Hi,
It looks like we changed where SMTP configuration is saved in 10.7. Contrary to my response on your other thread, that bug (I still can’t find the ticket) is probably still open, and what you’re observing is a result of the “where” rather than the “how”.
I’ve just tested locally on 25.1 (Yes, I’m behind the times. Shame on me.) and was able to save a single space for both the login and password. That gets me past the UI check, and apparently, as I’d hoped, the values are trimmed on the server side. Because when I re-edit, those fields are blank again, and I have to re-enter my spaces. And my email was received successfully by my localhost SMTP server.
HTH,
Ann