Mail problem going in spam/junk

Hi guys,

I want to send emails with PHP using mail ( ) from our root server.

I noticed that most of all emails are straight going in spam/junk box.

I want, for customers, avoid this and Im connecting to our smtp server to authenticate email with PHP

The problem is that yes we can connect to SMTP server but it still goes in spam/box because the Hostname is different:

Mail infos when trying to send email:
.....
Connected to SMTP server "mydomain1.com".
S 220 thisdomain2.com ESMTP
C EHLO localhost
S 250-thisdomain2.com
.....

1) " mydomain1.com" is our server and we can connect to it
2) " thisdomain2.com " is the main domain name of server... but that's why some Mail services consider our mail as a "spam" because it isnt the same domain name.

With Outlook, we can send emails without problems, it's only using PHP.

We put a reverse map for ip address which points back to “mydomain1.com”

Any ideas how to solve the problem?

I also wanted to mentionned that I tried with Pear mail class, with some www.phpclasses.org mail class and phpmailer.

I'm ending with same problem:

-With Hotmail, Yahoo and some other Mail services, it considers it as a spam and goes in spam/junk or just don't even get the email(delete it).

I have full access (root) to main server so I can configure any thing. It's a question of configuration somewhere with PHP or mail server.

With Webmail or Outlook it works great, only when I'm trying with PHP...

Thank all for your support / ideas

I suspect the problem is to the Received headers that your SMTP server adds. Those make the message appear was if it was sent via an open relay SMTP server because domain1 and domain2 have different IP addresses. In that case there is nothing to be done.

Another possibility is that your SMTP server IP address is blacklisted in some open relay database. Just let me know the addresses, so I can check them.

If that is neither the case, I suggest that you try sending the messages with this the SMTP class in conjunction with the MIME message class, if you have not done it already. It makes sure that are headers are set correctly to avoid having messages confused with SPAM:

phpclasses.org/mimemessage

Another solution is to use these classes in direct delivery mode. In this mode, the message is not relayed to the SMTP server. Instead it is delivered directly to the recipient SMTP server. The disadvantage of this mode, is that if messages are not accepted immediately, it will not retry

At least you know if the problem is in the content or in the message relay. If the message is accepted without being tagged as spam, the problem is in the relay. Otherwise, the problem is in the message content.

Thank for your fast answers.

Actually, I also tried to add a TXT record / SPF to include the other domain name.

I must admit that I'm not very familiar with this and I spent many hours all over to solve the problem.

It's actually for a customer and I'm even ready to make a symbolic donation through Paypal if you can help me solving this problem. It will be very appreciated.

Here is the Mail exchange informations between the client and server:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Resolving SMTP server domain "www.spaceinquest.com"...
Connecting to host address "82.165.146.67"...
Connected to SMTP server "www.spaceinquest.com".
S 220 spaceinquest.com ESMTP
C EHLO localhost
S 250-spaceinquest.com
S 250-AUTH=LOGIN CRAM-MD5 PLAIN
S 250-AUTH LOGIN CRAM-MD5 PLAIN
S 250-STARTTLS
S 250-PIPELINING
S 250 8BITMIME
C AUTH LOGIN
.... etc
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Actually, as we can see, the "spaceinquest.com" matched for the "S 220" and "S 250-" and for the smtp server "spaceinquest.com" because I manually edited the "/var/qmail/control/me" file of Qmail. Before, the "me" file had "zyros.ca" has domain name.

I have full control on server (root) but I can't find the exact problem.

I will be back later tonight and I ll also try your suggestions.

If you have been using SPF that may be the problem. SPF records must set carefully or else all your messages may be rejected.

I also tried to set SPF records for the site domain and since that was happening I removed all the record till I could figure what was wrong. I have not figured what was the problem yet.

Hi Manuel,

I tested all classes and specifically the SMTP ones.

I received a "Done" message with no "errors", but I keep receiving the messages in spam box (with Hotmail).

I deleted all SPF records too related to the domain.

One important thing to consider: Webmail using PHP is working fine. Actually, the users can send emails through http://webmail.domain.com with PHP scripting and emails aren't considered as "spam" / "junk".

There's probably an exact configuration to do / specify somewhere.

I'm still trying to solve this.

Thank for your help and patience.

If you are sending HTML messages, make sure they have a plain text alternative part. If the message only contains the HTML part without the plain text part, Hotmail and other consider it junk.

Also make sure that the recipient addresses are set with the To: or CC: headers but not with Bcc:.

This is why I recommended to try the MIME message class. It can be used in conjunction with the SMTP class to deliver messages via an SMTP server.

Additionally, it can take care about other subtil details that can make the message be considered SPAM. Take a look at the documentation provided with the class for more details.

phpclasses.org/mimemessage

Hi,

Actually, I tried to send basic simple messages.

One thing worked fine: I authenticated with SMTP server using the main domain name "zyros.ca" with my main email address and it worked fine.

But, when I'm trying with the second domain "spaceinquest.com", the emails went in spam box.

I'm trying with simple Text-Plain messages and no extra headers.

I read somewhere it might be the "TLS" from "STARTTLS".

I tried all examples in "mimemessage" classes and they all go in "spam" box, but they all work if I put the main domain from "zyros.ca".

It seems to not validate the mails properly. I'm pretty sure it isn't a programming problem but a configuration one somewhere. :/

Thank for your help

Jonathan

I also noticed that in received spam email headers i have a "X-SID-Result: TempError" .. and that's the main reason why Hotmail considers it like a spam.

I might need to configure a SPF - TXT record.

It is hard to tell anything further without examining the messages you are sending. Can you please send a message with problems to my address so I can see what you are doing?

ok I will email you.

Thank