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.

[yoyoyoyo]

Originally Posted by yahoooh

from where u bought commercial version?

from filburt at webdesignforums.net when it was available - that was for vb3.0, and included a developers license

[wsdeluxe]

So is this not working [stable] on 3.6.x?

If not, is there any other mail system that does work?

[Brent H]

No. We're all waiting for this one.

[thaki]

It's complete install in my forum but I have one problem, when I sent new massage for hotmail for example it did not receive by hotmail email and when I try to send new massage to my new account in my forum from hotmail email that error happen

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at mx3.hrnoc.net.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

<3asheg@ab4u.net>:
216.120.225.23 does not like recipient.
Remote host said: 511 sorry, no mailbox here by that name (#5.1.1 - chkuser)
Giving up on 216.120.225.23.

--- Below this line is a copy of the message.

How can I solve it?!!

[PinkDaisy]

This is un-installed. Completely messed up my forums, got a fix fr it, and now severe issues even after taking it off related to my database.

[scan-pa]

Originally Posted by PinkDaisy

This is un-installed. Completely messed up my forums, got a fix fr it, and now severe issues even after taking it off related to my database.

You do know this current release is a beta version right? and it also states to never install it on a live forum.

[samrik]

what is the latest status on this anyone know ? when is this expected to come out to be compatiable with the latest version of hte board ?

Thanks

[Brent H]

I don't know, but I've been waiting since this was paid script for the 3.0 series...

[samrik]

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.

I had that problem. It seems when i went to the url

http://www.../vbms_checkmail.php i all of hte sudden received my emails. Is that suppose to be on a crontab ? if so, is that by vbulletin, or if not, is that suppose to be manual ?

samy

[BecomeUnbroken]

Originally Posted by bluechris

Another 1 question... does anyone knows the variable of VBMS that i need to put in CMPS to see in Navbar the new incoming box?

Looked for an answer to this in the thread and couldn't find it, so I did a little trial and error and found the right variable to add the the vBadvanced CMPS...

vbms_newmessages

hope this helps someone... this is so the navbar will display how many new messages you have