@Hardy,
It is very likely that you have to enable the checkbox "Allow scripts and users to use Sendmail" under Tools & Settings < Mail Server Settings.
This might be a "work-around", but it is not a solution, in the sense that it is not "good practice".
I will try to explain the above.
In general, the process of sending mails through a contact form is (rather simplified):
- mail is sent from the domain mail server (with a proper "domain header") OR the "root server" (with the hostname as "header") if a script and/or php mail functions are used (note that a proper mail script does specify a proper header, i.e. the domain header, but most mail scripts are not really well-defined),
- if the mailbox exists on the local server, the mail will be served to localhost (i.e. the mailbox on the local server),
- otherwise, the mail will be served to an external mail server,
- if the local and/or external mail server does not have to proper mailbox (i.e. it does not exist) OR the mail is denied (i.e. due to spamfiltering, firewalls, greylisting etc etc), the mail will never be delivered (note that you identify this type of behaviour, since it will reflect in a lot of bounce messages in the logs, given the fact that the mail server will retry delivery)
and so on.
In short, there can be many problems with your mail process.
First of all, the mail scripts can be blocked, in the sense that they are not allowed to send mail from the server.
The before mentioned "work-around" will result in the ability to send mails with scripts, meaning that you can exclude this cause if mail will not be delivered, if scripts are deblocked.
The above simply means that, when having the work-around implemented, any problem with mails would be a problem with non-existent mailboxes, blacklisting, firewalls, spamfilters etc. and/or even some bad code in the mail script.
Second, the (receiving) mailboxes can be non-existent.
Naturally, you can have a look at your own servers and/or externally hosted mailboxes and verify that all proper mailboxes are present.
If all mailboxes are existing, than the issue will not be the result of missing mailboxes.
Third, your server can be blacklisted, as such a reason that contact forms are not working properly.
You can check the blacklisting of servers at various sites, but have a look at senderbase.org (quite simple and efficient, try to search on IP of the server, for the sake of convenience).
Since blacklisting simply means that spamfiltering and similar tools will block your mails, a non-blacklisted server will not be the cause of your issue with contact forms.
In short, if your server is not blacklisted, then the mail servers on your own and external servers are not blocking mail delivery and/or the receiving of mails.
Fourth, the potential issue of blocking firewalls: well, this is rather exceptional, so we will exclude this potential cause.
In conclusion, I am pretty sure that activation of "Allow scripts and users to use Sendmail" will resolve your issue.
Nevertheless, it is not wise to have mail scripts allowed, since it makes you vulnerable to spamming scripts (often resulting in nasty consequences).
It is adviceable to have all applications connected to a mail server, in order to (only) allow mail sending via SMTP (with authentication and incoming and outgoing spamfiltering).
For instance, when using WordPress, just try to add a convenient SMTP plugin.
Anyway, hope the above helps!
Regards....
Facebook
Twitter
