URL to your eFiction: http://www.nanashifics.com
Version of eFiction: 3.3.1
Have you bridged eFiction, if so with what?: No
Version of PHP: PHP4 (can switch to PHP5 if I need to)
Version of MySQL: MySQL 4.1.11
Have you searched for your problem: yes
If so, what terms did you try: "email how to"
State the nature of your problem: I don't know what I need to make my site's email functions work
Do you have a test account for us? NO
I'll admit that I'm completely new to PHP since so far I've built my websites with plain HTML and CSS. Sending out an email consisted of using the mailto: tag. I've been trying to figure out how to make the email functions of efiction work. I followed the advice in this topic: https://efiction.org/forums/index.php?topic=5248.0
It's a bit like setting up your email client. In the email settings area of the admin panel just use the template below. Gmail and the last one have both worked for me so, but the aol one is untested on my website, although it works fine with Thunderbird.
SMTP Host: smtp.gmail.com
SMTP Username: yourname@gmail.com
SMTP Password: your_Gmail passwordOr even
SMTP Host: smtp.aol.com
SMTP Username: yourAOLscreenname
SMTP Password: yourAOLpasswordYou can also try this
SMTP Host: mail.yoursite.com
SMTP Username: yourSiteMailLoginName
SMTP Password: yourSiteMailPasswordNot sure if this last one is just Dreamhost or not. And I haven't upgraded yet, so I haven't tested it with 3.3
but I still can't seem to get it to work. I just keep getting a "We encountered an error. No e-mail was sent." error. I have both AOL and Gmail accounts. Is there something else I need besides just a simple mail account with either of them to get this to work?
Also, if I leave all of the email setting fields empty, I tells me that the action was successful, but the email never arrives. I've sent mail to Gmail, AOL and Comcast. What is sendmail and how can I tell if it's enabled? Is the mail actually getting sent and it's getting bounced or isn't it getting sent at all?
I'm so confused and any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Ladycrystalite
For most sites, you don't have to set up the SMTP information. Your site will just use the php mail() function. What happens when you leave that blank?
Also, if the site says its sending emails but you aren't getting them, check your spam folder.
If I leave it blank, it tells me that the email was sent, but then it never arrives. I've tried mailing myself my password and mailing the Admins (just me) and I've changed the address it's going to:
ladycrystalite@aol.com
noisynona@comcast.net
kawaiinona@gmail.com
ladycrystalite@nanashifics.com
It has not shown up at any of these addresses--not in the spam files either.
You may be flagged as a spammer especially if you're on shared hosting. Are you getting returned emails at the site e-mail address? Comcast at least does that when they reject emails from the domain because you've been flagged as a spammer.
I've got the site address set to my Comcast address and I'm still getting nothing. Returned mail would at least let me know that it's getting sent for sure. I can give it a day to see if it's just slow.
Check with your webhost. They may have made some adjustments to their servers that may be affecting your email. My webhost had done some updates and when I email their support to ask why I couldn't be mail from my efiction script, they realized it was something they did and they fixed the problem. It can't hurt to ask them.
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Mucking around in eFiction since circa 2001 (ver. 1.0)
Now running v.3
Okay, the price plan I was on had the SMTP server turned off. I've upgraded to the next level since it has it turned on and it's working now.
Thank you for all the help Carissa, Tammy and babaca. I would not have figured it out on my own.
