Laravel 5.8 Email Verification Step by Step

Learn how to implement email verification in Laravel 5.8 with detailed step-by-step instructions.

Introduction

Email verification is a crucial security feature that ensures users provide valid email addresses. This guide will show you how to implement email verification in Laravel 5.8 using the built-in verification features.

Prerequisites

Laravel 5.8 installed
Configured mail settings
Database setup
Basic understanding of Laravel authentication

1 Update User Model

Modify your User model to implement the verification contract:

use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\MustVerifyEmail;

class User extends Authenticatable implements MustVerifyEmail
{
    // ... existing code ...
}

2 Add Verification Routes

Add the verification routes to your `routes/web.php`:

Auth::routes(['verify' => true]);

This adds the following routes:

GET /email/verify
GET /email/verify/{id}/{hash}
POST /email/resend

3 Configure Mail Settings

Update your `.env` file with mail settings:

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=hello@example.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

4 Create Verification Notice View

Create a new view file `resources/views/auth/verify.blade.php`:

<div class="container">
    <div class="row justify-content-center">
        <div class="col-md-8">
            <div class="card">
                <div class="card-header">{{ __('Verify Your Email Address') }}</div>

                <div class="card-body">
                    @if (session('resent'))
                        <div class="alert alert-success" role="alert">
                            {{ __('A fresh verification link has been sent to your email address.') }}
                        </div>
                    @endif

                    {{ __('Before proceeding, please check your email for a verification link.') }}
                    {{ __('If you did not receive the email') }},
                    <form class="d-inline" method="POST" action="{{ route('verification.resend') }}">
                        @csrf
                        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-link p-0 m-0 align-baseline">
                            {{ __('click here to request another') }}
                        </button>.
                    </form>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

5 Protect Routes

Add the verified middleware to routes that require email verification:

Route::get('/home', 'HomeController@index')->name('home')->middleware('verified');

6 Customize Email Template

Publish the notification views to customize the email template:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-notifications

Edit the template at `resources/views/vendor/notifications/email.blade.php`

Key Features Covered

User model verification implementation
Verification routes setup
Mail configuration
Verification notice view
Route protection
Email template customization

Best Practices

Use queue for sending verification emails
Implement rate limiting for resend requests
Add proper error handling
Test email delivery in different environments
Keep email templates responsive

Common Issues

Mail configuration errors
Missing verification routes
Incorrect middleware usage
Email delivery failures
Template rendering issues

Laravel 5.8 Email Verification Step by Step