Error & SOLUTION for account activation emails not being received

[msmayz]

Hi all. I had a problem on my forum recently where most newly registered members were not receiving their account activation emails. I found a solution today and wanted to share it here in case it might help anyone in the future.

The first thing I did was run the email diagnostic test through the Admin CP, which went through just fine. Given that fortunate result, I knew from researching that my next step was asking my host provider to pull the mail server logs so we could see what was going on. In short, we were able to find a very easy solution without even having to pull the mail server logs.

The problem was that the account activation email was getting blocked by several webmail providers (including gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc.) because the default message (standard phrase: activateaccount) linked to/"called"/pulled my forum's URL too many times.

The solution was to make a few quick changes to the default phrase, and then voil?: the email started coming through just fine.

Here's what the "activateaccount" phrase (i.e., activation email message) says by default in vB 4, with bold red text emphasis mine:

Dear $username,

Thank you for registering at the $vboptions[bbtitle]. Before we can activate your account one last step must be taken to complete your registration.

Please note - you must complete this last step to become a registered member. You will only need to visit this URL once to activate your account.

To complete your registration, please visit this URL:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=act&u=$userid&i=$activateid

**** Does The Above URL Not Work? ****
If the above URL does not work, please use your Web browser to go to:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=ver

Please be sure not to add extra spaces. You will need to type in your username and activation number on the page that appears when you visit the URL.

Your Username is: $username
Your Activation ID is: $activateid

If you are still having problems signing up please contact a member of our support staff at $vboptions[webmasteremail].

All the best,
$vboptions[bbtitle]


--------------------
To stop receiving this email, please visit this URL:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?do=deleteactivation&u=$userid&i=$acti vateid

The items in red were preventing the email from being delivered. I replaced them, as denoted in bold green, below. (I made a few other edits for brevity/grammar, but the critical edits -- what got the email to actually start going through again! -- are in green):

Dear $username,

Thank you for registering at [my forum's name]. To activate your account and become a registered member, you must take one last step.

To complete your registration, please visit this URL:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=act&u=$userid&i=$activateid

You will only need to visit this URL once to activate your account.

If the above URL does not work:

1. Go to: $vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=ver
2. You will need to type in your username and activation number on the page that appears.

Your username is: $username
Your activation ID is: $activateid

If you are still having problems activating your accont, please contact us at $vboptions[webmasteremail].

All the best,
The [forum name] staff

--------------------
To stop receiving this email, please visit this URL:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?do=deleteactivation&u=$userid&i=$acti vateid

The account activation emails are going swimmingly now.

My host also suggested that, if there was any future problem with certain webmail servers continuing to block the message, as a next step, we could try editing the part denoted below in red and just replace it with a hard link to our forum, making sure to leave the rest of the URL intact so that it still goes to the verification page:

Dear $username,

Thank you for registering at the $vboptions[bbtitle]. Before we can activate your account one last step must be taken to complete your registration.

Please note - you must complete this last step to become a registered member. You will only need to visit this URL once to activate your account.

To complete your registration, please visit this URL:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=act&u=$userid&i=$activateid

**** Does The Above URL Not Work? ****
If the above URL does not work, please use your Web browser to go to:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=ver

Please be sure not to add extra spaces. You will need to type in your username and activation number on the page that appears when you visit the URL.

Your Username is: $username
Your Activation ID is: $activateid

If you are still having problems signing up please contact a member of our support staff at $vboptions[webmasteremail].

All the best,
$vboptions[bbtitle]


--------------------
To stop receiving this email, please visit this URL:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?do=deleteactivation&u=$userid&i=$acti vateid

Anyway, I don't know if this will help anyone, but on the chance that it does, here ya go. :up: