Php email function not working properly

Question

I know this seems like it is a duplicate but please read first:

I have the following php code:

<?php

$to = '[email protected]';

$name = $_POST['name'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$message = $_POST['message'];
$subject = $_POST['subject'];
$headers = "From: ".$email." \r\n";
$headers .= "Reply-To: ".$email."\r\n";

mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers); 

?>

I think it's the standard email sending script. However, I face an interesting bug. My website is florin-pop.com and the emails are only sending when in the email input field I put something like this: [email protected] or [email protected] or anything before @florin-pop.com.

If I try to put a something different like [email protected] or even a real yahoo email address I don't get the email. Why? It's something wrong with my code? It may be from the hosting company? ( I use hostgator ).

EDIT:

If I change the Reply-To to the domains email address then it is working, but it is still not the perfect way to do it. If you press the reply button and forget about this trick, you will email yourself.

Code:

<?php

$to = '[email protected]';
$my_domain_email = '[email protected]';

$name = $_POST['name'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$message = $_POST['message'];
$subject = $_POST['subject'];
$headers = "From: ".$email." \r\n";
$headers .= "Reply-To: ".$my_domain_email."\r\n";

mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers); 

?>

Sounds like a most-likely-intentional restriction from the server sending the email. First thing to do would be to ask them if that's a thing they're doing. :p — neminem
– neminem, Commented May 6, 2015 at 22:29
the issue is that the server that is being used to send the email isn't trusted, so you'll either a) never get the email b) get the email in a few weeks c) check your spam folder — Jonathan
– Jonathan, Commented May 6, 2015 at 22:30
To what is the "From" address ($email) set? Delivery failure could be related to the DMARC policy at yahoo.com. They are now "...bouncing emails sent as '@yahoo.com' addresses that aren't sent through Yahoo servers." — showdev
– showdev, Commented May 6, 2015 at 22:32
I changed the receiving email address from [email protected] to [email protected] and it seems that I get all the emails now. So it is something related to Yahoo. — Florin Pop
– Florin Pop, Commented May 6, 2015 at 22:42

showdev · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-06 23:20:37Z

1

In this case, delivery failure may be caused by Yahoo's adoption of the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) policy.

This means all DMARC compliant mail receivers (including Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail) are now bouncing emails sent as "@yahoo.com" addresses that aren't sent through Yahoo servers. [Yahoo]

Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Paypal, AOL, Comcast and others have also adopted this policy. [Venture Beat]

A solution: Change the "From" header to an address at the server from which you are sending the email. This (correctly) indicates that the mail was sent from your server, and not from Yahoo. You can still use a user-submitted address in the "Reply-To" header so that the recipient can reply to the sender.

As a best practice, you should ... be using a domain you control in ... the "From:" header... [For example,] the site visitor's name is shown in the descriptive part of the "From:" header, and the "Reply-To:" header is set to the website visitor's address, but the actual address used in the "From:" header clearly indicates that your website is the origin of the message. [DMARC]

edited May 6, 2015 at 23:20

answered May 6, 2015 at 22:54

showdev

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4 Comments

Florin Pop Over a year ago

I have changed the $headers = "From: ".$email." \r\n"; into the server's email, but I still can't get the emails to yahoo.

Florin Pop Over a year ago

If I change the Reply-To then it is working fine. But still this is not very ok because if I press the reply button then it will put my own email again and I won't reply to the user. I have to manually do that.

showdev Over a year ago

It works when you change the "Reply-To" but not when you change the "From"? If it's a DMARC issue, you should be able to set the "Reply-To" however you like; it's the "From" header that needs to be set to the sending server.

showdev Over a year ago

I don't understand why changing the "Reply-To" header would have any effect. But, it's possible that I was mistaken and your problem is not DMARC-related at all.

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