diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7716124..da43781 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ _build/
 # Just a local folder I use for testing
 clones/
 
+# IdeaIDE
+.idea/
 # Ignore the git repos in unit tests
 tests/*.git
 
diff --git a/pagure/default_config.py b/pagure/default_config.py
index 4ea4a16..675f5e2 100644
--- a/pagure/default_config.py
+++ b/pagure/default_config.py
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ SECRET_KEY = '<insert here your own key>'
 DB_URL = 'sqlite:////var/tmp/pagure_dev.sqlite'
 
 # url to datagrepper (optional):
-#DATAGREPPER_URL = 'https://apps.fedoraproject.org/datagrepper'
-#DATAGREPPER_CATEGORY = 'pagure'
+# DATAGREPPER_URL = 'https://apps.fedoraproject.org/datagrepper'
+# DATAGREPPER_CATEGORY = 'pagure'
 
 # The FAS group in which the admin of pagure are
 ADMIN_GROUP = 'sysadmin-main'
@@ -150,9 +150,15 @@ GL_BINDIR = None
 
 # Default SMTP server to use for sending emails
 SMTP_SERVER = 'localhost'
+SMTP_PORT = 25
+SMTP_SSL = False
+# Specify SMTP_USERNAME and SMTP_PASSWORD for enabling SMTP auth
+SMTP_USERNAME = None
+SMTP_PASSWORD = None
 
 # Email used to sent emails
 FROM_EMAIL = 'pagure@pagure.org'
+
 DOMAIN_EMAIL_NOTIFICATIONS = 'pagure.org'
 SALT_EMAIL = '<secret key to be changed>'
 
diff --git a/pagure/lib/notify.py b/pagure/lib/notify.py
index f201dd5..0ca8443 100644
--- a/pagure/lib/notify.py
+++ b/pagure/lib/notify.py
@@ -184,12 +184,15 @@ def send_email(text, subject, to_mail,
     else:
         subject_tag = 'Pagure'
 
-    smtp = smtplib.SMTP(pagure.APP.config['SMTP_SERVER'])
+    if pagure.APP.config['SMTP_SSL']:
+        smtp = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(pagure.APP.config['SMTP_SERVER'], pagure.APP.config['SMTP_PORT'])
+    else:
+        smtp = smtplib.SMTP(pagure.APP.config['SMTP_SERVER'], pagure.APP.config['SMTP_PORT'])
+
     for mailto in to_mail.split(','):
         msg = MIMEText(text.encode('utf-8'), 'plain', 'utf-8')
         msg['Subject'] = '[%s] %s' % (subject_tag, subject)
-        from_email = pagure.APP.config.get(
-            'FROM_EMAIL', 'pagure@fedoraproject.org')
+        from_email = pagure.APP.config.get('FROM_EMAIL', 'pagure@fedoraproject.org')
         msg['From'] = from_email
 
         if mail_id:
@@ -212,6 +215,9 @@ def send_email(text, subject, to_mail,
             mhash.hexdigest(),
             pagure.APP.config['DOMAIN_EMAIL_NOTIFICATIONS'])
         try:
+            if pagure.APP.config['SMTP_USERNAME'] and pagure.APP.config['SMTP_PASSWORD']:
+                smtp.login(pagure.APP.config['SMTP_USERNAME'], pagure.APP.config['SMTP_PASSWORD'])
+
             smtp.sendmail(
                 from_email,
                 [mailto],