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.

[WaRPT]

Good afternoon,

Needed a little help ...

Installed and put all definitions but now with the e-mail created appears me this error:



Any idea ????

Thanks
WaRPT

[jdelasko]

Originally Posted by socketmail3

yeah SM supports it now. Ask support (presales)

Regards

PS- vbms is great...but its development is too slow. Thats the problem..If Vbms started developing, having its own forum, member base which added its own plugins for email..I guarantee it would rock..but the fact is the development is too slow and theres not enough features that would drive you use to use the vbms...

If Krofh (coder) started pushing the development further and a dedicated forum or site for it..it might just push off...but right now it looks too unappealing to me.

I exchanged a few emails with Socketmail recently and I was told they no longer support vBulletin integration

[Cybertims]

Here's a glitch I am having....

It runs great even on vB3.7 Beta 5 for me except when local users in the Forum send to other local users in the Forum the message body isnt picked up and appears blank, but if you send an email from outside to the Forum email address or send one out from local to external, all appears fine.

Anyone any pointers as to why this would be happening?

Cheers.

[GTX2]

i got always this error message while installing: Fatal error: Call to undefined function: imap_open() in /home/gsmptnet/public_html/includes/vbms_class_installer.php on line 790

I've uncomment the line ";extension=php_imap.dll" and restarted apache, but still same problem...

[BushyTea]

I as well get the same Fatal error and then it just sits there on like 7%.

[GTX2]

tried to recompile apache again, upgraded from php4 to php5 with imap included, and problem remains.... after that i asked my host to do it for me, to check if anything was failing, and they recompile it again....
but problem is still the same... checking willitrun.php i get:

Checking requirements for vBulletin Mail System
Requirement Result
PHP version Passed (5.2.5)
PHP imap extension 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.
MySQL version Passed (4.1.22)
vBulletin version Passed (3.6.4)
Tests complete. If everything above says "Passed", your server's software is good enough to run vBMS.

any hint?

[BushyTea]

Yeah, I have tried everything I can think of and still at a loss. Just scraped it for now unfortunatly. Hope to get some time to figure it out or someone else might know.

[indie2industry]

does this keep track of e-mail addresses SENT by members????

[veenuisthebest]

working perfect for meeeeee........ really amazing..thankss !!

[silly rabbit]

Originally Posted by Lionel

Anything using a catch all account is a bad idea. I just installed this hack because every day the catch all account was being clogged with 20,000 ++ undeliverable emails

Krofh, I just read thru 14 of your support pages and plan to read the rest -> I see a problem I am experiencing has already been addressed with "options.zip" on page 11/12. Thanks for a great hack, I am running vb 3.6.2 with PHP Version 4.4.7 and your VBMS installed flawlessly and nominally seems to be working fine on my excellent Surpass Hosting shared server . . .

. . . with one exception! I am not good at all with php OOP and "imap_headerinfo" does not support the header "Envelope-to:" which both my servers use to forward mail to VBMS. In other words with the original charter & surpass server address left remaining in the "To" and "cc' fields VBMS will not pick up my forwarded mail at all and leaves it sitting there in my "catch all" account untouched or worse, depending on settings, DELETED. Anything mailed directly to a user alias is getting thru just fine which leads me to believe it's not really a VBMS flaw but a simple shortcoming I have tried for two weeks now to overcome myself . . .

. . . with still no success!

QUESTION! I do know how to use "imap_fetchheader" instead to garner the mailbox/host string needed which is embedded in "Envelope-to" but I don't know the php header class/object code needed to update the imap_headerinfo "to" address so VBMS can detect it.

UPDATE! PROBLEM FIXED
I settled on the roundabout method and using substr()s returned via "imap_fetchheader($connectionhandle, $i)" placed the Envelope-to: aliases[$i] into a separate array which thru simple substitution code in "vbms_functions_checkmail.php" I was able to get VBMS to pickup my forwarded mail no problem!

In vbms_checkmail_get_aliases_from_headers($headers, $_alias, $i))

PHP Code:

foreach ($value as $recipient)
{
if (strtolower($recipient->host) == $targetdomain)
    array_push($toreturn, $recipient->mailbox);
else if ($_alias[$i] != "") // domain can be assumed
    array_push($toreturn, $_alias[$i]);
} 


Mind you this function is called twice, once from vbms_checkmail.php and the other from within another function which you can simply cut and paste out just prior to the call in the main script (but don't forget to pass it the extra resulting "aliases" parameter!)

If Any One Needs Further Details Holler!