Emails not arriving using PHP mail()

Question

I've been havin some troubles with emails not arriving on some addresses, or to be more specific, so some domains (for exampel gmx.com). The emails arrives as they should on some domains, though (for example spray.se or gmail.com).

I've checked and our server IP seems to be all good. No blocks found anywhere.

Is there any critical problem with my code?

$mail_body = "Välkommen till ***!\n\nOm du ej registrerat dig på *** ber vi dig bortse från\ndetta mail.\n\nDin aktiveringskod är:\n" . $activation . "\n\nMvh\nVi på ***"; // Mail body
$subject = "Din aktiveringskod";
$header = "From: *** <no-reply@***.se>\r\n";

ini_set('sendmail_from', 'no-reply@***.se'); // Snabbfix på problem med IIS (5+?)

if(!mail($recipient, $subject, $mail_body, $header)) die ("mail error");

If the email is delivered, there are no errors in it!

I've also tried utf8-encode the whole thing, but that doesn't change anything.

Regards!

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13534661/php-mail-not-working-with-a-specific-suffix — Matanya, Dec 03 '12 at 12:56
@deceze: Not delivered. Nothing in the spam folders. No errors. No nothing. Just disappears without a trace. Matanza: I've read so many threads here now without any success. — Christian Lundahl, Dec 03 '12 at 12:57
Are you sure that the server sending the emails is an authorized sender for your domain? The maillog should have a record on the delivery status btw. — Ja͢ck, Dec 03 '12 at 12:57
@Jack: Haven't even heard the term, to be honest. But the email arrives to some domains which confuses me. Care to elaborate? — Christian Lundahl, Dec 03 '12 at 12:59
Check out [SPF](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framework) for instance. — Ja͢ck, Dec 03 '12 at 13:02
So I've tried a lot of possible solutions now but the problem remains. The code I've got now is this: http://jsfiddle.net/prplxr/7Qdzv/ — Christian Lundahl, Dec 04 '12 at 13:26

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 03 '12 at 13:03

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Your header should be like this

$headers  = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . "\r\n";
$headers.='From: *** <no-reply@***.se>\r\n';

answered Dec 03 '12 at 13:03

Tapas Pal

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This didn't work either. It seems this isn't the problem. There must be something I'm missing completely. – Christian Lundahl Dec 03 '12 at 13:15

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 03 '12 at 13:03

Sounds like your emails are being identified as spam by some servers, this could mean they end up in the spambox or are being prevented from being delivered all together (on the more ruthless receivers). Or are you absolutely positive they're being sent in the first place? Check your logs if you can.

Anyway, there are few things you can do to lessen the chance of your emails being identified as spam:

Fully flesh out Headers, eg:

$headers .= "Reply-To: The Sender <sender@sender.com>\r\n";
$headers .= "Return-Path: The Sender <sender@sender.com>\r\n";
$headers .= "From: The Sender <senter@sender.com>\r\n";
$headers .= "Organization: Sender Organization\r\n";
$headers .= "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\r\n";
etc...

Make sure the message sender domain in the email & server domain match
Correctly use the content type attribute

You can also double check that your server isn't blacklisted, but it sounds like you've done this anyway.

I'd also recommend not using the PHP mail function, try swift mailer or PHPMailer, or scout around and find one that suits your needs.

Unfortunately this didn't make any change. I've checked all possible problems you suggested. Thank you! — Christian Lundahl, Dec 03 '12 at 13:13

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 05 '12 at 09:19

0

The problem wasn't related to the topic at all. It was a DNS error that caused this.

answered Dec 05 '12 at 09:19

Christian Lundahl

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I am experiencing similar issue. We've recently shifted our hosting and facing this problem. Can you indicate what was the DNS error and how exactly you fixed it. Thanks – user2436428 Oct 16 '16 at 17:00
@user2436428 I'm sorry but this was four years ago and I don't remember. I should have written it down at that time, I guess. – Christian Lundahl Nov 04 '16 at 08:43

Emails not arriving using PHP mail()

3 Answers3