Major Additions - 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:

<td class="vbmenu_control"><a href="usercp.php$session[sessionurl_q]">$vbphrase[user_cp]</a></td>

Add after:

			<if condition="$show['popups']">
				<td class="vbmenu_control" id="navbar_vbms">
					<a href="vbms.php$session[sessionurl_q]">$vbphrase[email]</a>
			
					<if condition="$vbms_newmessages['newcount'] > 0">
						<span style="font-weight: normal; padding: 1px 1px 1px 2px; margin: 0px 3px 0px 2px; border: 1px inset" class="alt1">
							<phrase 1="$vbms_newmessages[newcount]">$vbphrase[x_new]</phrase>
						</span>
					</if>
				
					<script type="text/javascript">
						<!--
							vbmenu_register("navbar_vbms");
						// -->
					</script>
				</td>
			<else />
				<td class="vbmenu_control" id="navbar_vbms">
					<a href="vbms.php$session[sessionurl_q]">$vbphrase[email]</a>
				
					<if condition="$vbms_newmessages['newcount'] > 0">
						<span style="font-weight: normal; padding: 1px 1px 1px 2px; margin: 0px 3px 0px 2px; border: 1px inset" class="alt1">
							<phrase 1="$vbms_newmessages[newcount]">$vbphrase[x_new]</phrase>
						</span>
					</if>
				</td>
			</if>

Find:

<!-- / header quick search form -->
	</if>

	<if condition="$show['member']">

Add after:

		<div class="vbmenu_popup" id="navbar_vbms_menu" style="display: none">
			<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" border="0">
				<tr><td class="thead">vBulletin Mail System</td></tr>
				<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="vbms.php?$session[sessionurl]">$vbphrase[navbar_inbox]</a></td></tr>
				<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="vbms_new.php?$session[sessionurl]">$vbphrase[navbar_write_message]</a></td></tr>
				<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="vbms_ab.php?$session[sessionurl]">$vbphrase[navbar_address_book]</a></td></tr>
				<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="vbms_folders.php?$session[sessionurl]">$vbphrase[navbar_folders]</a></td></tr>
				<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="vbms_filters.php?$session[sessionurl]">$vbphrase[navbar_filters]</a></td></tr>
				<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="vbms_options.php?$session[sessionurl]">$vbphrase[navbar_options]</a></td></tr>
				<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="faq.php?$session[sessionurl]faq=faq_vbms">$vbphrase[navbar_help]</a></td></tr>
			</table>
		</div>

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:
  

  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:
  

  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.

[Roxie]

Originally Posted by futureye

Roxie,

did it work?

Yes...it was working, but I have another error now. lol

[Krofh]

Roxie: this sounds like it might be a conflict with another hack? There aren't any hooks in the posting areas :-/ what other sorts of hacks have you got running, and do you still get this error if you disable all hacks except vBMS?

Originally Posted by FearlessNinja

My server does not support a catch all e-mail address, is this still usable?

Only with the method thincom2000 suggested.

Originally Posted by Kmaster

I'd check my webmail, there's 6 mail there, no idea why it didin't delivery to vbms.

If that screenshot is true for every log and there's still mail in the account, then it's most likel connecting to the wrong account, or your mail server just doesn't like PHP connecting to it for whatever reason.

Originally Posted by futureeye

I have sent many mail to my new alies mail that i have chosen but

There are no messages in the folder

????
why

I'm guessing you got through the installation problems if you're asking this. 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 either connecting to the wrong account or something's completely wrong.

Originally Posted by thincom2000

The cron job is probably failing every time. I am having the same problem. When running the cron manually I get:

View the source on that page and lemme know what it says, that error usually means it generated errors in the code but tried to display the text as a GIF

Originally Posted by Didoz

How to check cronjob is working or not, and if it's not working, how I can make it working?

ACP > Scheduled Task Manager

Originally Posted by bluechris

I include 3 images.
1st is what i had sented from outlook 2nd and 3nd are from VBMS

As you see only the Subject breaks ... the body of the e-mail is fine and shows greek..

All the forum uses 8859-7 which is the Gr Lang.

Either way thx in advance m8 you do great work.

Ahhh, I see, it seems to be picking up on the wrong stuff... can you send me a copy of the email headers from that email? In Outlook Express, it's usually File > Properties > Details > Message Source. If you don't want to post them publicly, feel free to PM them to me, and I can try and help you work it out over PM.

[thincom2000]

Originally Posted by Krofh

View the source on that page and lemme know what it says, that error usually means it generated errors in the code but tried to display the text as a GIF

When I view the source it shows the source of a GIF. Also if I run the cron separately (not via the AdminCP), I get a GIF of an envelope with an exclamation point.

EDIT: Despite the fact that I still receive that message when running the cron, I edited vbms_functions_checkmail.php again:

Find:

PHP Code:

    return "\{$hostname:$port{$notls}}INBOX"; 


Replace with:

PHP Code:

    return '{' . "$hostname:$port{$notls}" . '}INBOX'; 


And now it's working no problems...

[bluechris]

Thx m8 PM sented

[techenigma]

I install it, set my alias and make and set a test account as well. Everything I send to the test account shows up in the catch-all account, of course so does everything the test account sends to my address. Am I missing something here?

either way it never shows any new messages on either account through vBMS, only in the actual webmail itself.

[mindcry]

Not sure if this has been addressed but when someone responds to an email with <> it gives the following error. Is there anyway to fix this?

The following errors occured while trying to parse your list of recipients:

* The following aliases could not be translated from usernames or address book entries: name <name@gmail.com>

[Krofh]

Originally Posted by bluechris

Thx m8 PM sented

Got it, will try and get to this as soon as I can

Originally Posted by techenigma

I install it, set my alias and make and set a test account as well. Everything I send to the test account shows up in the catch-all account, of course so does everything the test account sends to my address. Am I missing something here?

either way it never shows any new messages on either account through vBMS, only in the actual webmail itself.

Go through the diagnostic steps I've recommended a few times:

Originally Posted by Krofh

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 either connecting to the wrong account or something's completely wrong with your mail server.

Originally Posted by mindcry

Not sure if this has been addressed but when someone responds to an email with <> it gives the following error. Is there anyway to fix this?

Ahh, thanks for pointing this out, will look into it.

I'm going to try (very hopefully) to put in some time on all these bugs tomorrow night, I've been swamped with homework the last few days and just barely had time to respond to questions. Thanks to everyone so far for working with me on getting the bugs worked out.

[abroad]

I tried it with gmail, yahoo and gmx but I cant get a connection when I want to install it...also tried several ports

I have PHP 4 on my server....

[bollie]

Installation failed while "Testing Settings": vBMS couldn't connect to the mail server using the settings you provided. Please go back and verify their accuracy. If you are not sure of the values to use, consult your host.

Details:

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

[abroad]

Yes exactly. this tool doesnt work I guess...