Validate email by MX lookup

This simple little hack will verify email addresses during registration and updates of profiles by doing an MX lookup against the domain to ensure somebody is accepting email for it.

It won't tell you if the actual user is valid on the domain, but it will prevent fake domains backing up in your mail spool and slowing everything down.

It requires one new error template and two simple code additions to register.php and member.php. Instructions attached.

[Dark_Wizard]

I just installed this on 2.2.6 and php 4.2.1 and it works fine....the getmxrr function is still supported in this php release but not on Windows servers....

[ColinP]

Unfortunately, I have a perfectly valid email address (colin@thedvdforums.dynip.com) that DOESN'T have a MX record but still works. Nice hack though and have installed it - if I get to many complaints I'll have to remove it though.

[lifesourcerec]

I have a small question. In my member.php file, it has " " instead of ' '. Does that matter? This:

$templatesused = 'redirect_updatethanks,error_fieldmissing,error_em ailmismatch,error_emailtaken,error_fieldmissing,er ror_requiredfieldmissing,error_birthdayfield';

is this:

$templatesused = "redirect_updatethanks,error_fieldmissing,error_em ailmismatch,error_emailtaken,error_fieldmissing,er ror_requiredfieldmissing,error_birthdayfield";

Should I change it to what's in the hack?

[Jawelin]

Originally posted by Dark_Wizard
I just installed this on 2.2.6 and php 4.2.1 and it works fine....the getmxrr function is still supported in this php release but not on Windows servers....

I read that on php.net.
I'm on a Linux shared server and, since installed PHP 4.2.1, that function is not defined yet.
I receive the above mentioned message.

Thanks

[sparky2]

Originally posted by hypedave
I will try it one more time, when user registration isnt full, it jus bothers me that a simple hack thats supposed to check a domain to make sure its a domain tell me that the 3 domains I tryed for the most popular email accounts on my forum are invalid

The hack called for insertion of the new code FOLLOWING the existing BAD_EMAIL function.

What you are describing sounds like you have listed
yahoo.com
among the "bulk email domains" to be banned,
under "Banning Options"
and have that setting (to check bad_email) enabled.

In other words, "bad email address" sounds like the earlier function matched/blocked the yahoo address(es) you tried.

[Dolby]

Installed this and its working great so far on one of my really busy sites.

tested with @hotmail.com and a couple other email addys.

vb 2.2.6
vbp 3pr8.1

[Nicholas Brown]

This is why I cant see this hack getting into vB3 getmxrr(); isnt supported by Windows PHP Builds, and as vBulletin is for Windows and *nix servers.....

Nice hack

[josiespencer]

I have a problem and I really don't know if it related to this mod or not but I thought this the best place to start. I have been using this mod for approx. 4 months and this is an occasional issue.

If a user joins and then gets banned for some reason or another, and he/she tries to add a new account since we don't revive banned accounts, he/she gets a message that the IP address is now banned. Does this mod do any logic like that?

[BadgerDog]

Anyone operating this successfully with v3.67 or above?

Thanks

Regards,
Badger