[Email] [New post]: Missing images in Apple Mail on Mac and iOs devices when a site is hosted at Bluehost

[ivan-ottinger]

Quick summary

There have been a couple of reports of missing images in the New Post email notification:

• 4964624-zd-woothemes
• https://wordpress.org/support/topic/subscriber-emails-no-longer-display-images/
• 5195389-zd-woothemes

Steps to reproduce

Not yet clear.

What you expected to happen

All post images should display.

What actually happened

Images are missing.

Context

No response

Browser

No response

Simple/Atomic

No response

Other notes

No response

Reproducibility

Intermittent

Severity

Some (< 50%)

Available workarounds?

No response

Workaround details

No response

[ivan-ottinger]

I have reviewed the two of the three cases reported and here are the findings:

• 4964624-zd-woothemes - the case is related to missing Featured image. This has been already addressed in this patch.
• 5195389-zd-woothemes - the site itself (and related post) is already missing images. Therefore this is unrelated to the new email template, but likely some other issue on the site. @bobmatyas - if you would like to look into this further and/or follow-up with the user (the issue was originally reported here, but we moved it out to this GH issue)

[bobmatyas]

I have reached out to the original reporter on 5195389-zd-woothemes via 5212952-zen. If we end up finding that it is related to Subscriptions somehow, we'll come back here.

[TonyKent88]

Thanks for directing me to this Ivan. Just to confirm, it is my site that has the problem when sending new post notification emails to subscribers. None of the images were showing in the emails for my iPhone 12 Pro Max and another subscribers Samsung Galaxy. This was still the case yesterday. Tony

[ivan-ottinger]

Thanks for directing me to this Ivan. Just to confirm, it is my site that has the problem when sending new post notification emails to subscribers. None of the images were showing in the emails for my iPhone 12 Pro Max and another subscribers Samsung Galaxy. This was still the case yesterday. Tony

It looks like the issue might be related to the site itself (some site setting) - as I also tried to test the emails with the old template and the images were missing there too. Another thing that makes me think it is site-related is that if the issue was affecting more sites, we would have received multiple reports.

Regardless, we are still investigating the issue to see what is the culprit and we will update you here.

[TonyKent88]

Thanks Ivan. That's interesting. It certainly used to work on my iPhone, but as you say, whether it it is a site change or your plug-in, is an open question. Hopefully you can resolve it. My only other option would be to try another plug-in and see if my site also causes a problem.

[ivan-ottinger]

We looked into the issue further and it turns out that even when I send a simple email (not related to WordPress / Jetpack) with one of the images from the site, the image doesn't load in the iOS Mail app, nor macOS Mail app:

I tested it with this image for instance: https://closertotheedge.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_1594.jpg?w=840

In other words, it looks like that either the hosting company or the site is blocking the file request to that image for some reason.

You can also test it on your own as well: If you use Gmail for example, you can add the image to the new email like this:

and then sent it to your iCloud email address - or other email address that will open in your iOS / macOS Mail app.

It might be worth getting in touch with the hosting company to see whether there isn't some setting blocking the requests. Some hosts might enable hotlink protections that could be related to the issue, but it could be also something else.

[StefMattana]

The same issue Ivan reproduced above happens on #5220051-zen

[TonyKent88]

Does this mean it might not be just my site?

[ivan-ottinger]

Does this mean it might not be just my site?

Yes, that is correct. Now we have a second report of the same issue. What have both sites in common is the hosting company. There is something blocking file requests - either on the host's side or macOS / iOS Mail app.

That's why I mentioned in the previous comment that it could be worth contacting them. There's this Hotlink protection setting that could be potentially related, but it could be something else as well.

[TonyKent88]

I will do more digging but its not hotlink protection as disabled.

[villanovachile]

I have another report that might be related here: 5231482-zen

They say the issue began about 2-3 weeks ago. Issue is affecting both featured images and images within post. Issue is affecting multiple users, on both Gmail, Outlook, and possibly others.

Full raw email can be seen in 35563119-hc

Ping me if you need any further information!

[ivan-ottinger]

I have another report that might be related here: 5231482-zen

They say the issue began about 2-3 weeks ago. Issue is affecting both featured images and images within post. Issue is affecting multiple users, on both Gmail, Outlook, and possibly others.

Full raw email can be seen in 35563119-hc

Thank you for your report @villanovachile, I have reviewed the case.

The New Post email notification doesn't include the Featured image. We originally added the Featured image to the notification, but then decided to pull it out because of the feedback we received. Here is the related thread.

The images added to the post content display in the New Post email notification normally. Example screenshot (test site):

In the reported case, the For each post in a feed, include setting in wp-admin/options-reading.php is set to "Excerpt":

and as a result, the post content images are not displayed. Example screenshot (test site):

Once the user changes the setting to the "Full text" option, the images will start displaying in the upcoming New Post notification emails.

[LouiseFW]

Hi there, I am having the same problem with my wordpress blog. For the past 3 or so weeks the images have suddenly stopped showing when the blog is delivered via email - any ideas how to resolve this

[villanovachile]

Thank you for your report @villanovachile, I have reviewed the case.

Thanks so much @ivan-ottinger! I've gone ahead and replied to the user.

[ivan-ottinger]

Hi there, I am having the same problem with my wordpress blog. For the past 3 or so weeks the images have suddenly stopped showing when the blog is delivered via email - any ideas how to resolve this

Hey @LouiseFW, would it be possible to share the site address with us so we can take a closer look? Thank you.

[foleynotrose]

Similar issue reported in 5229245-zd-woothemes, on Windows using Outlook. JB is testing here: p1653042444452549-slack-C0CMN0V97

[TonyKent88]

Update: I called Bluehost to discuss my problem. They tested it using the same method as I used, based on your recommendation, sending a link to one of the photos via gmail to an iPhone. Unfortunately the image displayed correctly for them so I am no further forward to resolving the issue.

[LouiseFW]

Hi Ivan - its www.bloominglucky.com

[ivan-ottinger]

Hi Ivan - its www.bloominglucky.com

Hey Louise, thanks for sharing the site address. I reviewed your site and the issue is the same as we discussed in this comment above.

There's something going on between the Bluehost and Mail apps on iOS and macOS. I am afraid we won't be able to help from our side.

---

Update: I called Bluehost to discuss my problem. They tested it using the same method as I used, based on your recommendation, sending a link to one of the photos via gmail to an iPhone. Unfortunately the image displayed correctly for them so I am no further forward to resolving the issue.

Hey Tony, that's odd they haven't been able to reproduce the issue. :/ I wish we could do something about the case.

If the hosting company has some specific comments moving forward, feel free to share them here and we will be glad to look further. Cheers.

[muffinpeace]

Hi @ivan-ottinger, we've gotten feedback from a user that having images shown specifically when Full Text is enabled isn't a good experience as it decreases CTR and traffic, as subscribers don't have any reason to check the post. Should this have its own Feature Request?

[ivan-ottinger]

Hey @muffinpeace 👋🏼

Hi @ivan-ottinger, we've gotten feedback from a user that having images shown specifically when Full Text is enabled isn't a good experience as it decreases CTR and traffic, as subscribers don't have any reason to check the post. Should this have its own Feature Request?

Thank you for the comment. Yes, this can go to a new Feature request. There's also a related issue where the new Feature request can be mentioned.

[ivan-ottinger]

Related discussion: p1664894845000509-slack-C07KTK5GS.

[Hime100]

Hi, I’ve also been having issues with my blog images not showing up in the subscription emails. Wordpress was looking into it but we didn’t get a solution.

Here’s the latest email from Wordpress below … I feel like I’m at a dead end bc I can’t do all of this. If someone else wants to try, let me know if you find out anything. Also I’m using the AshePro theme in WP. Are any of you using that theme or different themes? Was wondering if that’s causing it?
…

Hi again Jaime,

Thank you for checking your settings and confirming the issue.

I tried to reproduce the issue on my site. I activated Image Accelerator and uploaded images to my new post body. I then checked the blog subscription newsletter in my Mail client on my desktop, my mail client on my iPhone, and my Gmail account. They appeared correclty in each case.
It looks like something specific to your setup plays its role here.

Is there something else to try?

Testing that further on your live site seems complicated, as it may affect your subscribers. I would recommend creating a staging copy of your site. If your host doesn't offer that option, we recommend the free WP Staging plugin for quickly spinning up a new test site.
Once you staging site is set up, please create a new Jetpack connection and subscribe to your site with your email address.
As the next step, deactivate all plugins except Jetpack and switch your theme to one of the default Twenty themes (for instance, Twenty Twenty-One).
Publish a new post with images, and check your emails. Please let us know how it goes.

Thank you. We will be standing by for your response.
Best regards,

[32j7]

I’m using Hueman and have the same problem. Sent from my iPhoneOn Mar 16, 2023, at 3:29 PM, Hime100 ***@***.***> wrote: Hi, I’ve also been having issues with my blog images not showing up in the subscription emails. Wordpress was looking into it but we didn’t get a solution. Here’s the latest email from Wordpress below … I feel like I’m at a dead end bc I can’t do all of this. If someone else wants to try, let me know if you find out anything. Also I’m using the AshePro theme in WP. Are any of you using that theme or different themes? Was wondering if that’s causing it? … Hi again Jaime, Thank you for checking your settings and confirming the issue. I tried to reproduce the issue on my site. I activated Image Accelerator and uploaded images to my new post body. I then checked the blog subscription newsletter in my Mail client on my desktop, my mail client on my iPhone, and my Gmail account. They appeared correclty in each case. It looks like something specific to your setup plays its role here. Is there something else to try? Testing that further on your live site seems complicated, as it may affect your subscribers. I would recommend creating a staging copy of your site. If your host doesn't offer that option, we recommend the free WP Staging plugin for quickly spinning up a new test site. Once you staging site is set up, please create a new Jetpack connection and subscribe to your site with your email address. As the next step, deactivate all plugins except Jetpack and switch your theme to one of the default Twenty themes (for instance, Twenty Twenty-One). Publish a new post with images, and check your emails. Please let us know how it goes. Thank you. We will be standing by for your response. Best regards, —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[TonyKent88]

Just in case this triggers any ideas. My latest post included a tiled gallery of three photos. This did display in the subscription email received on my iPhone, while all the individual images continued not to show. Any thoughts?

https://closertotheedge.uk/east-highland-way-day-5/

[ghost]

I'm also having this issue. Previously my posts would show the featured images and post images in emails but now they don't show in the Jetpack app or the Jetpack newsletter emails.

They used to work and I've only been with Dreamhost during this period so somewhat different to those with Bluehost.

[alinclamba]

Another report here:

• 5997138-zd-woothemes

[bobmatyas]

On 5997138-zen, user reports images not showing up in the Yahoo Mail app.

[Inkinthefingers]

I have the same issue with my Wordpress blog and new posts, at least on Apple devices. Wordpress forum are kindly investigating.

[bobmatyas]

Another report on 6425888-zen

[bobmatyas]

I did some more testing and this seems specifically related to Apple Mail on Mac and iOs devices when a site is hosted at Bluehost.

I tested with and without an SSL certificate to rule out a potential SSL issue and the images fail both times:

iPhone:

Mac:

The post email should contain an image as shown:

I turned off Mail privacy settings and it didn't make a difference:

On Thunderbird on Mac, the image displays fine:

[Slowestuff]

This has also happened on some, not all, of my blog posts in the past couple of days.

[bobmatyas]

Another report on 8732776-zen

[ivan-ottinger]

Another report on 8732776-zd-a8c

Yes, another site hosted with Bluehost.