• Registered: 2007-01-12
  • Posts: 38

Topic: Registration emails not being sent/received

Hello
I just installed this BRILLIANT forum. I've been wanting one like this for around 8 years now and I think I've finally found it - no images, no bloat, no frustration. I can breathe easily.

However, I'm trying to register a standard (non-admin) username for myself but when I registered I didn't receive an email so that I could activate the account. It's been about 15 minutes so far.

I left the SMTP settings blank so that it would use the local mail server automatically but it doesn't seem to have worked.

Any ideas about what I should try?
I can't find any SMTP references in my host's CPANEL section.

Thanks
Mark

2 Reply by Mark (edited by Mark 2007-01-15 12:35)

  • Mark
  • PunBB Donor
  • Offline
  • From: England, North West
  • Registered: 2004-09-21
  • Posts: 834

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

did you enable the email verification part in Admin>options ?
If not, then you won't get an email to activate your account, It will already be activated.

Mark's Website

3 Reply by yonnermark (edited by yonnermark 2007-01-15 12:37)

  • Registered: 2007-01-12
  • Posts: 38

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

hi
yes I enabled that but no email got sent and the account in question is still inactive
Any other suggestions please?
thanks
mark

  • From: U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2005-08-26
  • Posts: 1,607

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

Are you sure that the email hasn't been filtered out by a spam filter?

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.
  • Registered: 2007-01-12
  • Posts: 38

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

BINGO!!
Gmail sent it to spam.

sorry to have trouble you.
Thanks again for providing such a cool forum.
I love how fast it is to load and how clean it looks.

6 Reply by Peter

  • Peter
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Brooklyn, NY
  • Registered: 2006-01-10
  • Posts: 205

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

I think a large percentage of my verification emails end up in spam filters, because I have a lot of 32000's in my member database and people complaining they can't sign up.

Why are these emails mistaken for spam? How can I guarantee they get passed spam filters?

Peter's Website

7 Reply by elbekko (edited by elbekko 2008-04-10 21:03)

  • From: Leuven, Belgium
  • Registered: 2005-06-14
  • Posts: 2,653

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

Make sure the address the mails are being sent from exists.

8 Reply by Peter (edited by Peter 2008-04-11 14:49)

  • Peter
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Brooklyn, NY
  • Registered: 2006-01-10
  • Posts: 205

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

The return-path (envelope-from etc.) on the emails is something like this:

myaccount@box555.bluehost.com

I can imagine that is causing problems with some spam filters.

Where can I fix that? In the server email settings? In PunBB code somewhere? A field in MySQL?

Peter's Website

  • From: Leuven, Belgium
  • Registered: 2005-06-14
  • Posts: 2,653

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

You'll have to either set the webmaster email in the admin panel, or create the email address in your hosting config.

10 Reply by MattF

  • MattF
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: South Yorkshire, England
  • Registered: 2007-03-15
  • Posts: 1,956

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

I wouldn't spend too much time trying to make them filter friendly. You'll find the likes of Yahoo/Gmail/AOL/Hotmail are a law unto themselves regarding what they term as spam. You will most likely fail to get most of them through. big_smile

MattF's Website

11 Reply by Peter (edited by Peter 2008-04-11 18:27)

  • Peter
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Brooklyn, NY
  • Registered: 2006-01-10
  • Posts: 205

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

elbekko wrote:

You'll have to either set the webmaster email in the admin panel, or create the email address in your hosting config.

Thanks.

Do you know where in MySQL the webmaster email is supposed to end up? I've destroyed my admin panel after heavy customization... :-(

I've already created many email addresses in my hosting configuration. How can I connect one of them to return-path etc. for PunBB registration? (I've sent my hosting provider the same question.)

BTW, the From: line is fine. That's something like From:  "MyWebsite Mailer" <peter@mywebsite.com>

Or could the word 'Mailer' ruin it? Where in the code can I remove that word?

Peter's Website

  • From: Leuven, Belgium
  • Registered: 2005-06-14
  • Posts: 2,653

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

It's o_webmaster_email in the config table.
You can also directly change it in include/email.php

13 Reply by Peter

  • Peter
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Brooklyn, NY
  • Registered: 2006-01-10
  • Posts: 205

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

OK, I checked o_webmaster_email and it has the correct email address. So that's not where return-path (envelope-from etc.) get the email address from.

Peter's Website

14 Reply by MattF

  • MattF
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: South Yorkshire, England
  • Registered: 2007-03-15
  • Posts: 1,956

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

You're using local mail delivery then, rather than smtp.

MattF's Website

  • Smartys
  • Former PunBB Developer
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2004-04-30
  • Posts: 7,844

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

Could you link to your site?

16 Reply by Peter

  • Peter
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Brooklyn, NY
  • Registered: 2006-01-10
  • Posts: 205

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

MattF wrote:

You're using local mail delivery then, rather than smtp.

How/where would I change that?

I can never wrap my head around the email stuff... :-(

(BTW, I've added a link to my site to my profile.)

Peter's Website

17 Reply by MattF

  • MattF
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: South Yorkshire, England
  • Registered: 2007-03-15
  • Posts: 1,956

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

Peter wrote:
MattF wrote:

You're using local mail delivery then, rather than smtp.

How/where would I change that?

I can never wrap my head around the email stuff... :-(

(BTW, I've added a link to my site to my profile.)

In the admin options panel, the smtp server settings. If those are left empty, the forum will default to using the local mail pickup. The envelope sender address then becomes whatever the system or httpd username is.

MattF's Website

18 Reply by Peter (edited by Peter 2008-04-12 20:40)

  • Peter
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Brooklyn, NY
  • Registered: 2006-01-10
  • Posts: 205

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

In the admin options panel, the smtp server settings. If those are left empty, the forum will default to using the local mail pickup. The envelope sender address then becomes whatever the system or httpd username is.

My admin panel has gone the way of the dodo... :-(

Where in the database are these SMTP settings supposed to end up? Or can I change the PHP code somewhere?

And how can I remove the word 'Mailer' from the confirmation email? I suspect that word could contribute to higher spam ratings in bayesian filters.

Peter's Website

19 Reply by Peter (edited by Peter 2008-04-15 01:21)

  • Peter
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Brooklyn, NY
  • Registered: 2006-01-10
  • Posts: 205

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

I see three mentions of smtp in the database:

o_smtp_host
o_smtp_user
o_smtp_pass

Should it work if I fill in those values? Or should I change anything else in the database as well?

Edit: I've added the smtp information, but I still get that same system address in the email source.

MattF wrote:

I wouldn't spend too much time trying to make them filter friendly. You'll find the likes of Yahoo/Gmail/AOL/Hotmail are a law unto themselves regarding what they term as spam. You will most likely fail to get most of them through. big_smile

So what's the solution? I have too many 3200's in my database. I don't get it...

Peter's Website

  • Smartys
  • Former PunBB Developer
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2004-04-30
  • Posts: 7,844

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

You need to set those values and remove the cache_config.php file from the cache directory.

21 Reply by MattF

  • MattF
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: South Yorkshire, England
  • Registered: 2007-03-15
  • Posts: 1,956

Re: Registration emails not being sent/received

Peter wrote:
MattF wrote:

I wouldn't spend too much time trying to make them filter friendly. You'll find the likes of Yahoo/Gmail/AOL/Hotmail are a law unto themselves regarding what they term as spam. You will most likely fail to get most of them through. big_smile

So what's the solution? I have too many 3200's in my database. I don't get it...

There aren't any solutions, to be truthful. You'll give yourself grey hairs and nowt else trying to get through their filters. Check any of the MTA lists, (Postfix, Exim, Sendmail), and you'll find the same answers. The deliveries will get binned for no discernible reason.

MattF's Website