Ive tried everything i can think of, my host says its the code im using....but for some reason i cant get emails to go to any hotmail email addresses, could someone post up some code that they use to send emails that works to all providors so that my host cannot claim it is the code im using.

Im using the PHP mail() function

Thanks

Tom

If it works to other providers, it isn't your code.

Check your junk mail folder. Hotmail/Yahoo!/Almost Online's mail filters tend to be somewhat "aggressive" (read: they kill legit stuff at times.) That's where I find 99.9% of issues.

just trying to see if there is any headers im missing etc. or anything i can do to try get throuhg that hotmail spam filter...its not even going to junk!

Are you sending in bulk? If so Hotmail and the like can mark your emails as spam if you hit them with x emails per hour...

That can be it.

Other possibilities:

Images (spammers hide tracking code in images).
Words (certain words may seem to be spammy...send a slightly different message to the same account to see if it gets through.)
HTML vs. plain text (that can often be a biggie).

That's about all that I can think of off the top of my head.

It is bulk messages, I have a msn, hotmail, gmail, yahoo invite script, that my users can use to tell people about the site.....personalised message etc, but no matter what i do, its just not getting through.

That's the problem with invite scripts. They weren't generated by the owner of the account. The owner of the account didn't agree to receive the email. They're nothing more than quasi-legal spam when it comes right down to it.

Going along with Adam's thoughts, it sounds like what you want is for me to go to your site, look around a while, and then think "Adam would love this!" and for there to be a way for me to send Adam an email through your site to invite him?

The problem is, it's becomming common for people to use this as a spam tool. If I don't like someone and have their email address, I can sign then up for all kinds of automated stuff, "recommend" things to them, and with 20 minutes work on my part they can have 50 or 100 spam emails clogging their inbox. This is just making freemail providers more aggressive with their spam filters. And if your code works against yahoo but not hotmail, then the problem isn't your code, and this is basically out of your hands.

On the other hand, if I ever do come across something cool and want to tell Adam about it, it's just as easy for me to send the guy an email on my own. Actually, I don't have his email address, but I could PM him "Hey have a look at X!"

what the script actually does is sends 1 email, to the people on their list that they check....we dont send anything after that, we dont store any details etc. its just 1 email that the user chooses who it goes to and personalises the message

It doesn't really matter whether you store the details or not - the gate keeper at hotmail doesn't know about this.

Exactly. You can have good intentions (and you probably do), but how does Hotmail know what your intentions are and how can they distinguish your intentions vs. those of say Bob the spammer who uses the same type of script for a spammy reason in an automated manner?

We get what you're trying to do. But we're not the ones who really need to understand it. Hotmail is, and they're pretty finicky.

Personally, I'd suggest a workaround of some sort (asking people to use alternate email accounts, etc.)

Sorry...just thought of something else I'd like to add to this.

One of the inherent problems with a script like this is that it can be manipulated by spammers, even though the script is on your site. Because the message can be personalized, it would be all too easy for a spammer to change the words around to plug Viagra, gambling, porn, whatever. Of course, when it gets sent to Mr./Ms Innocent Bystander, you're the one left holding the bag and the spammer gets off scot-free.

Just something to think about.

Right the script doesnt send the emails from a email address related to my domain it sends it from whoever is sending the emails, it imports their contact list....not a list that they specifiy, so they enter their msn login details it gets their msn list.....and sends an email from them. so its unlikley to be manipulated by spammers, as i think its unlikley they would add a few 1000 emails addresses to their msn contact list, theres much easyer ways to send bulk email.

Its basically there to save the user time when telling friends.

This same problem is also causing me problems because we send a confirmation email, much like most sites do, but this is also doing the same thing.

What steps can i take to get the emails past hotmails spam filters?

Originally Posted by tomp

What steps can i take to get the emails past hotmails spam filters?

A meeting with Bill Gates and a suitcase filled with $100 bills.

If lobbying hotmail's owner for an exception for your site isn't something you're prepared to do, then there really are no other steps you can take to accomplish this. Realistically.

and sends an email from them

And this is part of the problem.

Your mail server cannot have a reverse DNS lookup for their hostname, so even if the recipient has allowed the sender it could still be blocked.