SMTP nightmare

[Bud Boy]

OK - So I have to change php to SMTP now mail() has been disabled....

However, the SMTP script supplied may work (once you've decoded what it's actually trying to tell you) but you are left with a basic scruffy contact form. Most of my sites/customers have very good costly designs and the basic SMTP form supplied by eukhost simply isn't good enough as a replacement.

My question: How do I convert from php to SMTP keeping all the nice design work...

e.g. a typical site uses the following code:

<form id="contact-form" method="post" class="main-contacts">
<fieldset>
<input type="hidden" name="owner_email" id="owner_email" value="**my_email**" />
<input type="hidden" name="serverProcessorType" id="serverProcessorType" value="php" />
<input type="hidden" name="smtpMailServer" id="smtpMailServer" value="localhost" />
<input type="hidden" name="stripHTML" id="stripHTML" value="true" />
				
<div class="rowElem">
<div class="bg">
<input type="text"  name="name" id="name" value="Name"  onblur="if(this.value=='') this.value='Name'" onFocus="if(this.value =='Name' ) this.value=''" >
</div>
<label class="error" for="name" id="name_error">*This field is required.</label>
<label class="error" for="name" id="name_error2">*This is not a valid name.</label>
</div>
<div class="rowElem">
<div class="bg">
<input type="text"  name="email" id="email"  value="E-mail"  onblur="if(this.value=='') this.value='E-mail'" onFocus="if(this.value =='E-mail' ) this.value=''">
</div>
<label class="error" for="email" id="email_error">*This field is required.</label>
<label class="error" for="email" id="email_error2">*This is not a valid email address.</label>
</div>
<div class="rowElem">
<div class="bg">
<input type="text" name="phone" id="phone" value="Phone"  onblur="if(this.value=='') this.value='Phone'" onFocus="if(this.value =='Phone' ) this.value=''" >
</div>
<label class="error" for="phone" id="phone_error">*This field is required.</label>
<label class="error" for="phone" id="phone_error2">*This is not a valid phone number.</label>
</div>
<div class="textarea-box">
<div class="bg">
<textarea cols="1" rows="1" name="message" id="message" onBlur="if(this.value=='') this.value='Message'" onFocus="if(this.value =='Message' ) this.value=''"  >Message</textarea>
</div>
<label class="error" for="message" id="message_error">*This field is required.</label>
<label class="error" for="message" id="message_error2">*The message is too short.</label>
</div>
<div class="relative">
<span class="button1"><span></span><a href="#" id="submit">send message</a></span>
</div>
</fieldset>
</form>

... which apart from looking good, performs all sorts of nice validations etc.

How do I keep all this functionality with the SMTP coding we're supplied?


I've tried and it's crap!

[What is especially annoying about this is that in my experience EVERY paid for template uses PHP mailer and you therefore get a complete website ready to go! NO ONE caters for SMTP auth!!!!!!!!]

[Bud Boy]

Or, if all of the above is impossible...

Please, please, please tell me how I can at least simply replace the submit button with my nicely designed one:

Current submit button:

<div class="relative">
<span class="button1"><span></span><a href="#" id="submit">send message</a></span>
</div>

SMTP submit code:

<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="right"></td><td><input name="btnSubmit" type="submit" onclick="javascript: return validate();"  value="Submit" /></td>
</tr>

Thanks

[Bud Boy]

... or even, please PM me with your best price for VPS (cPanel / WHM) so I can avoid this nonsense altogether.

Thanks

[Bud Boy]

Oh, have just been talking to a sales member and it's obvious I'm not being taken seriously!

Whilst I'm stuck on my sites I took a little time out to read through the forum and now I see it's not just me that's having a complete nightmare recently. Think I'll start looking elsewhere.. for someone who cares about their clients and can offer a real 'service' with reliability...

Can you tell I'm not happy...

Quote from another thread by John:

Our customers are very precious to us (channeling Gollum).

... would be nice if this sentiment was passed down to the customer relations team.

Additional:
I feel I should probably quantify my statement above...
When I asked what would be a suitable VPS replacement for my current reseller account two advisors suggested L-VPS-02 at £29/month.
My account currently uses 1.4GB disk space & approx 20GB bandwidth per month.

L-VPS-01 specifications - 15GB disk space & 300GB bandwidth (more than 10 times my current requirement)
L-VPS-02 specifications - 25GB disk space & 400GB bandwidth (almost 20 times my current requirement)

Why was I being sold the VPS-02 package as most suitable??

I don't even get close to threatening the VPS-01 specs!

[eukSam]

I feel I should probably quantify my statement above...
When I asked what would be a suitable VPS replacement for my current reseller account two advisors suggested L-VPS-02 at £29/month.
My account currently uses 1.4GB disk space & approx 20GB bandwidth per month.

L-VPS-01 specifications - 15GB disk space & 300GB bandwidth (more than 10 times my current requirement)
L-VPS-02 specifications - 25GB disk space & 400GB bandwidth (almost 20 times my current requirement)

Why was I being sold the VPS-02 package as most suitable??

I don't even get close to threatening the VPS-01 specs!

Hello,

Disk space & bandwidth usage are not the only resources which are considered while upgrading the hosting package. Memory usage & CPU usage are also considered during upgrade. On a reseller hosting server, there is no limit restriction for memory & CPU put by the software, but on a VPS you have restriction for memory & CPU usage. In case memory & CPU usage exceeds, all the services on your VPS are stopped.

If you are in process of upgrading the VPS, you can simply go for L-VPS-01. If the memory & CPU usage falls short in this package, you can upgrade to the higher package. In case the package is already upgraded, you can contact the billing dept to downgrade the package.

[Bud Boy]

Thanks for the sales pitch Sam. You're kind of missing the point though, first of all some help with my original SMTP question would REALLY be appreciated!

Secondly, you can see my email and account details - can you justify why I was being 'sold' such a package when all I asked for was a suitable replacement?

From what you are saying then, in essence, you are saying that the reseller package is actually superior to a VPS solution....

(despite how it may seem, I'm not here for an argument I'm simply looking for a solution to my problems)

[eukSam]

Thanks for the sales pitch Sam. You're kind of missing the point though, first of all some help with my original SMTP question would REALLY be appreciated!

Secondly, you can see my email and account details - can you justify why I was being 'sold' such a package when all I asked for was a suitable replacement?

From what you are saying then, in essence, you are saying that the reseller package is actually superior to a VPS solution....

(despite how it may seem, I'm not here for an argument I'm simply looking for a solution to my problems)

Hello,

I am not saying that reseller package is superior than a VPS, both these packages have their own identity. I can understand the problem you are facing with php mail & then switching to smtp. That's the reason we recommend for a VPS.

I agree that L VPS 2 package should not have been recommended to you as L VPS 1 was also suitable for your hosting purpose. One of our sales admin has opened a ticket for you. I will ask the sales admin to get back to you in the ticket with a better solution.

[Bud Boy]

Could anyone please suggest how I can get my SMTP submt code into my current form, as detailed better in my original question above?

(I can't believe I'm the only one having problems with this)

Many Thanks

[NickJ]

You may need to update the contact.php (which is used to send emails from the form) to include all inputs that you are taking from your form.
If you are not sure how to do it, I would recommend you to contact your web-developer to integrate it to work with SMTP authentication.

[Bud Boy]

Thanks Nick, but I am the web developer - I appreciate not a brilliant one, but by using commercial designs available there really is no need to pay a company to produce something inferior to what I can do. With the obvious exception of getting my head around SMTP forms!

I did however contact the design company who said:
Here's the server response when the form is subbmitted
"mail() has been disabled for security reasons"
Which means the default PHP function mail() is disabled on your server, please consult with your host provider on how to enable it"

... round in circles!

The guidance sent out by eukhost does explain how to recreate a basic form, but just doesn't lend itself to being integrated into an already working design.

Can I PM you with my problem in a little more detail?

Thanks

[eUK-Ray]

Thanks Nick, but I am the web developer - I appreciate not a brilliant one, but by using commercial designs available there really is no need to pay a company to produce something inferior to what I can do. With the obvious exception of getting my head around SMTP forms!

I did however contact the design company who said:
Here's the server response when the form is subbmitted
"mail() has been disabled for security reasons"
Which means the default PHP function mail() is disabled on your server, please consult with your host provider on how to enable it"

... round in circles!

The guidance sent out by eukhost does explain how to recreate a basic form, but just doesn't lend itself to being integrated into an already working design.

Can I PM you with my problem in a little more detail?

Thanks

Hello

It would be much quicker if you opened a support ticket and provided me the support ticket number to check. I will have a senior person check this out for you. Please open a ticket at support @ eukhost. com.

Thanks,
Ray

[Bud Boy]

Thank you very much Ray - truly appreciated

Ticket raised and PM sent!

[eUK-Ray]

Thank you very much Ray - truly appreciated

Ticket raised and PM sent!

Hi

Ticket no received as well as PM. I have now flagged this to a tech who will help you.

Thanks,
Ray

[eUKhost.com]

Thank you very much Ray - truly appreciated

Ticket raised and PM sent!

Hi There!

Please request your Development company to switch to SMTP mail and refer the following thread for help :-

http://www.eukhost.com/forums/f38/en...cations-14623/

We have disabled PHP Mail() function on our servers to end spamming that use to happen from our shared and reseller hosting servers. PHP Mail() is allowed on Dedicated Servers, VPS's and Cloud VM's only.

[Bud Boy]

...We have disabled PHP Mail() function on our servers to end spamming that use to happen from our shared and reseller hosting servers. PHP Mail() is allowed on Dedicated Servers, VPS's and Cloud VM's only.

... tell me something I didn't know!!!!

(This is my third redraft of this post - I thought I'd take out all the unprofessional comments.)


First of all - Thank you to the team who took on board my request for some help in getting this sorted. The attempt was appreciated.

However, this has now been closed as no member of eukhost was able to get a PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE, COMMERCIAL GRADE PRE-DESIGNED TEMPLATE from one of the biggest template companies online to work with SMTP, despite it working fine on another server using php mail.

The final support comment was:

"I tried to embed our test SMTP auth code in your page and also update your existing one but didnt succeed. As we mentioned earlier we do not support major scripting issues, will not able to help you with this."

... now you can perhaps see my problem (and many others) with a "major scripting issue"!

If your technical boffins cannot get it working then what chance does Joe public have???

Eukhost have now washed their hands of this problem. - it would have been nice if you'd have returned my site as you found it.

Thanks (for this and the complete waste of time)

...and finally;

Sure I could go down the route of VPS but there a a couple of very valid reasons why this isn't really acceptable:
First of all you have a history of changing server settings at will, and often without notifying the customers. I have numerous support requests logged requesting settings to be turned 'back on' etc when sites have gone down, all apparently done on a whim (and usually denied outright until I provided evidence).
Secondly (but related), php mail WAS originally allowed (when I ordered my package), what's to say that this won't soon be banned on VPS accounts as well??? [watch this space...]
Thirdly, I'm not opposed to the idea of paying someone to get the SMTP working on this site, but if euk can't get it to work properly on their own server then what nightmare and cost am I going to go through trying to find a coder who could (maybe) sort it? Will I have to do this everytime?
- now removed by Bud Boy - (getting angry)
- now removed by Bud Boy - (getting angry)

In short, a better SMTP solution is required and needs to be conveyed properly - not in the half baked manner in which this has been implemented. It is completely irresponsible on your behalf to make changes that directly affect your clients' businesses without providing a suitable solution.

Possibly worth reading this: Change Management

[Kieran]

First of all - Thank you to the team who took on board my request for some help in getting this sorted. The attempt was appreciated.

You're most welcome.

However, this has now been closed as no member of eukhost was able to get a PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE, COMMERCIAL GRADE PRE-DESIGNED TEMPLATE from one of the biggest template companies online to work with SMTP, despite it working fine on another server using php mail.

The final support comment was:

"I tried to embed our test SMTP auth code in your page and also update your existing one but didnt succeed. As we mentioned earlier we do not support major scripting issues, will not able to help you with this."

... now you can perhaps see my problem (and many others) with a "major scripting issue"!

If your technical boffins cannot get it working then what chance does Joe public have???

Even though we do not support scripting/designing and third party app issues, we try our best to help the customers with related issues and also suggest them the most viable resolution they can get from external sources. We have had looked into your issue and attempted to apply our sample code but as your contact form is built in rich design template, we could not transform it into SMTP auth as expected.

Eukhost have now washed their hands of this problem. - it would have been nice if you'd have returned my site as you found it.

We have already suggested you an alternate hosting and also looked into your issue as referred in the ticket : EKM-814-21676. I have just replied your ticket with an another option that you should afford to get it working. Please check it once.