I integrated the Waline comment system into my blog a while ago. Recently, I noticed that several readers had left questions on my posts, but because I hadn’t set up notifications, I didn’t see them in time to respond. Since Waline supports various notification methods, I decided to configure email alerts. Here is the process for future reference.
Choosing a Notification Method
WeChat was ruled out because it lacks an official bot API (current solutions are often “hacks”). While Telegram is an option, it can get quite noisy. For a blog, email is a professional and non-intrusive way to stay updated.
Selecting an Email Provider
I decided to use my QQ Mail account. Since it’s only acting as the sender, any reliable provider with a low chance of being flagged as spam will work.
For QQ Mail, you need to generate an Authorization Code from the settings to use as the SMTP password. Note: This is different from your regular login password.
Pro-tip: The same authorization code can be used across multiple clients; for example, I use one code for two separate Waline server instances.
Waline Server Configuration
My Waline server is hosted on Vercel, so I simply added the necessary environment variables to the project settings. After saving, restart the service to apply the changes.
| Environment Variable | Description |
|---|---|
SMTP_SECURE | Set to true |
SMTP_USER | Your email address (e.g., user@qq.com) |
SMTP_PASS | Your SMTP Authorization Code |
SMTP_SERVICE | Your provider (e.g., QQ) |
SITE_URL | The URL of your blog |
SITE_NAME | The name of your blog |
For more advanced options, refer to the official Waline notification guide.
Result
Once configured, you will receive an email like the one below whenever a new comment is posted:
Final Thoughts
- The email notification feature in Waline is extremely useful for bloggers who want to stay engaged with their readers. I hope future updates bring even more customization options.
- For lightweight blogs, Waline remains an excellent, easy-to-configure choice for a commenting system. Kudos to the open-source contributors!
