Why is this PHP script failing to send HTML mail?

Question

I have this piece of test code to send an HTML email. For the longest time, it was sending, but not sending in HTML format. And now, it's not sending at all.

I've been comparing with code on the PHP manual, and with similar questions on this site, and I can't see anywhere that the code could be wrong. It's driving me crazy.

Why is this code not sending, and why is it not sending in HTML?

$to = "[email protected]";
$subject = "Confirmation code for registration";

$message = "<html>
  <head>";
$message .= '<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />';
$message .= "<title>TITLE</title>
  </head>
  <body>";
$message .= "Thank you for registering! \r\n";
$message .= "
    </body>
</html>";

$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type: text/html; charset: utf-8\r\n";
$headers .= "From: My Site <[email protected]>r\n";

$mailresult = mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);
    echo "mail sent! ";
    echo $mailresult;

$mailresult comes back as 1, which I assume means success, but no mail is being recieved at the mail account specified.

I would suggest using a mail library such as PHPMailer rather than the PHP mail() function. It has integrated debugging features and a simpler interface. — None
– None, Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 7:32
If it's not in your spam/junk folder, maybe there's something wrong with your SMTP, not necessarily your code — TravellingGeek
– TravellingGeek, Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 7:32
PHPMailer also makes it very easy to send email through SMTP such as gMail. This is valuable since it is difficult to tell if emails aren't being delivered because of an error in the code or because of server mail settings. — None
– None, Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 7:38
@BenM:Yes, it seems it's not coming through at all. The issue is, though, that I was receiving it fine and was only testing the HTML problem, and somewhere along the way I stopped receiving the mails. — Questioner
– Questioner, Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 7:39

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-20 09:12:55Z

4

According to php.net:

Returns TRUE if the mail was successfully accepted for delivery, FALSE otherwise.

It is important to note that just because the mail was accepted for delivery, it does NOT mean the mail will actually reach the intended destination.

Have you configured a mail server to send the mail?

edited Jun 20, 2020 at 9:12

CommunityBot

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answered Mar 15, 2013 at 7:32

TimeWasterNL

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2 Comments

Questioner Over a year ago

Awarded the green check for having pointed out that just because PHP says a mail is sent only means it has passed it on to the mail server, but not that the mail was processed through the mail server.

TimeWasterNL Over a year ago

I'm glad I somehow helped you :)

Alexi Akl · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-15 07:33:51Z

1

Your code worked on my server perfectly but I received the email as Spam - so check your spam. And do your research to check if your server is configured properly.

answered Mar 15, 2013 at 7:33

Alexi Akl

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Comments

Ramu PL · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-15 07:28:46Z

-2

Try doing

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

without $mailresult

answered Mar 15, 2013 at 7:28

Ramu PL

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1 Comment

None Over a year ago

$mailresult will just be a boolean representing the success or failure of mail. It has no affect on the sending of the email.

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