Winner Notification Emails in Ultimate Spin Wheel
When a visitor wins a prize on your Ultimate Spin Wheel popup, they are excited in that moment — but ten minutes later the tab is closed and the coupon is forgotten. A winner email drops the code straight into their inbox, where they can find it three days later when they are actually ready to buy. This guide explains exactly how the plugin’s email delivery works, what the default email looks like, and how to make sure it lands in the inbox instead of Spam.
How Email Delivery Actually Works
Email delivery is controlled per campaign, not from a global “Email” settings screen. Open your campaign, go to the Behavior tab, and expand the Email Verification (Lead Delivery) section. There you will find a single toggle: Enable Email-only Coupons.
- Toggle OFF (default): The winning code is shown on screen in the win popup. No email is sent.
- Toggle ON: The code is hidden from the popup and delivered only by email. The winner sees a “Success Alert Message” (for example, “Check your email for the coupon code!”) in the win modal instead of the code.
This is an important distinction: the plugin does not send a “bonus” email alongside an on-screen code. Enabling email delivery makes it email-only, which also protects the code from visitors who spin without a real inbox. The email is only sent when the spin results in a win, a valid email was captured, and a coupon code was resolved.
The Default Email (Free)
Out of the box the plugin sends a fully styled HTML email — not a plain-text message. It is built for high deliverability while still looking branded:
- Subject: Auto-generated as “Your Reward from [Site Name]” (a legacy path uses “Your Coupon from [Site Name]”). The subject is set by the plugin and is not editable in the free version.
- Header: A gradient banner showing your site name.
- Body: A “You Won!” headline, a one-line message naming the prize (your coupon title), and a large coupon card displaying the exclusive code.
- Call to action: A “Redeem Your Prize” button linking back to your site’s home URL, plus a footer with your site name and a copyright line.
The email automatically pulls four pieces of data: your site name, site URL, the prize / coupon title, and the coupon code. There are no manual merge tags to insert in the free version — the layout is fixed and fills itself in.
Custom HTML Winner Emails (Pro)
If you need your own logo, colors, and copy — a fully branded template — that is a Pro capability. The Pro plugin can replace the built-in template through the uspw_custom_email_template filter and adjust the outgoing message with the uspw_before_send_winner_email filter (which also lets you translate, personalize, or re-route the message, or skip sending entirely).
Whether you use the default template or a Pro custom one, keep the design simple: a logo, a big “You Won!” headline, one prominent coupon code, and a single “Shop Now” button. Complex multi-column layouts frequently break in Outlook and other desktop clients.
Deliverability: Use SMTP
The most common complaint about any WordPress email is “it never arrived.” Almost always this is the server, not the plugin. The plugin sends through WordPress’s wp_mail() function, which by default hands the message to your host’s PHP mailer — and those server IPs are frequently blacklisted.
- Install an SMTP plugin such as WP Mail SMTP or FluentSMTP. This routes email through a trusted provider (Gmail, SendGrid, Amazon SES, Postmark) instead of raw PHP mail.
- Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) with your chosen provider so inbox providers trust you.
- Test it end to end: Enable email delivery on a test campaign, spin it yourself with a real address, and confirm the message arrives in the Primary inbox. If your SMTP plugin’s own test email fails, fix that first — the spin wheel uses the same mail pipeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I turn winner emails off?
Yes. Emails are off by default — they are only sent when “Enable Email-only Coupons” is toggled on in the campaign’s Behavior tab. Leave it off if you would rather let a marketing platform send the follow-up, and remember that turning it on hides the code from the popup.
Can I customize the subject line?
In the free version the subject is generated automatically (“Your Reward from [Site Name]”) and cannot be edited in the UI. Custom subjects and fully custom templates are handled through the Pro plugin’s email filters.
Can I send a different email for each prize?
The plugin uses one template for all winners, but it always inserts the specific prize title that was won, so the message reflects each winner’s reward. If you need genuinely different flows for different prizes, route the lead through a marketing platform or automation service — those email-marketing integrations are Pro.
Can I attach a PDF to the email?
Not as a file attachment. Upload the PDF to your Media Library and, with a Pro custom template, include a normal download link (<a href="...">Download Guide</a>) in the body instead.
The emails are not arriving. What do I check first?
Confirm email delivery is enabled on that campaign, that a valid email is being captured, and that the spin actually resulted in a win. Then verify your SMTP setup — an unconfigured server is the number-one cause of missing emails.
Related Documentation
- Behavior Settings: Where the email delivery toggle, success message, and redirect URL live.
- Custom HTML Templates: Build a fully branded winner email with Pro.
- Prize & Coupon Configuration: Set up the codes that get emailed.
- Emails Not Sending: Deeper deliverability troubleshooting.
Conclusion
The email carrying a winner’s prize is one of the most-opened messages you will ever send. In Ultimate Spin Wheel it is an email-only delivery mode you enable per campaign, sending a clean, pre-styled HTML template out of the box, with fully custom templates available in Pro. Enable it, put SMTP behind it, and test it — then let the inbox keep your winners coming back. If you need help, visit the wowDevs support center.