XF 1.2 Sending bulk email

[gavpeds]

Hi all so i have had this problem for some time and just can not figure it out. I have had my host testing and looking at logs etc and also replicating this problem in the admin panel but ultimately they feel it is either something to do with my setup or the software itself. I am thinking most likely my setup as if it was xenforo i am sure there would be many more people talking about this.

So to start i get the error (which i will put below) when trying to send a bulk email to registered members group. This is what i do.

I type the title and email then in the drop down for primary member group i select registered. I then send it.

It seems to send and oddly a few members get this email but the majority don't. going to the server error log then revels the error below. my host set up a test group which the email sent to fine without error which is why they suggested come back here. Anyway i would really really appreciate and light shed on this issue as it is obviously a problem not being able to email users.

Oh just as a side note when i came to xenforo it was a conversion from ipb just in case that makes any difference. I have had this issue from day one.

Server Error Log
Error Info
Zend_Mail_Transport_Exception: Unable to send mail. - library/Zend/Mail/Transport/Sendmail.php:137
Generated By: XXX, Today at 9:13 AM
Stack Trace
#0 /home/mydomain/public_html/library/Zend/Mail/Transport/Abstract.php(348): Zend_Mail_Transport_Sendmail->_sendMail()
#1 /home/mydomain/public_html/library/Zend/Mail.php(1194): Zend_Mail_Transport_Abstract->send(Object(Zend_Mail))
#2 /home/mydomain/public_html/library/XenForo/ControllerAdmin/User.php(998): Zend_Mail->send(Object(Zend_Mail_Transport_Sendmail))
#3 /home/mydomain/public_html/library/XenForo/ControllerAdmin/User.php(921): XenForo_ControllerAdmin_User->_sendEmail(Array, Array, Object(Zend_Mail_Transport_Sendmail))
#4 /home/mydomain/public_html/library/XenForo/FrontController.php(347): XenForo_ControllerAdmin_User->actionEmailSend()
#5 /home/mydomain/public_html/library/XenForo/FrontController.php(134): XenForo_FrontController->dispatch(Object(XenForo_RouteMatch))
#6 /home/mydomain/public_html/admin.php(13): XenForo_FrontController->run()
#7 {main}
Request State
array(3) {
["url"] => string(60) "http://mydomain.co.uk/admin.php?users/email-send"
["_GET"] => array(1) {
["users/email-send"] => string(0) ""
}
["_POST"] => array(10) {
["page"] => string(2) "21"
["criteria"] => string(124) "{"receive_admin_email":"1","user_group_id":"2","user_state":["valid"],"is_banned":["0"],"custom_exact":{"cleaningmethod":1}}"
["total"] => string(4) "1167"
["from_name"] => string(31) "mysitename"
["from_email"] => string(31) "info@mydomain.co.uk"
["email_title"] => string(10) "and again!"
["email_format"] => string(4) "text"
["email_body"] => string(134) "Sorry, i can not avoid sending these emails as i need to fix the errors we are getting please if you do get this email just delete it."
["_xfConfirm"] => string(1) "1"
["_xfToken"] => string(8) "********"
}
}

 

[Jake Bunce]

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/sending-email.67457/

Same error. It is easiest to setup a different mail server if you have one available:

Admin CP -> Home -> Options -> Email Options -> Email Transport Method

Otherwise contact your host since you are currently using the default PHP mail server. Or ask your host for SMTP credentials so you can specify a different mail server.

 

[gavpeds]

I have contacted my host they have gone through all logs and also tried smtp which threw even more errors they came to the conclusion it was not there end as they managed to set up a test group in the admin and send email to it via the php server with no error which they said proves that everything works on there end as the email server is sending with no errors and seems to be when i send to registered group. Not had this problem with any of the other forum software and i have used them all pretty much bar vbulletin.

 

[Mouth]

If they went through logs and SMTP - then what do those logs say?

 

[gavpeds]

No idea they didnt tell me! I think i am just going to use the mail adon i just found which lets me use maildrill. Although this is all new to me i will see if i can get this set up.

 

[Mouth]

Sounds like their server has some sort of send limit restriction, allowing you to only send xx emails within x mins/secs. After which time it drops or blocks sending any more. Definantly a problem at their end.

 

[Mike]

How many of those errors do you get when you send the bulk email? How many are sent in total? Is it a consistent amount every time?

Unfortunately, that error is simply telling us the that MTA rejected the mail (before attempting to send it). Normally, this is where the mail log would have more details. (It's possible it's returning more details, but they're not exposed to us so we can't tell.)

 

[gavpeds]

Basicaly when i send the email it is to 1765 members i get that one error when i send the bulk email. Each time i try to send the bulk email it is only that one error i get each time.

 

[Mouth]

Basicaly when i send the email it is to 1765 members i get that one error when i send the bulk email. Each time i try to send the bulk email it is only that one error i get each time.

Further suggesting it is a sending restriction/constraint on their mail server that is stopping you after xx messages within x sec's.

 

[Mike]

If you're only getting that error once, then it could relate to a particular users. It's possible there could be data that wouldn't normally be accepted by XenForo from an import that is triggering an error. Unfortunately, the error doesn't currently give any details as to what user failed which is certainly not ideal.

Specifically what version of XenForo are you running? I would upgrade to 1.2.5 if you're not running that.

For every user that doesn't trigger that error (which would be 1764 if you only get the error once), the email should be sent and enqueued in the server's mail queue. Your host should be able to see this (and diagnostic information) and show the delivery status.

 

[gavpeds]

I am on 1.2.5 it is odd you say it would be only one member because it's one error as far as I can gather most members don't get the email bar a few.

I have tried the mail ad on also that allows the use of mail drill and get this error so seems using another server does not work.
Server Error Log
Error Info
XenForo_Exception: [bd] Mails: Sending mail failed, log is available at /home/window/public_html/internal_data/bdmails_1393348565_78e304aae25b4dc09c45b34f8442b8e4.log - library/bdMails/Transport/Abstract.php:75
Generated By: Today at 5:16 PM
Stack Trace
#0 /home/window/public_html/library/bdMails/Transport/Abstract.php(61): bdMails_Transport_Abstract->_bdMails_log(Array, '[{"email":"prim...', false, Array)
#1 /home/window/public_html/library/Zend/Mail/Transport/Abstract.php(348): bdMails_Transport_Abstract->_sendMail()
#2 /home/window/public_html/library/Zend/Mail.php(1194): Zend_Mail_Transport_Abstract->send(Object(Zend_Mail))
#3 /home/window/public_html/library/XenForo/ControllerAdmin/User.php(998): Zend_Mail->send(Object(bdMails_Transport_Mandrill))
#4 /home/window/public_html/library/XenForo/ControllerAdmin/User.php(921): XenForo_ControllerAdmin_User->_sendEmail(Array, Array, Object(bdMails_Transport_Mandrill))
#5 /home/window/public_html/library/XenForo/FrontController.php(347): XenForo_ControllerAdmin_User->actionEmailSend()
#6 /home/window/public_html/library/XenForo/FrontController.php(134): XenForo_FrontController->dispatch(Object(XenForo_RouteMatch))
#7 /home/window/public_html/admin.php(13): XenForo_FrontController->run()
#8 {main}
Request State
array(3) {
["url"] => string(60) "http://mydomain.co.uk/admin.php?users/email-send"
["_GET"] => array(1) {
["users/email-send"] => string(0) ""
}
["_POST"] => array(10) {
["page"] => string(1) "6"
["criteria"] => string(127) "{"user_group_id":"2","no_secondary_group_ids":"1","user_state":["valid"],"is_banned":["0"],"custom_exact":{"cleaningmethod":1}}"
["total"] => string(4) "1765"
["from_name"] => s"
["from_email"] => string(31) ""
["email_title"] => string(24) "One last test for today!"
["email_format"] => string(4) "text"
["email_body"] => string(449) "Hi all so i am hoping this will work and not return errors. We are now using a different mail server to see if we can narrow down the problem.

If this does work and you get the email it is likely you have no idea what i am talking about as you have not been getting emails. Basically we have had some issues with emails being sent to users and i am in the process of trying to fix it so you may or may not get some of these test emails.

Gavin"
["_xfConfirm"] => string(1) "1"
["_xfToken"] => string(8) "********"
}
}
Delete...Close

 

[Jeremy]

It may be beneficial to try this without [bd] mails activated to see if this is the cause of your issue.

 

[gavpeds]

I did this is why I tried db mails to see if it help but obviously did not.

 

[gavpeds]

So my host has looked through logs. They found a users email address that had a space like this email. com so i corrected that but still getting same error. Also does xenforo not check for this sort of typo on registration?

Anyway i am still no closer to solving this

 

[Mike]

What's in the /home/window/public_html/internal_data/bdmails_1393348565_78e304aae25b4dc09c45b34f8442b8e4.log file?

We do check this and it's not allowed. Note what I mentioned above:

If you're only getting that error once, then it could relate to a particular users. It's possible there could be data that wouldn't normally be accepted by XenForo from an import that is triggering an error.

 

[gavpeds]

It was the email address the host mentioned but after correcting this users email i still get the error.

array (
  0 =>
  array (
    'to' =>
    array (
      0 =>
      array (
        'email' => 'useremail@hotmail. com',
      ),
    ),
    'headers' =>
    array (
      'Message-Id' => '<4f6194f714f6e1ba3464e5b5cc71d3ab11523217@mydomain.co.uk>',
      'Content-Transfer-Encoding' => 'quoted-printable',
      'Content-Disposition' => 'inline',
    ),
    'from_email' => 'info@mydonain.co.uk',
    'from_name' => 'mysitename',
    'subject' => 'One last test for today!',
    'text' => 'my email content

',
  ),
  1 => '[{"email":"user email@hotmail. com","status":"invalid","_id":"09a5ea45704545e7b1baa4a6d496196c","reject_reason":null}]',
  2 => false,
  3 =>
  array (
    'microtime' => 0.390299081802,
  ),
)

 

[gavpeds]

Ok so i finally sorted this! I found another user with a gap in the email address which leads me to this question.

On registration if a users puts in an email with a gap does the registration still go through or will the user get a notice stating it is not valid as i can see this causing potential future problems with typos like this.

 

[Mike]

The user will receive an error.

 

[gavpeds]

Great thank you. Looking at it they were users before we switched to xenforo, although i am sure ipb would have given an error as well. Oh well at least the problem is finally gone.