Latest posts for the topic "Webmaster Email is Erratic"

Webmaster Email is Erratic

LSander — GMT

I'm having trouble getting notification of new posts via email. The guestbook seems to be sending them out OK, but I only sometimes get them.

I want to get my notifications at a specific AOL email account, but they just won't go there. It doesn't matter what AOL account I set up as the webmaster email address, NOTHING gets through to the AOL account.

I have several comcast.net email accounts, and they can receive notifications with no problem. But when I set them up to forward all mail to one of my AOL accounts, they refuse to forward my guestbook notifications to any AOL account. Messages from other sources are forwarded with no problem.

It seems like maybe AOL just doesn't like guestbook mail. Any info on this? Any suggestions?

JTD — GMT

Probably because AOL junk is notorious for blocking alot of host's webmail accounts. I have the same problem with my webmail if I want to email a friend who has AOL crap I have to use my ISP email.

Carbonize — GMT

Unfortunately as JTD said AOL's spam filters are notoriously paranoid. I don't know if they have a bulk or junk folder where these emails may end up. I'd personally suggest changing to a better email provider. If you wish I can send you a Gmail invite, just email me so I can send an email to your email address (and then probably have to send you the link in a private email when AOL blocks the invte).

Re: Webmaster Email is Erratic

ET — GMT

[quote="LSander"]I'm having trouble getting notification of new posts via email. The guestbook seems to be sending them out OK, but I only sometimes get them.

I want to get my notifications at a specific AOL email account, but they just won't go there. It doesn't matter what AOL account I set up as the webmaster email address, NOTHING gets through to the AOL account.

I have several comcast.net email accounts, and they can receive notifications with no problem. But when I set them up to forward all mail to one of my AOL accounts, they refuse to forward my guestbook notifications to any AOL account. Messages from other sources are forwarded with no problem.

It seems like maybe AOL just doesn't like guestbook mail. Any info on this? Any suggestions?[/quote]

If your webhost allows you to set up email accounts directly, create a email account i.e. guestbook@yourdomainname.com then instruct all email to guestbook@yourdomainname.com to be forwarded to your aol account.

The AOL filter is set up to block email addresses that do not originate upon the server that the sending email address has - so if your guest has entered their email address, the script enters that as the sender, when in truth, it is your webhost's server that is the sender - AOL checks these and blocks them when sender does not match up with server.

So if you create an email account through your site, then direct all guestbook email through the guestbook admin to go that email account which you have subsequently redirected to your AOL address, you receive the forwarded version of the email - AOL usually (USUALLY) does not block those.

Hoping that is not toooo confusing - it is the only way I have found to work around the AOL filter.

LSander — GMT

I am still wrestling with this. ET's suggestion seemed like a good one, but it didn't work. I CAN get post notifications forwarded to my Comcast accounts, but not to AOL (and I am NOT interested in moving my email away from AOL--there are too many advantages there).

I surmise that part of the problem is in the notification email itself. In my case, the email says it originates at USSRankin@67.165.108.105. I'm not 100% sure where that numeric URL is, but I'm pretty sure it's the router for my home network.

I have installed the "quick mod" to have the guestbook log the IP rather than the hostname (changing $host in add.class.php). When I reverse the modification, the email says it originates at USSRankin@c-67-165-108-105.client.comcast.net

If I knew where to plug it in, I'd be willing to plug in one address that these notification emails always say they are from.

Anonymous — GMT

Ah thats the problem then. The guestbook script fills in the email if none supplies as [b]theirname@server[/b]. Because you are hosting it locally it is putting server as your IP. You need to manually edit that part in add.class.php.

LSander — GMT

[quote="Carbonize (didn't log in)"]Ah thats the problem then. The guestbook script fills in the email if none supplies as [b]theirname@server[/b]. Because you are hosting it locally it is putting server as your IP. You need to manually edit that part in add.class.php.[/quote]

I'm not hosting locally. The email seems to figure out from where I am accessing the guestbook, then tacks that onto the end of itself, after the "@".

I want to override that, but I need a little more help in knowing what to edit in add.class.php. (I'm getting reasonably capable at this stuff, but I'm still basically a newbie.)

Carbonize — GMT

Whoops yeah sorry I meant it puts it as [b]NAME@THEIRIPRESOLVED[/b].
lib/add.entry.php[code]$from_email = ($this->email == "") ? "nobody@$host" : $this->email;[/code]Just change the "nobody@$host" to something like "guestbook@mysite.com".

ET — GMT

[quote="LSander"]I am still wrestling with this. ET's suggestion seemed like a good one, but it didn't work. I CAN get post notifications forwarded to my Comcast accounts, but not to AOL (and I am NOT interested in moving my email away from AOL--there are too many advantages there).

---

If I knew where to plug it in, I'd be willing to plug in one address that these notification emails always say they are from.[/quote]

I haven't had that problem with AOL blocking it, but it may be that my webhost is set up in a way that AOL allows through their filter. Yep, like Carbonize suggests, change the portion add.entry.php to force it to use an email address with your domain name. Also, I'm thinking that there is another spot that you will want to change - let me go look at the script again to see where the script picks up the email addresses that the visitor actually plugs in so that you might be able to change that too.

ET — GMT

Okay - I went back to the script to look -

As Carbonize described above
[code]$from_email = ($this->email == "") ? "nobody@$host" : $this->email;[/code]
could be modified as follows to totally force aaaallll emails to come directly off your server as represented by your site and bypassing the email address of the visitor from being entered into the sender portion.

[code]$from_email = "guestbook@your_domain_name.com";[/code]

Save the original file before making any changes like this just to be on the safe side, but I'm fairly certain that will force the script to use only one sender address from your guestbook and it should be acceptable to AOL.

Hoping that helps.

Carbonize — GMT

I'd just go for [b]$from_email = ($this->email == "") ? "guestbook@mysite.com" : $this->email;[/b] this way if they provide an email address the email will come from their address otherwise it will come from guestbook@mysite.com

Anonymous — GMT

[quote="Carbonize"]I'd just go for [b]$from_email = ($this->email == "") ? "guestbook@mysite.com" : $this->email;[/b] this way if they provide an email address the email will come from their address otherwise it will come from guestbook@mysite.com[/quote]

But that's the problem - the other people's email is not showing up either....

ET — GMT

Ooops I forgot get logged in first - Carbonize - from the earlier posts, I'm sensing that the emails with the visitor's email address are not showing up at the AOL address. So if that is the case, allowing visitor's email address to be entered may not help the situation.

But if the LSander's confirms that the visitor's email address is showing up with the notification, then yes, I think leaving it as you show would work.

Carbonize — GMT

Still say they should dump AOHell and use a decent email service. My offer a gmail invite still stands. They could try your method but odds are the emails are getting blocked for their content rather than the from address.

ET — GMT

I hear ya on dropping AOL - An over priced product for what is offered, but some people really enjoy it - Who am I to judge?

JTD — GMT

[quote="ET"]I hear ya on dropping AOL - An over priced product for what is offered, but some people really enjoy it - Who am I to judge? [/quote]

What is there to enjoy about AOL crap. Overpriced blocks half the known worlds email servers Did i say overpriced. Oh and ps I also have some gmail accounts to give away. 50 of them to be exact. If you want one contact me at sanchez498(at)gmail.com

LSander — GMT

I'm still working on this. On messages that DO get through, AOL gives access to some very complete header information. If I could see that info on one of the messages that gets blocked, I could probably figure out what is wrong.

=====================================
On using AOL... I access it through a cable modem and it serves me extremely well. The one overriding reason I keep it is that I don't want to change my longstanding email address(es). Other reasons include:

It is easy to use and as solid as a rock.
It has reliable dialup capabilities if my high speed provider goes down.
It can be accessed from anyplace in the country with a local phone call.
It is extremely immune to hacking.
Phone-based tech support is superb (though online & email support are lame).
It hasn't ever been acquired by a company that requires me to change all my email addresses, my way of operating, etc., and this record is likely to continue.
Its spam control is very good, and constantly improving/evolving. (My wife gets zero spam--none. I get a certain amount of it because of the places I visit. AOL handles almost all of it.)
It is frequently updated, and has armies of people working to make it better. (God is on the side of the big battalions.)
Basically, it does everything I need it to do, with very few drawbacks.
It DOES block Guestbook messages, but that seems to be a side effect of titanium-strength spam filtering.

Carbonize — GMT

If AOL is blocking guestbook emails what other emails are you not getting? I always recommend a decent POP server email with [url=http://www.spamihilator.com]Spamihilator[/url] which is the client side spam filter I use.

JTD — GMT

[quote="LSander"]

It is easy to use and as solid as a rock.
It has reliable dialup capabilities if my high speed provider goes down.
It can be accessed from anyplace in the country with a local phone call.
It is extremely immune to hacking.
Phone-based tech support is superb (though online & email support are lame).
It hasn't ever been acquired by a company that requires me to change all my email addresses, my way of operating, etc., and this record is likely to continue.
Its spam control is very good, and constantly improving/evolving. (My wife gets zero spam--none. I get a certain amount of it because of the places I visit. AOL handles almost all of it.)
It is frequently updated, and has armies of people working to make it better. (God is on the side of the big battalions.)
Basically, it does everything I need it to do, with very few drawbacks.
It DOES block Guestbook messages, but that seems to be a side effect of titanium-strength spam filtering.[/quote]

You for got one thing with AOL crap.
[b]Its way OVERPRICED[/b] My cable internet isnt really that much more than what AOL wants for dialup.

Carbonize — GMT

BTW I am not saying don't use AOL as your ISP (although there are plenty of reasons not to) I am saying don't use them for your email. As I stated above, and you touched on, if they are blocking the guestbook entries what other [b]LEGITIMATE[/b] emails are they blocking you from getting? This is why I use an email provider with POP access and I use a spam filter on my computer so I don't get an inbox filled up with spam but I can see ALL the emails I get sent and fish any real ones out of the bin.

Anonymous — GMT

Other than these guestbook notifications, I'm not aware of a single other email that I have ever failed to get. Surely if this were a problem, SOMEBODY who sent me an email that I didn't react to would have somehow inquired about it.

And let's not forget -- the Advanced Guestbook is an informally supported freeware application that has a lot of problems with people hacking it. It's a great application, but we (or at least I) can't get too upset when a big dog like AOL doesn't uncritically accept its output.

I just don't understand the people who knock AOL. I've tried many online services since the mid-80s, and most of them are no longer around. In this century, I haven't found any that make it worthwhile to switch away from AOL. There are less expensive services, but in my experience, they (and AOL) give you just what you pay for. And when AOL falls behind in any area, they catch up pretty quickly with whomever might be ahead of them.

Carbonize — GMT

I am an ex AOL user and here is why I don't like it
1 - You HAVE to use their software
2 - Their software infests your system like a virus and is a pain to remove
3 - The limit what you can actually do online (I'm a programmer and need more than web sites and email)

As to your comment about them not getting taken over and emails changed this is partly true. They tend to do the taking over and then succeed in killing off what they buy. Exampls are Netscape and Winamp, both projects that AOL purchased and both projects that are now dead.

Carbonize — GMT

ANYWAY back to the email problem. I was recently notified that cPanel rejects some emails sent from the guestbook due to malformed headers (funny how mothing else rejects them). I have fixed this problem in 2.3.2 but guess I may as well put the mod here so you can test it. Open add.class.php and find[code] $from_email = ($this->email == "") ? "nobody@$host" : $this->email;
if (($this->db->VARS["notify_private"] == 1) && ($this->private == 1))
{
@mail($this->db->VARS["admin_mail"],$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"],"$this->name\n$this->host\n\n$this->comment", "From: <".$this->name."> $from_email\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}
if (($this->db->VARS["notify_admin"] == 1) && ($this->private == 0))
{
@mail($this->db->VARS["admin_mail"],$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"],"$this->name\n$this->host\n\n$this->comment", "From: <".$this->name."> $from_email\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}
if (($this->db->VARS["notify_guest"] == 1) && ($this->email != ''))
{
@mail($this->email,$this->db->LANG["EmailGuestSubject"],$this->db->VARS["notify_mes"], "From: <".$this->db->VARS['admin_mail']."> ".$this->db->VARS['admin_mail']."\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}[/code]first this we need to do is change the from address if no address was supplied. In[code]$from_email = ($this->email == "") ? "nobody@$host" : $this->email;[/code]change the [b]nobody@$host[/b] to something like [b]guestbook@yourdomain.com[/b]. This should stop any emails coming from stupid addresses like nobody@62.39.122.33. Now basically you want to replace all this[code] if (($this->db->VARS["notify_private"] == 1) && ($this->private == 1))
{
@mail($this->db->VARS["admin_mail"],$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"],"$this->name\n$this->host\n\n$this->comment", "From: <".$this->name."> $from_email\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}
if (($this->db->VARS["notify_admin"] == 1) && ($this->private == 0))
{
@mail($this->db->VARS["admin_mail"],$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"],"$this->name\n$this->host\n\n$this->comment", "From: <".$this->name."> $from_email\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}
if (($this->db->VARS["notify_guest"] == 1) && ($this->email != ''))
{
@mail($this->email,$this->db->LANG["EmailGuestSubject"],$this->db->VARS["notify_mes"], "From: <".$this->db->VARS['admin_mail']."> ".$this->db->VARS['admin_mail']."\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}[/code] with this[code] if (($this->db->VARS["notify_private"] == 1) && ($this->private == 1))
{
@mail($this->db->VARS["admin_mail"],$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"],"$this->name\n$this->host\n\n$this->comment", "From: ".$this->name." <".$from_email.">\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}
if (($this->db->VARS["notify_admin"] == 1) && ($this->private == 0))
{
@mail($this->db->VARS["admin_mail"],$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"],"$this->name\n$this->host\n\n$this->comment", "From: ".$this->name." <".$from_email.">\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}
if (($this->db->VARS["notify_guest"] == 1) && ($this->email != ''))
{
@mail($this->email,$this->db->LANG["EmailGuestSubject"],$this->db->VARS["notify_mes"], "From: ".$this->db->VARS['admin_mail']."\nX-Mailer: Advanced Guestbook 2");
}[/code]This should make the emails headers a bit more like they should be.

JTD — GMT

[quote]And let's not forget -- the Advanced Guestbook is an informally supported freeware application that has a lot of problems with people hacking it. It's a great application, but we (or at least I) can't get too upset when a big dog like AOL doesn't uncritically accept its output.
[/quote]

Actually it isnt rejecting Guestbook. If you use an email addy from your webserver. That is what it is rejecting.

ET — GMT

JTD makes an excellent point - a good way to find out if AOL is rejecting email from your server is to go into your website's mail program and send an email to your aol address to see if it goes through!

If it arrives in your AOL email, then you will know that it is not your server that is being blocked. If it doesn't go through, then you will know that all your efforts with changing the guestbook notification process would be useless!

JTD — GMT

Unless carb wants to make an SMTP mod so you can configure guestbook to use any email addy you want to use.

Carbonize — GMT

[quote="JTD"]Unless carb wants to make an SMTP mod so you can configure guestbook to use any email addy you want to use. [/quote]
Duh it already can. If they provided an email address then the email you recieve comes from the address they supplied otherwise it comes from nobody@THEIRIPRESOLVED hence you change the $FROM_EMAIL to whatever you would like to receive emails from. I have mine set to something to bypass spam filters.

LSander — GMT

I'll try the fixes and let you know. Like so many computer things, this problem is really very small (I can always just check my Comcast email for notifications), but one can't rest until it's fixed.

===========================

On the AOL stuff, Carbonize said:

I am an ex AOL user and here is why I don't like it
1 - You HAVE to use their software
2 - Their software infests your system like a virus and is a pain to remove
3 - The limit what you can actually do online (I'm a programmer and need more than web sites and email)

1 & 3: By having cable modem Internet access, I get around HAVING to use their software and its many limitations. AOL is also less expensive if you "bring your own access". If I could only have one means of Internet access, it would NOT be AOL.

2: They are much less virus-like than they used to be. Every time there's a new version, they put a bunch of stupid shortcuts on your desktop and they put one of their icons in your system tray. These are easily removed, though. Getting rid of AOL entirely, or of a version remaining on the computer, is just a matter of going into Control Panel and removing the program. Other than that, AOL is pretty well-behaved on this score.

My main objection to AOL these days is the inane content of their welcome screens. There's a lot of coverage of movies, TV, rock music, and other stuff that I'm just not interested in these days, and there isn't any way to get rid of it. They've got a "Small Business" welcome screen that has a little bit less of that stuff, but it's only a minor relief.

LSander — GMT

It's fixed! (At least as far as I can tell.)

I made your suggested changes, plugging in guestbook@host44.ipowerweb.com in the "nobody@$host" slot.

Then I made a variety of posts and private messages, with my guestbook email address set either to an AOL address or to another address that automatically forwards all messages to AOL.

Everything worked, with the exception of one message which seems to have been lost. That may have been due to an error on my part.

If the poster includes an email address in his post, the notification is "From" that address. Otherwise, it is from guestbook@host44.ipower.web

The subject of all notification messages is "New guestbook entry", whether the notification is of a posting or a private message.

After my extensive testing (a dozen messages, in different permutations), I changed "guestbook@host44.ipowerweb.com" to "guestbook@ussrankin.org" in the "nobody@host" slot. I posted to the guestbook, and the notification was received by AOL with no problems. I conclude that that's an acceptable address to have in there, but it remains to be proven by repeated use.

Bottom line: THE NEW CODE WORKS. Thanks for all your help.

==================
For future versions...

It would be most excellent if private messages could be identified as such in the subject of the notification message.

Private messages don't include Location, Homepage, or Picture, even though they are asked for in the form that creates the private message, and they DO appear on guestbook posts. It would be best if these items were either included in the private message, or if the form somehow showed that they weren't included.

That's it. I'll let you know of any further developments.

Regards,
Lou Sander
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
USA

Carbonize — GMT

Open [b]lib/add.class.php[b] and find [code]if ($this->db->VARS["notify_private"]==1 && $this->private==1) {[/code]on the next line change[code]$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"][/code]Just remember to put your text in quotes.

LSander — GMT

I'll try it.

FYI, I experimented a bit more with other things in the "nobody@host" slot. I tried "two words" and "oneword".

Both of them went to the Comcast email address OK, but neither was forwarded to AOL, or received directly from AOL.

Conclusion: AOL will accept anything@anything.com, whether a valid address or not, but it seems to reject anything that doesn't look like a valid email address.

LSander — GMT

Correction: "received directly from aol" should be "received by AOL when sent directly there"

LSander — GMT

Previous fix about LANG["EmailAdminSubject"] didn't work.

First I replaced the stuff in quotes with my own stuff. Email subject was then "(no subject)"

Then I replaced the entire "LANG["EmailAdminSubject"]" with "My Own Stuff". Still got "(no subject)"

Carbonize — GMT

[code]ARS["admin_mail"],$this->db->LANG["EmailAdminSubject"],"$this->name\n$t[/code]
change to[code]ARS["admin_mail"],"New private guestbook entry","$this->name\n$t[/code]

LSander — GMT

It works! Thanks!!!