraph where it talks about Powerchurch Online uses:

https://www.powerchurch.com/support/434 ... owerchurch

[pam.page]

Thanks for the info about sending the statements but we fixed it by changing the password on that last screen. Seems that the password must be updated at least once a year or maybe twice a year. We changed the PW and the statements emailed. I hope that's the fix for you also.

[NeilZ]

Thanks for the info about sending the statements but we fixed it by changing the password on that last screen. Seems that the password must be updated at least once a year or maybe twice a year. We changed the PW and the statements emailed. I hope that's the fix for you also.

That's more your local ISP that required that, not a general fix.

[jadamwilson]

When I posted my update I also opened a support case.
This afternoon, I tried it and everything worked as expected.

Not sure if it was a temporary issue or a squashed bug, but either way I am delighted that it is working for me now.