Send email using jQuery AJAX in ASPNet

In this article I will explain with an example, how to send email using jQuery AJAX in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.

Mail Server Settings in Web.Config file

The following Mail Server settings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.

Note: It is necessary to use the sender’s email address credentials while defining the Gmail SMTP Server Credentials as Gmail the sender’s email address must be same as the Gmail Username specified in credentials.

<system.net>

<network

host="smtp.gmail.com"

port="587"

enableSsl="true"

userName="sender@gmail.com"

password="GMAILor2STEP-PASSWORD"

defaultCredentials="true" />

</smtp>

</mailSettings>

</system.net>

HTML Markup

The HTML Markup consists of following controls:

TextBox – For capturing the values of Recipient Email address, Subject and Body.

The TextBox for Body has been set with the TextMode property to MultiLine i.e. HTML TextArea.

Button – For sending email.

The Button has been assigned with an OnClick event handler.

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Subject:</td>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

</table>

Calling WebMethod using jQuery AJAX

Inside the HTML Markup, following script file is inherited.

1. jquery.min.js

When the Send Button is clicked, a jQuery AJAX call is made to the WebMethodMethod and the Recipient Email address, Subject and Body values are fetched from their respective fields and are passed as parameters to the WebMethodMethod SendEmail.

The value returned from the WebMethodMethod is fetched inside the Success event handler and Success Message returned from the WebMethodMethod is displayed using JavaScript Alert Message Box.

$(function () {

$("[id*= btnSend]").click(function () {

var toEmail = $.trim($("[id*= txtTo]").val());

var subject = $.trim($("[id*= txtSubject]").val());

var body = $.trim($("[id*= txtBody]").val());

$.ajax({

type: "POST",

url: "Default.aspx/SendEmail",

data: "{toEmail: '" + toEmail + "', subject: '" + subject + "', body: '" + body + "' }",

contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",

dataType: "json",

success: function (r) {

alert(r.d);

error: function (r) {

alert(r.responseText);

failure: function (r) {

alert(r.responseText);

}

});

return false;

});

</script>

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.

using System.Net;

using System.Net.Mail;

using System.Net.Configuration;

using System.Web.Services;

using System.Configuration;

VB.Net

Imports System.Net

Imports System.Net.Mail

Imports System.Net.Configuration

Imports System.Web.Services

Imports System.Configuration

Sending email using jQuery AJAX in ASP.Net

MailMessage class and MTP class

Following are the required properties of the MailMessage class.

From – Sender’s email address.

To – Recipient(s) Email Address.

CC – Carbon Copies. (If any)

BCC – Blind Carbon Copies. (If any)

Subject – Subject of the Email.

Body – Body of the Email.

IsBodyHtml – Specify whether body contains text or HTML mark up.

Attachments – Attachments. (If any)

ReplyTo – ReplyTo Email address.

SMTP Class Properties

Following are the properties of the SmtpClient class.

Host – SMTP Server URL. (Gmail: smtp.gmail.com)

EnableSsl – Specify whether your host accepts SSL Connections. (Gmail: True)

UseDefaultCredentials – Set to True in order to allow authentication based on the Credentials of the Account used to send emails.

Credentials – Valid login credentials for the SMTP server. (Gmail: email address and password)

Port – Port Number of the SMTP server. (Gmail: 587)

WebMethod (PageMethod)

This Web Method accepts the Recipient Email address, Subject and Body as parameters and returns the String message.

The Sender email address (from) is fetched from the SMTP of the Web.Config file.

All these values are set into the respective properties of the MailMessage class object.

Setting Body of Email

The Body of the email is Text (Non HTML) hence it is set into the IsBodyHtml property of the MailMessage class object to FALSE.

Sending Email

Finally, object of the SmtpClient class is created and the settings of the Mail Server such has Host, Port, DefaultCredentials, EnableSsl, Username and Password are fetched from the SMTP section of the Web.Config file and are set to the respective properties of the SmtpClient class object.

Finally, the email is being sent using Send method of the SmtpClient class object and a Success Message is returned.

[WebMethod]

public static string SendEmail(string toEmail, string subject, string body)

{

SmtpSection smtpSection = (SmtpSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp");

using (MailMessage mm = new MailMessage(smtpSection.From, toEmail))

{

mm.Subject = subject;

mm.Body = body;

mm.IsBodyHtml = false;

using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())

{

smtp.Host = smtpSection.Network.Host;

smtp.EnableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl;

NetworkCredential networkCred = new NetworkCredential(smtpSection.Network.UserName, smtpSection.Network.Password);

smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials;

smtp.Credentials = networkCred;

smtp.Port = smtpSection.Network.Port;

smtp.Send(mm);

}

return "Email sent.";

}

VB.Net

Public Shared Function SendEmail(ByVal toEmail As String, ByVal subject As String, ByVal body As String) As String

Dim smtpSection As SmtpSection = CType(ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp"), SmtpSection)

Using mm As MailMessage = New MailMessage(smtpSection.From, toEmail)

mm.Subject = subject

mm.Body = body

mm.IsBodyHtml = False

Using smtp As SmtpClient = New SmtpClient

smtp.Host = smtpSection.Network.Host

smtp.EnableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl

Dim networkCred As NetworkCredential = New NetworkCredential(smtpSection.Network.UserName, smtpSection.Network.Password)

smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials

smtp.Credentials = networkCred

smtp.Port = smtpSection.Network.Port

smtp.Send(mm)

End Using

Return "Email sent."

End Function

Possible Errors

The following error occurs when you try to send email using Gmail credentials in your application.

The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at