Revisiting the issue of 'no confirmation email sent'

Hey! I’d have posted on the following but since it was marked resolve I didn’t think it was appropriate

No User Activation Email Going Out

So here I am.

Q: is there documentation available with regard to the registration process? I just had a friend of mine serve as a test user and it was confirmed that there was no confirmation email sent. On my end, I noticed that gmail got all aggro on me 🙂 and so I’m seeking a solution. More specifically, google doesn’t seem to like that recommended smtp plugin per the above-referenced post… I tried using it so that my admin@(my site).com account was linked to a gmail account I’d like to use… I can screenshot the specifics, but to paraphrase here, I got the following results:
– google said ‘this pluggin is 2+ yrs old and runs off an older and less secure code… please consider not using this plugin for setting up your email smtp as it will cause problems’ etc etc.
– then, when my friend tried to register to mysite, in addition to him not receiving a confirmation email, I got a text and an email from google saying ‘warning: someone just accessed your gmail account, it was the right password but we blocked the request and you must offer your next two children born in order to reactivate your account…

:p

So – any ideas what I did wrong? Much appreciated everyone.

Best,
-Q