vBMS : vBulletin Mail System
 

vBulletin Mail System

Finally, for vBulletin 3.6, there is a port from filburt1's original hack. For those of you who aren't aware, he essentially declared it open source, and it's been a bit of a wait for someone to fix it up... I've wanted it for my site, too, so I finally sat down and just did it.

What is this?
The vBulletin Mail System is a way to give your users webmail access from your site. They can have a name@yourwebsite.com address, send and receive emails and attachments, etc. Options such as mailbox quotas, limits on numbers/types of attachments, a message trailer ("Free mail at yourwebsite.com!") at the end of each message, etc. are all available as well.

Please note: this is a pre-final version. As far as I have seen, it is working so far for me, but I have not tested it completely and thoroughly and it's very likely there'll be a number of bugs popping up. However, I have successfully been able to install this on a clean board, exchange emails regularly (including attachments), go through all the basic options/etc. without any errors popping up, so it should be fine. Still, make sure you back up your database before installing this, just due to the nature of its "beta"-ness.

To install: upload all files from the "upload" directory to your server in the proper directories. Then, navigate to admincp/vbms_install.php on your server and run the installer. It will make several template additions. If your navbar or header templates hav been modified, it will not be able to do it automatically, and you'll have to add these edits yourself.

In template navbar, find:
Add after:
Find:
Add after:
In your ACP, there should be a new set of options in a "vBulletin Mail System" category. That set of options is your main set of management stuff, and is pretty straightforward.

Feel free to post with any bugs or questions you find, etc. I'm trying to get this working again thoroughly, for all of us.

FAQ

• Is POP support available for my users?
  No, this is similar to a webmail system.
• What is a catch-all email address, and how do I set it up?
  A catch-all address is an email address that any mail sent to your server that isn't picked up by another account will go to. For example, if someone sends an email to randomgibberish@yoursite.com and you do not have a "randomgibberish" account defined, it would forward to your catch-all account that you have set up, such as all@yoursite.com.
• Can I run this if my server doesn't let me have a catch-all mail account?
  Yes, but it's not recommended. As has been suggested by a few members, you can set up one mail account to the be "catch-all" and have vBMS connect to that, then set up mail accounts for each member who wants one and have it forward to the catch-all. All this has to be set up manually with your web host, and takes a great deal of willpower and availability from the website administrator, and is thus not recommended.
• I'm receiving the following error:
  
  Code:

  ---

  Fatal error: Call to undefined function: imap_open()...

  ---

  If you're getting an error similar to this, you do not have IMAP functionality available in PHP. Find your php.ini file on your server (usually /usr/local/lib/php.ini on Linux, C:\Windows\php.ini on Windows), and find the extensions section. Uncomment the line ";extension=php_imap.dll" (that is, remove the semicolon at the beginning) and restart your web server. If you don't have access to your web server to do this, contact your web host about installing IMAP support for PHP. If they won't do it, then this hack is not for you.
• I can't connect to the mail server, with this error:
  
  Code:

  ---

  Warning: imap_open() [function.imap-open]: Couldn't open stream {localhost:110/pop3}INBOX in /includes/vbms_class_installer.php on line 791

  ---

  First, make sure that your port number and server information are right. Some mail servers are on non-default ports (this is common), and some you may have to connect to a different host besides localhost (this is very rare). Also, try using the "Force no-TLS connection" option in the vBMS Options in the ACP.
• I can connect to the server just fine, but it won't get any email!
  Check the "Mail checking logs" in your ACP (under the vBulletin Mail System area). If there are no logs, then the cronjob probably isn't running. If there are logs, see if there are any errors in there. If it's checking the mail account fine and simply says there are no messages, check with a webmail to see if the catch-all account is even receiving mails. If the webmail shows that the account has mail stuck in it and vBMS isn't picking them up, but vBMS is saying it's checking the account alright and finding 0 messages, then you're likely connecting to the wrong account. By doing these steps, you should at least be able to figure out where the problem is occurring.

Install clicks, donations and HotM nominations are always welcome. ;)

nice hack

You did everything but tell us what exactly a "mail system" is.

Same in the other thread.

^ Hah, good point *edits thread*

gonna try this out

Style change shall be an option since there are people who customize their styles so the target text cannot be found. Also there may be an option to drop language phrases if they exist in the database and definition.

Awesome!

[high]* projectego clicks install! ;)[/high]

Good one :)

Thanks for this wonderful release, can we grant access to specific usergroups only ?
(Mods, Supermods or admins) ?

Big thanks for porting this hack :)

WHOA!!!!!! This is HUGELY AWESOME!
Thanx very much for this modification release ;)

Jacquii.

The only style changes that have to be done outside of adding vBMS templates are the ones I've detailed in the first post, occurring in navbar. The phrase warnings are also ignorable. I didn't fully get to updating what the installer says, but it has no problems adding new phrases and such.

Yeah; admins automatically have full rights; after that, you can customize it for each specific usergroup (except banned and unregistered users, neither of those can have email accounts at all ;))

Does this allow them to use outlook express for their mail or is it strictly internal ?

Only seems to pick up the main usergroups, not any additional ones .. how can I add other usergroups !?

Seems to send ok but not receive !

Try first click install later. :)

I have the same problem -- I can send w/out an issue, but can not receive.

Wondering the same thing...

I'm not sure if it is but I'm pretty sure it's strictly internal and I think it's better that way to add stickiness to your site.

True, but I'm sure it causes quite a server load.

i tried installing this and it said this

PHPimap
Failed (not loaded)
Suggestion action: Ask your host to recompile PHP with the imap extension, or if your host uses Windows, to enable the imap extension in php.ini.

i run a linux server how do i enable this or is it okay to proceed with out it???

and also i get this error

The following phrases exist and may result in alternate text being displayed in vBMS pages: method, warning, and warning

Please Help ASAP

Thanks

Sorry Doubled Posted It It Did Not Show For Awhill So I Posted It Agine And Then Finnaly Should Up.. lol

Okay So Please Help I Need To Install this Tonight

You can ignore the second warning. The first one means that the IMAP libraries are not installed in PHP, and so PHP cannot access mail accounts. To enable it, edit php.ini and uncomment the line "extension=php_imap.dll", then restart your web server.
No, this is strictly internal.
The mail account that vBMS checks needs to be the "catch-all" mail account on your server. That means you need to set it up on your web host so that any mail sent to arghsiblah@yoursite.com (really, any address that doesn't exist) will forward to vbms@yoursite.com (or whatever your catch-all account is), and then have vbms check the vbms@yoursite.com address for any incoming mail. I can't give you directions for how to do this, it's different with every web host. Then, if it still doesn't receive mail, first check the catch-all account to see if it's actually receiving mails, then check the "Mail Checking Logs" in the ACP to see if vBMS is picking up the ones that are coming in. You should be able to figure out where the problem is occurring in there.
Very possibly; I haven't gotten a chance to take the time to look at what it does to the server load. However, by not giving POP3 access (for Outlook EXpress, etc.), you're keeping your users on your site more rather than letting them be freeloading off of you.

where can i turn phpimap on

please give me the whereabouts in my ftp :)

i run linux :D


EDIT how much is the full version of this???

This seems like an awesome hack but will have to have it mature a bit and get some bugs worked out.

Few things need to be identified
Server load
Usergroup issue
Control panel screen shots user & admin
reported bugs

Telnet/SSH into your server, then type "whereis php.ini". Usually it's in /usr/local/lib.
There is no "full version" or "free version" anymore, this is the full version. Filburt1 released it as open-source because he was done developing it, and asked the general community to update it to be compatible with vBulletin 3.6.

Install script isnot working if you receive any errors i mentioned.

Good point about the stickiness of your site by being internal. When they log in to check their email there is always a chance they'll check the rest of the website out.

Does this inform signed in members of new mail ?

And i have to admit i am concerned on server load as the catchall has to be sorted to send to individual members. How is this achieved ? Does it do it on a cron or when the member checks his or her mail ?

Thanks for the reply .. still no go and I've tested web mail from host cpanel and catch all email does work.
Mail checking logs shows nothing .. "Nothing to do"
Anyone else got this to receive ? I'd be interested to know how you got it to work.

Empty buttons with the package, so we can add our own language etc. (really do not understand that such things are not standard, not only for mod etc, but styles and so on...)

I think I will use this one when it is no longer beta, nice work!

Installed and working in 2k3 with IIS and 3.6.5

Great thx man.

i don't run my own server thats the prob

my web hosts does but he's not online right now :(

is there a way to do it manully?


edit: can you make it look my like the usercp for the emails??? i want it too look like hotmails but also the usercp?

and can we remove the copyright or can i buy a copyright removal?

Hi

It wont let me install it, stops at 7% saying Step 1 of 13: Testing Settings?

If i refresh the browser it says

You did not complete all of the required settings: "POP3 Server Username" was not completed. Please go back and try again

I know for a fact that the email is correct it is the main email account where the settings for it cannot be modified, such as the password and son it....

Wow this looks awesome, lets make this thing bug free, also does it work with VBSEO.

I cant get this to install for squat..... I've tried catchall addresses, created new addresses and set them as catchall in CPanel and install, try local host, mail.mysite.com, nothing works, I CONSISTENTLY get the error

Nope, not unless you have full access to the server like that.
That's what templates are for. If you want to customize it, feel free to do so yourself; I have not the time to make fun styles for this.
According to filburt1 when he made this open-source:
So basically, yes, you can remove the copyright, but you can't replace it with one of your own.
Then don't refresh the browser while installing it. It's not going to remember the details you entered if that's what you do. Does it give you a specific error when it gets stuck at 7%?
Sounds like the cron job's not executing properly... can you go into your scheduled task manager and make sure it's there and working? I think it should be called "vbmsvbms_checkmailphp". Try doing a test run of it from there and see if there's some sort of problem.
Haven't tried, but I don't think it would much matter anyways; the mail isn't available to guests, so I don't think search engines would be picking up on it.
That error you give means it's not properly connecting to the mail server. Are you sure you have a POP3 mail server on your web host, and is it on localhost at port 110? You should check with your web host about that.

I'll try and get to the usergroup issue as soon as I can; it might be a few days though.

There is no error at at all, just hangs at 7% step 10 of 13: Testing Setteings

like i said, if i then refresh it tells me,

You did not complete all of the required settings: "POP3 Server Username" was not completed. Please go back and try again

My server is definately set for pop3 as i am using it with outlook 2007
The catch all email is 100% correct, although the email addrees is not the login its only the1st part of the address, but i have tried it with the whole email address and the 1st part and still nothing , I have now had the installer running for 5 mins and its still at 7% as i am typing this post!

still 7% lol

tell me how the users signs an email like user@mysite.com with this mod?

For some strange reason, I seem to be receiving all the sent and received emails, rather than them going in the users Inbox. Any help?

very nice this is it, I was looking for this one :) glad found it.
Thanks man.

The install stops at 7% saying Step 1 of 13: Testing Settings? with the following error:

Produces :-