mail function is killing me...slowly

[muispoef]

Hi

 

I have a registration script. When the user submits the registration they are supposed to get an email with a confirmation link. I tested this and I never receive the emails, only when I enter my yahoo and gmail address do I get the email (but then there are other problems, but one thing at a time).

 

Can anybody please help me out here? I checked the spam folders and there is nothing there. The registration page confirms that the email was sent but I don't receive anything.

 

<?php

// This is the registration page for the site.


require_once ('config.inc.php');



if (isset($_POST['submitted'])) { // Handle the form.



require_once (MYSQL);



// Trim all the incoming data:

$trimmed = array_map('trim', $_POST);



// Assume invalid values:

$fn = $ln = $e = $p = FALSE;



// Check for a first name:

if (preg_match ('/^[A-Z \'.-]{2,20}$/i', $trimmed['first_name'])) {

	$fn = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['first_name']);

} else {

	echo '<p class="error">Please enter your first name!</p>';

}



// Check for a last name:

if (preg_match ('/^[A-Z \'.-]{2,40}$/i', $trimmed['last_name'])) {

	$ln = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['last_name']);

} else {

	echo '<p class="error">Please enter your last name!</p>';

}



// Check for an email address:

if (preg_match ('/^[\w.-]+@[\w.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,6}$/', $trimmed['email'])) {

	$e = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['email']);

} else {

	echo '<p class="error">Please enter a valid email address!</p>';

}



// Check for a password and match against the confirmed password:

if (preg_match ('/^\w{4,20}$/', $trimmed['password1']) ) {

	if ($trimmed['password1'] == $trimmed['password2']) {

		$p = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['password1']);

	} else {

		echo '<p class="error">Your password did not match the confirmed password!</p>';

	}

} else {

	echo '<p class="error">Please enter a valid password!</p>';

}



if ($fn && $ln && $e && $p) { // If everything's OK...



	// Make sure the email address is available:

	$q = "SELECT user_id FROM users WHERE email='$e'";

	$r = mysqli_query ($dbc, $q) or trigger_error("Query: $q\n<br />MySQL Error: " . mysqli_error($dbc));



	if (mysqli_num_rows($r) == 0) { // Available.



		// Create the activation code:

		$a = md5(uniqid(rand(), true));



		// Add the user to the database:

		$q = "INSERT INTO users (email, pass, first_name, last_name, active, registration_date) VALUES ('$e', SHA1('$p'), '$fn', '$ln', '$a', NOW() )";

		$r = mysqli_query ($dbc, $q) or trigger_error("Query: $q\n<br />MySQL Error: " . mysqli_error($dbc));



		if (mysqli_affected_rows($dbc) == 1) { // If it ran OK.



			// Send the email:

			$body = "Thank you for registering at Casa Mercia. To activate your account, please click on this link:\n\n";

			$body .= BASE_URL . 'activate.php?x=' . urlencode($e) . "&y=$a";

			mail($trimmed['email'], 'Registration Confirmation', $body);



			// Finish the page:

			echo '<h3>Thank you for registering! A confirmation email has been sent to your address. Please click on the link in that email in order to activate your account.</h3>';

			exit(); // Stop the page.



		} else { // If it did not run OK.

			echo '<p class="error">You could not be registered due to a system error. We apologize for any inconvenience.</p>';

		}



	} else { // The email address is not available.

		echo '<p class="error">That email address has already been registered. If you have forgotten your password, use the link at right to have your password sent to you.</p>';

	}



} else { // If one of the data tests failed.

	echo '<p class="error">Please re-enter your passwords and try again.</p>';

}



mysqli_close($dbc);



} // End of the main Submit conditional.

?>



<h1>Register</h1>

<form action="register.php" method="post">

<fieldset>



<p><b>First Name:</b> <input type="text" name="first_name" size="20" maxlength="20" value="<?php if (isset($trimmed['first_name'])) echo $trimmed['first_name']; ?>" /></p>



<p><b>Last Name:</b> <input type="text" name="last_name" size="20" maxlength="40" value="<?php if (isset($trimmed['last_name'])) echo $trimmed['last_name']; ?>" /></p>



<p><b>Email Address:</b> <input type="text" name="email" size="30" maxlength="80" value="<?php if (isset($trimmed['email'])) echo $trimmed['email']; ?>" /> </p>



<p><b>Password:</b> <input type="password" name="password1" size="20" maxlength="20" /> <small>Use only letters, numbers, and the underscore. Must be between 4 and 20 characters long.</small></p>



<p><b>Confirm Password:</b> <input type="password" name="password2" size="20" maxlength="20" /></p>

</fieldset>



<div align="center"><input type="submit" name="submit" value="Register" /></div>

<input type="hidden" name="submitted" value="TRUE" />



</form>

[Bricktop]

Should you not have a from address? e.g.

 

mail($trimmed['email'], 'Registration Confirmation', $body, 'From: My Email <myemail@myemail.com>');

[muispoef]

I tried it just now after reading your post but that doesn't seem to work either. I don't get it, the script works. If I check my database the user is added and everything. Just can't use it because I can't activate it.

[rhodesa]

Check any spam filters on those accounts...it might end up in there

 

Is this with a hosting service? If so, give them a call. There are several different places they could be filtering certain email, and only they will know where.

 

 

[muispoef]

Yes it's with a hosting service and all my sites use to work great but they now moved to new servers or something and now all this is happening. I did contact them and they couldn't really give me an answer.

 

I managed to fix the contact form by adding the -f option in the mail settings but it's not working for this register form (why I don't know)

 

I disabled spam filters in my cpanel but that doesn't work either....

[ivannovak]

Try:

if(mail($trimmed['email'], 'Registration Confirmation', $body)){

    echo '<h3>Thank you for registering! A confirmation email has been sent to your address. Please click on the link in that email in order to activate your account.</h3>';

}else{

    echo '<h3>Confirmation email has not been sent.</h3>';

}

 

I'm wondering if the script thinks the email is sent or not.

[STaRDoGG]

I know this isn't particularly helpful, but just thought I'd mention that from my experience with the Mail function, Mail seems to have a bit of a mind of it's own. Sometimes I just plain don't get the mail, most of the times I do. When I don't they seem to just disappear off into the Bermuda Triangle, never to be seen again.

[muispoef]

All that happen was that I got the success message twice after submitting it.

 

This is my complete code, maybe this would help.

 

<?php # Script 16.6 - register.php
// This is the registration page for the site.

require_once ('includes/config.inc.php');
$page_title = 'Register';
include ('includes/header.html');

if (isset($_POST['submitted'])) { // Handle the form.

require_once (MYSQL);

// Trim all the incoming data:
$trimmed = array_map('trim', $_POST);

// Assume invalid values:
$fn = $ln = $e = $p = FALSE;

// Check for a first name:
if (preg_match ('/^[A-Z \'.-]{2,20}$/i', $trimmed['first_name'])) {
	$fn = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['first_name']);
} else {
	echo '<p class="error">Please enter your first name!</p>';
}

// Check for a last name:
if (preg_match ('/^[A-Z \'.-]{2,40}$/i', $trimmed['last_name'])) {
	$ln = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['last_name']);
} else {
	echo '<p class="error">Please enter your last name!</p>';
}

// Check for an email address:
if (preg_match ('/^[\w.-]+@[\w.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,6}$/', $trimmed['email'])) {
	$e = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['email']);
} else {
	echo '<p class="error">Please enter a valid email address!</p>';
}

// Check for a password and match against the confirmed password:
if (preg_match ('/^\w{4,20}$/', $trimmed['password1']) ) {
	if ($trimmed['password1'] == $trimmed['password2']) {
		$p = mysqli_real_escape_string ($dbc, $trimmed['password1']);
	} else {
		echo '<p class="error">Your password did not match the confirmed password!</p>';
	}
} else {
	echo '<p class="error">Please enter a valid password!</p>';
}

if ($fn && $ln && $e && $p) { // If everything's OK...

	// Make sure the email address is available:
	$q = "SELECT user_id FROM users WHERE email='$e'";
	$r = mysqli_query ($dbc, $q) or trigger_error("Query: $q\n<br />MySQL Error: " . mysqli_error($dbc));

	if (mysqli_num_rows($r) == 0) { // Available.

		// Create the activation code:
		$a = md5(uniqid(rand(), true));

		// Add the user to the database:
		$q = "INSERT INTO users (email, pass, first_name, last_name, active, registration_date) VALUES ('$e', SHA1('$p'), '$fn', '$ln', '$a', NOW() )";
		$r = mysqli_query ($dbc, $q) or trigger_error("Query: $q\n<br />MySQL Error: " . mysqli_error($dbc));

		if (mysqli_affected_rows($dbc) == 1) { // If it ran OK.

			// Send the email:
			$body = "Thank you for registering at <whatever site>. To activate your account, please click on this link:\n\n";
			$body .= BASE_URL . 'activate.php?x=' . urlencode($e) . "&y=$a";
			mail($trimmed['email'], 'Registration Confirmation', $body, 'From: register@sitename.com');

			// Finish the page:
			echo '<h3>Thank you for registering! A confirmation email has been sent to your address. Please click on the link in that email in order to activate your account.</h3>';
			include ('includes/footer.html'); // Include the HTML footer.
			exit(); // Stop the page.

		} else { // If it did not run OK.
			echo '<p class="error">You could not be registered due to a system error. We apologize for any inconvenience.</p>';
		}

	} else { // The email address is not available.
		echo '<p class="error">That email address has already been registered. If you have forgotten your password, use the link at right to have your password sent to you.</p>';
	}

} else { // If one of the data tests failed.
	echo '<p class="error">Please re-enter your passwords and try again.</p>';
}

mysqli_close($dbc);

} // End of the main Submit conditional.
?>

<h1>Register</h1>
<form action="register.php" method="post">
<fieldset>

<p><b>First Name:</b> <input type="text" name="first_name" size="20" maxlength="20" value="<?php if (isset($trimmed['first_name'])) echo $trimmed['first_name']; ?>" /></p>

<p><b>Last Name:</b> <input type="text" name="last_name" size="20" maxlength="40" value="<?php if (isset($trimmed['last_name'])) echo $trimmed['last_name']; ?>" /></p>

<p><b>Email Address:</b> <input type="text" name="email" size="30" maxlength="80" value="<?php if (isset($trimmed['email'])) echo $trimmed['email']; ?>" /> </p>

<p><b>Password:</b> <input type="password" name="password1" size="20" maxlength="20" /> <small>Use only letters, numbers, and the underscore. Must be between 4 and 20 characters long.</small></p>

<p><b>Confirm Password:</b> <input type="password" name="password2" size="20" maxlength="20" /></p>
</fieldset>

<div align="center"><input type="submit" name="submit" value="Register" /></div>
<input type="hidden" name="submitted" value="TRUE" />

</form>

<?php // Include the HTML footer.
include ('includes/footer.html');
?>

[patrickmvi]

You should try using a class like PHPMailer to send your messages.  It uses all proper RFC formatting to send out a message and gives it a much better chance of making it through spam filters.  You can get PHPMailer here:

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpmailer/

[muispoef]

Thanks for the reply, I thought of exactly the same thing and it worked, except that only the form was sent and not anything that was generated, like the activation link and no users were created in the table. I used www.tectite.com formmail script.