Are you having trouble understanding PHP mail functions and experiencing PHP mail not working? Have you recently swedged to understand how PHP mail works? You’ve come to the right place, as we have demystified most possible problems you could face with non working PHP mail.
are you a php pro, or maybe a newbie who has yet to master the ropes? Regardless of the circumstances, there is still more to know about any programming language and there are occasionally materials that will help developers improve. this is one of them!
our skilled team has gone above and beyond to explain the concept in this topic to help you understand the scope and concept of how php mail works, error handling within a mail function php, configure it get to work and send php mail through gmail. here we start our quest to become a better php developer.
Your task now is to give it your all and absorb the information you’ve been given.
why php mail not working?
The php mail() function allows users to send emails to users using a script. this function takes three required input arguments that define the recipient’s email address, its subject, and the message to send, as well as two optional parameters that are headers and parameters.
Continuing with the php mail() function, the general syntax of this function is as follows:
mail() can have these parameters in parentheses: mail(to, subject, message, headers, parameters)
the values and description of the parameters are in the following table
note: when sending an email, it must have a header of. this can be configured using this argument or in the php.ini file.
an example of how to use php mail()
$para = ‘johndoe@email.com’;
$subject = ‘job offer’;
$message = ‘would you be interested in working with us?’;
$from = ‘janejoe@email.com’;
//sending email
if(mail ($to, $subject, $message)) {
echo ‘your email has been sent successfully’;
} more{
echo ‘cannot send email. try again.’;
}
?>
output:
warning: mail(): could not connect to mail server on port 25 of “localhost”, check your “smtp” and “smtp_port” settings in php.ini or use ini_set() in c:userspromise nwhatordocumentsarticlesphpcodetest .php on line 8
cannot send email. try again.
From the above, you can see that the php mail function is not working.
for php mail to work, it requires a delivery server (smtp) to send emails. if you’ve ever sent email from an application or website while it’s in production, you know the concern that an email could be exposed to the world.
Are you sure none of the “test” emails were sent to colleagues or even clients? Of course, you can set up and manage a test email server for development purposes, but this is a time-consuming task. also, the time it takes to sift through new test emails could significantly hamper your development cycle.
To use php mail on your local host, you need smtp (simple mail transfer protocol). Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a program that allows senders and recipients to send, receive, and forward outgoing email. email is transmitted from one server to another over the internet via smtp every time an email is sent. In simple terms, an smtp email is just an email sent through the smtp server. the app i currently use on an smtp server on my localhost is called papercut.
The reason why php mail is not working is listed below:
Some email service providers do not allow the use of external recipients via php mail functions when not working with localhost. First, change the recipient ($to) in the code above to a local recipient. simply saying that the email address to be sent to will be from the server’s domain.
follow the steps below to send mail from localhost xampp using gmail:
- Open your compiler (Visual Studio Code)
- Locate file path “C:xamppphp” and open the “php.ini” file
- Locate [mail function] within the file
- Change the values for the following,
- SMTP = smtp.gmail.com
- smtp_port = 587
- sendmail_from = “Gmail username goes here”@gmail.com
- sendmail_path = “”C:xamppsendmailsendmail.exe” -t” – Only needed in a Unix environment
- Change the values for the following,
- smtp_server = smtp.gmail.com
- smtp_port = 587
- error_logfile = error.log (Some of this code may have been commented out, just remove the; character)
- debug_logfile = debug.log
- auth_username = “enter Gmail username here”@gmail.com
- auth_password= “your Gmail password goes here”
after the configuration is complete, run the following code again:
steps in php mail test
The following script helps to test your host to check that you can send emails from php enabled websites with a contact form or something that requires you to send emails to users. the script is used in software, including content management systems (cms) such as wordpress, wix, joomla and the like.
if you have made settings (such as enabling smtp in php settings), this is a quick and easy way to ensure emails are sent correctly.
create a test script (name the script test.php) with the following code below:
login to your server, either your shared hosting or virtual private server (vps) preferably, and run the code below.
php mail error handling – the right way
There are different ways errors can be caught when using the php mail function. If your mail is not sent for some reason, you can try the method below to show where the error is coming from.
Because the above mail has not connected to the service, $error_message is expected to be displayed in the output; let’s see.
output:
conclusion
Without hesitation, we have concentrated on all strategies, methods and actions regarding everything you need to know about php mail. to understand how to resolve errors while using php mail function without stress . In closing, here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve covered here so far:
PHP mail() function allows users to send emails to users by using a script- PHP mail requires three (3) parameters before it can work properly. First, ‘to’ (receiver of the mail), then ‘subject’ (the main topic of the mail – This parameter should not have any newline characters), lastly, ‘message’ (The content to be sent.
- Note: Each line should be separated by a line feed-LF (n). Lines should not be more than 70 characters long).
- Some optional parameters may not be required to be added by the user, which are the headers and other parameters.
- PHP mail syntax is mail(to, subject, message, headers, parameters)
we have provided enough information necessary to correct errors in the php mail. php mail is essential when working with contact forms on your website, whether developed from scratch or using a cms such as wordpress, joomla, magneto, etc.
have fun programming.