(Not) another SMTP + Gmail error thread

[joaocunha]

After looking dozens of threads inside - and outside - the forum and trying the suggested fixes, I've decided to open a new one regarding Gmail SMTP problems.

We've been using sendmail-f with no issues for 3 years, but suddenly the sent e-mail messages started to vanish or delay for hours (or even days). I contacted our hosting provider and they told me that the better option would be to send e-mails via SMTP, so did I. No success.

The error message I get:

Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter in /home/MYDOMAIN/public_html/includes/functions/functions_email.php on line 102

Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter in /home/MYDOMAIN/public_html/includes/functions/functions_email.php on line 103

Email Error: SMTP Error: Unable to connect to SMTP Server.

Those two warnings are not my actual problem (the aforementioned EMAIL_DISCLAIMER constant is correctly configured, as well as STORE_OWNER_EMAIL_ADDRESS), but the SMTP error.

ZC is configured like the following:

E-Mail Transport Method: smtpauth
E-Mail Linefeeds = LF
Use MIME HTML When Sending Emails = true
Send E-Mails = true
Email Archiving Active? = false
E-Mail Friendly-Errors = true
Email Address (Displayed to Contact you) = [email protected]
Email Address (sent FROM) = [email protected]
Emails must send from known domain? = No
Email Admin Format? = TEXT
Send Copy of Order Confirmation Emails To = [email protected]
Send Copy of Create Account Emails To - Status = 0
Send Copy of Create Account Emails To = [email protected]
Send Copy of Tell a Friend Emails To - Status = 0
Send Copy of Tell a Friend Emails To = [email protected]
Send Copy of Customer GV Send Emails To - Status = 0
Send Copy of Customer GV Send Emails To = [email protected]
Send Copy of Admin GV Mail Emails To - Status = 0
Send Copy of Customer Admin GV Mail Emails To = [email protected]
Send Copy of Admin Discount Coupon Mail Emails To - Status = 0
Send Copy of Customer Admin Discount Coupon Mail Emails To = [email protected]
Send Copy of Admin Orders Status Emails To - Status = 0
Send Copy of Admin Orders Status Emails To = [email protected]
Send Notice of Pending Reviews Emails To - Status = 0
Send Notice of Pending Reviews Emails To = [email protected]
Set "Contact Us" Email Dropdown List = Suporte em Português <[email protected]>, Soporte en Español <[email protected]>, English Support <[email protected]>
Allow Guest To Tell A Friend = false
Contact Us - Show Store Name and Address = 0
Send Low Stock Emails = 0
Send Low Stock Emails To = [email protected]
Display "Newsletter Unsubscribe" Link? = true
Audience-Select Count Display = true
SMTP Email Account Mailbox = [email protected]
SMTP Email Account Password = **************
SMTP Email Mail Host = smtp.gmail.com
SMTP Email Mail Server Port = 465
Convert currencies for Text emails = &pound;,£:&euro;,€

My company uses Google Apps as the standard e-mail solution. It means our e-mail addresses are [email protected] but all the backend processing is provided by Gmail - hence any configuration like port number, SSL/TLS, host name, and so on are the same as a standard Gmail account.

Using SMTP instead of SMTPAUTH does no good as well.

---------------------------------------------------------

Additional information

Info from my host:

Zen Cart version: 1.3.8a
SO: Linux 2.6.18-194.32.1.el5PAE
Database: MySQL 5.1.49-gpl-log
HTTP Server: Apache
PHP Version: 5.2.17 (Zend: 2.2.0)
TITLE_PHP_MEMORY_LIMIT 96M
TITLE_PHP_SAFE_MODE Off
TITLE_PHP_FILE_UPLOADS On
TITLE_PHP_UPLOAD_MAX 64M
TITLE_PHP_POST_MAX_SIZE 64M
TITLE_DATABASE_DATA_SIZE 157,474 kB
TITLE_DATABASE_INDEX_SIZE 28,751 kB

My host phpinfo():
http://whl0003.whservidor.com/phpinfo.php

[kobra]

After looking dozens of threads inside - and outside

Well, you can enable email archiving and as the many threads elicit, all that ZenCart does is pass the email off to the email application - - be it host provided or gmail

IF the email is generated and passed, then ZenCart has no additional control over it

[joaocunha]

Well, you can enable email archiving and as the many threads elicit, all that ZenCart does is pass the email off to the email application - - be it host provided or gmail

IF the email is generated and passed, then ZenCart has no additional control over it

Thanks for the fast response, Kobra.

What exactly is e-mail archiving suposed to do?

[kobra]

It stores emails that are passed off to the MTA with some trail if there is a failure ion the database

SO you only want to do this while you are troubleshooting

[joaocunha]

It stores emails that are passed off to the MTA with some trail if there is a failure ion the database

SO you only want to do this while you are troubleshooting

What does MTA stand for?

I didn't get the point as well, also.

[kobra]

MTA = message transfer agent

I didn't get the point as well, also.

ZenCart does is pass the email off to the email application

[DrByte]

Proper settings for Google Apps mail are listed here: http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.p...Email_Problems as well as information on troubleshooting email problems, including what the archiving tool is useful for.

I just tested the instructions in the "Google Mail / Gmail" section of this article, and it worked perfectly for me. If it's not working for you, then maybe you've got your domain set up with SPF instructions to prevent your server from being allowed to submit mail on behalf of your domain. You'll need to sort that out with your hosting company and your server administrator, since they should be the experts on those matters related to your domain and your email services.