Weird Gmail problem

[fxwoody]

That's a good one guys!
Seems like i can't send any activation links by mail to any new gmail users !!
I disabled every plugins, did a test in my diagnostic page to one of my gmail account (that receive with out a problem the test mail) looked into the ban email and none are there, adjusted every aspects of emailing in the ACP and no one can receive the freaking activation email !!!!
Now, i switch my regular mailing to SMTP and did every test, all the same !
No GMAIL can get the activation and the only way i can get a new member to logon and post is to manually transfer him/her as a member (meaning they are automatically in "Users Awaiting Activation") :(

Anyone with an answer to this one ???

Tks guys ....i'm totally freaking out lolll:confused:

[RichieBoy67]

Google probably has you blacklisted. Set up a bounce address in your admincp and see what the header says on the bounced emails. Google will either bounce them or send them to spam or trash.

[Lynne]

Check your server mail logs and see if they are getting bounced back and what the message is.

[fxwoody]

Check your server mail logs and see if they are getting bounced back and what the message is.

The darn stats were OFF in cPanel :eek:

What i dont' understand is why can i send a test mail from diagnostic but not from main panel ?!?!
Never had this problem with any server before so, i will open a ticket in case off with host ...just to see with them ;)

Will post back more infos when i get some from the stats

And @RichieBoy67, i check in the analytics and other admin panel on google and nothing is blocked :up:

--------------- Added 1420978286 at 1420978286 ---------------

Little update on this ....
I did different test with hotmail, gmail, yahoo and none can receive the activation mail.
Also, i'am able to send the password reset from with in the User ACP but Email Activation Code is not working!!!
I also tried to send a bulk email and this too is not working.
It as to be an internal soft error or option that is not working or that darn server is badly setup ?!?

[ozzy47]

Users say that they do not receive emails from my site. What do I do?

First, make sure that you actually have turn on the email functions here:

Admin CP --> vBulletin Options --> Email Options --> Enable Email features --> Yes

Then verify that the email system for your forum is working via the Admin Control Panel. You can do that under diagnostics.

Admin Control Panel --> Maintenance --> Diagnostics --> Email Diagnostics

If there is an error stated, you can look at the logs for your mailer daemon to find out what error is occuring. If their is no error and the email is sent to the supplied address, then the issue is on the ISP/mailbox end. Continue reading further down this page for other suggestions.

If there is no error and you didn't get the emails then make sure you have a valid webmaster's email address in your Admin CP settings and that there is only one address. In addition make sure the domain on the email address matches the domain for your site. Otherwise some ISPs may treat this as spam. Then try this:

Admin CP --> vBulletin Options --> Email Options --> Enable "-f" Parameter --> Yes

Then try the vB email functions again. If it still doesn't work, then this is either a server and/or mailbox issue. By default vB uses PHP's mail() function for all its email and uses the SMTP server specified in php.ini. If PHP and the mail server are configured correctly then email will work. You can view the details here: http://us3.php.net/mail/

To troubleshoot any email problems you will need to view the mail logs on the server to see what happened to those emails that don't work. Once vB sends it to PHP it's in the hands of the server. If you are on a shared server you may need to ask your host to look through the logs for you.

Many large service providers such as Verizon, AOL and MSN are implementing aggressive filtering. In many cases, the customers of these providers can place the email address you use for notification in their contact list and then your emails will be allowed through. If this doesn't work, you should contact the provider in question and ask to be placed on their whitelist. Some providers will charge a listing fee for this.

In addition, AOL (and possibly others) will not accept emails from domains that do not have reverse DNS setup. It's possible these emails are being placed into a spam folder or are being filtered.

The problem could also be caused by aggressive spam filters on the user's machine. In these cases their anti-spam software should be configured to allow emails from your domain name. Refer them to the documentation for the software they are using.

If all else fails you can switch to the SMTP mail option to see if this works better for you. These settings are here:

Admin CP --> vBulletin Options --> Email Options --> SMTP Email --> Yes

Then fill out the appropriate SMTP settings for your account and server.

My host only allows me to send a certain number of emails per hour to control spam. How can I make vBulletin get around this limitation?
You cannot circumvent hard limitations created by your hosting provider. However, you can use vBulletin's SMTP email processing to point the software to an off-site email provider with more privileges.

Admin Control Panel --> vBulletin Options --> Email Options

Email is sent as "nobody@domain.com"
You need to enable the "-f parameter" in vBulletin. This sends the email address specified in the Admin Control Panel to the email client.

Admin Control Panel --> vBulletin Options --> Email Options.

For more information please see:
http://us3.php.net/manual/en/ref.mail.php

Email from my forums is blocked
One of the reasons for email being blocked is if it is coming from a different domain than what is in the 'From' email address. To ensure a better chance of your email getting through, make sure the Webmaster's email address is using the same domain as your forums.

Error: unrouteable mail domain "****.com"
This problem is caused by this option being checked in WebHost Manager for the server:

Prevent the user 'nobody' from sending out mail to remote addresses (php and cgi scripts generally run as nobody if you are not using phpsuexec and suexec respectively.)

Unchecking this option should stop this problem. You will of course need to have root access to the server to do this. If you don't, then you'll need to ask your web host to do this for you.

McAfee VirusScan Enterprise
McAfee VirusScan Enterprise blocks SMTP port 25 by default, which blocks all emails from being sent. Eliminating or changing that rule will allow emails to go through.

How can I send emails as HTML
vBulletin does not support HTML emails at this time.

Can I log Emails sent by vB?
Yes, in vB 3.6 you can log all sent emails to make sure that vB is sending these. You do this here:

Admin CP --> vBulletin Options --> Error Handling & Logging --> Log sent eMails to a File

Then if the emails appear in this log but they are not being received, then you will know this a problem with either the mail server or the recipient's mailbox. If the logs show 'FAILED" then this is a server problem. The server's email function returned a failure. Please see server configuration/logs for more details. You will need to consult your host if you are on a shared server.

SMTP Server Setup
If you are using SMTP for email, in some rare instances the SMTP server will require an additional field that is not part of the normal settings, namely this:

ini_set("SMTP","mail.yourdomain.com");

To add that setting, edit your config.php file and add this line right under <?php:

ini_set("SMTP","mail.yourdomain.com");

...changing "mail.yourdomain.com" with your specific mail domain, of course. If you do not have such a mail domain, then ask this host about this.

Invalid Webmaster's Email
Another possible cause of that problem is that you do not have a valid Webmaster's email address. You need to set this to a valid email address:

Admin CP --> vBulletin Options --> Site Name / URL / Contact Details --> Webmaster's Email

You cannot use more than one address in that field.

Note: Please be aware that vB does not have it's own email application. It has to use either PHP or SMTP, and both of those are server applications. There is very little control vB has over these.

For the PHP option, you have the -f setting and the webmaster's email address. That's it. The rest is up to the server which needs to be setup correctly for PHP email to work.

For SMTP, the only options in vB for this are the SMTP settings. If those don't work, then this means either the settings are wrong, or there is a problem connecting to that SMTP server from your server. There is nothing vB can do about this.

[fxwoody]

Well Ozzy, i passed 2 hours with the tech on my server and they can't see anything wrong on their side lol
There is a ghost in the machine somewhere :(
I'm wondering if it as to do with the new patch !??! Was working fine before so .... if server is OK and i can send password recovery, diagnostic but can't use mailing system or activation code, i have a gap in the between for sure ...but where ???

Strange situation it is :P

[RichieBoy67]

Test your dns using mxtools.

[fxwoody]

Test your dns using mxtools.

Well, it's not blacklisted for sure but i have a few errors :(

check it out www.hdbikerider.com

[RichieBoy67]

Well, it's not blacklisted for sure but i have a few errors :(

check it out www.hdbikerider.com (http://www.hdbikerider.com)

I am going to run mxtools shortly but just to let you know, Google does not use those blacklists but have their own for the most part.

if your dns is not up to standards this will be enough for Google and others to block you or send you to spam.

## I just ran report and yes, those warnings are the reason. You need to fix those issues. SOA numbers should be: http://mxtoolbox.com/problem/dns/dns-soa-expire-value

Ask your host to fix reverse dns. This means your ip address has to match your sending domain.

I am not sure what is up with your smtp server but it is very slow.

[fxwoody]

You know what, i think they don't really know what they're doing !?!
Talked with the tech and he sounded more lost then i am loll

Put it this way, if they can't fix my problem today, i'm moving to a VPS somewhere else (now i'm on a shared reseller)
Tks for your time Rich, i did pass on your page and maybe i should hire you ;)

[RichieBoy67]

You know what, i think they don't really know what they're doing !?!
Talked with the tech and he sounded more lost then i am loll

Put it this way, if they can't fix my problem today, i'm moving to a VPS somewhere else (now i'm on a shared reseller)
Tks for your time Rich, i did pass on your page and maybe i should hire you ;)

Thanks,
Most hosts do not really mess with that stuff much and it is pretty new that Google and the others really use these settings so harshly.

If you do move hosts be sure to ask them about these dns issues before hand. Reverse dns can be an issue with some hosts. Soa though is very easy to set though.

Thanks for the kind words. I am always happy to help if I can. :)

[fxwoody]

So, if they don't understand with this :
Well, this is another ticket that i hope will fix my problems. We already tried to fix server speed, email problems, etc etc but now this is turning out to be a massif pain in the arss !!! I have 4 other webpage i need to put togheter for friends/customers and i don't even want to start anything until my main system is fix! You can check at MXTOOLBOX my hdbikerider.com and see that lots of options are not well setup in the server and i can't do anything on my side so, you guys need to fix this ASAP or i will have to find another HOST who will be able to set it up properly and give me what i pay for ! I spent enough $$$ to have a good service and not for me to wait and +++++ at the server speed and all. Sorry to be a +++++y customer but we are not talking about $5 a month guys !!!

Thank you and hope you understand my frustration

It will be time to shop for a good VPS .......mannnn more work ahead O.o

[RichieBoy67]

So, if they don't understand with this :


It will be time to shop for a good VPS .......mannnn more work ahead O.o

Yep, I am sure someone ehere can suggest someone decent. I use dedicated servers myself and it is still difficult to get these issues solved especially with multiple domains. These are challenging but a good host should have solutions.

it is a never ending cycle. As soon as you get this all set you will have something else to worry about. lol