[XenCustomize] Mail Inspector 2.3.0

XenCustomize Mail Inspector for XenForo 2.3​

Capture, preview, and inspect emails generated by XenForo directly from your Admin control panel.

XenCustomize Mail Inspector helps administrators and developers see what XenForo generates when sending emails, without relying on an external email service or checking a recipient's inbox.

View the rendered HTML email, examine its plain-text version, inspect message details and headers, review the processing events Mail Inspector actually observed, and manage captured emails from one convenient location in the Admin control panel.

Whether you're testing email templates, developing add-ons, or troubleshooting email content, Mail Inspector makes it easy to see what XenForo generated.

Key Features​

Automatic email logging
Automatically captures emails generated through XenForo's normal mail system, including the recipient, sender, subject, email content, and other useful details.

Processing status history
See the processing events Mail Inspector can verify for each captured email. A compact status appears in the log list, while the Processing tab presents the recorded events in chronological order:

• Generated: Mail Inspector captured the completed email.
• Queued: XenForo accepted the email into its mail queue. The queue job ID is shown when available.
• Sent: XenForo successfully handed the email to its configured mail transport.
• Simulated: Outgoing mail was disabled and XenForo used NullTransport, so no real email was sent.
• Retry pending: XenForo scheduled another attempt for a queued email.
• Failed: A directly observed send or queue attempt did not complete successfully.
• Unknown: No verified processing outcome is available for the record.

For queued emails, Mail Inspector updates the history when XenForo's native mail worker reports a retry, successful transport hand-off, simulated send, terminal failure, or an unverified outcome. Sent means XenForo handed the email to its configured transport; it does not mean the recipient received or read it.

HTML email preview
Open any captured email to view its rendered HTML content, including its layout, formatting, images, and links. Preview emails directly inside the Admin control panel without needing to check a recipient inbox.

Plain-text version
Inspect the generated plain-text email with its original content, line breaks, and URLs preserved.

Detailed email information
View useful information about each captured email, including:

• Subject
• Recipient and sender
• Reply-to address
• Associated XenForo user
• Email template name, when available
• Date and time

Email headers
Inspect the headers generated by XenForo to help troubleshoot email configuration and message details.

Quick filtering and pagination
Use XenForo's native quick filter to find entries on the current page. Pagination keeps larger mail logs manageable.

Easy log management
Delete individual email logs, select multiple entries for bulk deletion, or clear all logs. Confirmation prompts help prevent accidental deletion.

Automatic log cleanup
Choose how long email logs are retained. Expired entries are automatically removed through a scheduled cleanup task.

Admin Control Panel Integration​

Mail Inspector adds a dedicated page under Admin CP → Logs → Mail Inspector.

The log displays each email's date, status, recipient, subject, and template. Click a subject to open an inspector with five tabs:

• Preview: View the rendered HTML email.
• Plain text: Read the generated plain-text version.
• Details: Inspect recipient, sender, subject, template, user, and date.
• Headers: Examine the generated email headers.
• Processing: Review the chronological processing events Mail Inspector observed.

Registered usernames link directly to their Admin control panel user edit pages.

Administrator Options​

Keep configuration simple with two options:

• Enable mail logging: Turn email capture on or off.
• Log retention: Set how many days captured emails are stored. The default is 30 days, or set it to 0 to keep logs indefinitely.

Access to Mail Inspector is controlled through a dedicated administrator permission.

Useful for Development & Troubleshooting​

Mail Inspector is particularly useful when:

• Testing changes to XenForo email templates.
• Developing add-ons that generate emails.
• Checking notification email content and formatting.
• Investigating incorrect subjects, recipients, or message content.
• Testing email generation on localhost.

Email capture also works when XenForo's outgoing mail delivery is disabled and its NullTransport is in use, allowing you to inspect generated emails without actually delivering them.

Good to Know​

• Mail Inspector records emails generated through XenForo's normal mail system.
• A captured email does not confirm successful delivery to the recipient's inbox.
• Sent confirms only successful hand-off to XenForo's configured mail transport; it does not confirm delivery, opening, or reading.
• Queued confirms queue acceptance. The Processing history updates as XenForo's native worker processes observed queued-mail outcomes.
• The add-on does not replace your existing email transport or SMTP provider.
• Email logs can contain private message content and should only be accessible to trusted administrators.
• Images loaded from external URLs remain dependent on those URLs being accessible.

Compatibility & Requirements​

• XenForo 2.3.0+
• XenCustomize Core Library 1.0.4+

License Setup​

After installation, go to the add-on options and open the License options tab to enter your license key. If you have a branding-free license key, you may enter it there as well to remove branding.

License verification may use XenCustomize.com with local caching. Normal installation and uninstallation do not depend on our server being available. An expired license does not disable normal use of the add-on, but an active valid license is required for official support and access to new downloads or updates released after the license expires.

Screenshots​

Example of Mail Inspector logs — Browse captured emails with date, processing status, recipient, subject and originating template.


Rendered HTML preview — Preview the complete generated HTML email directly inside the Admin control panel.


Queued email processing history — Follow an email from generation and queueing through to a successful transport hand-off.


Direct email processing — See when a directly processed email is generated and successfully handed to the mail transport.


Simulated email processing — Clearly identifies emails processed through XenForo’s NullTransport when outgoing mail is disabled.


Plain-text email content — Inspect the exact generated plain-text version with links and line breaks preserved.


Contact email with Reply-To — Inspect contact-form emails including the sender and populated Reply-To address.


Email details — View the subject, recipient, sender, Reply-To, template and associated XenForo user.


Contact email headers — Inspect generated headers including the contact-form Reply-To value.


System email headers — Review the headers generated for XenForo system emails.


Generated email headers — Inspect headers from a normal XenForo watched-thread notification.


Simple admin options — Enable mail logging and choose how long captured email logs should be retained.


Administrator permission — Control which administrators can access and manage Mail Inspector.


Automatic log cleanup — XenForo's scheduled cron automatically removes mail logs that exceed the configured retention period.


Style properties — Customize the colors of Mail Inspector's processing statuses to match your forum's style.