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Auto Bounced Messages Management vBulletin Module Helps Purge Bad Email Address On Your Forum

  • August 21, 2008
  • 2 minute read
I was browsing through my mail spool on my machine, and I noticed that there were some messages in one of my accounts for a vBulletin forum. After further review, it was some bounce backs that had accumulated from users that didn’t have a valid email address. I then started to do some Google searches for a vBulletin module (vBulletin’s search is horrendous and practically useless) and found this module.

I was browsing through my mail spool on my machine, and I noticed that there were some messages in one of my accounts for a vBulletin forum. After further review, it was some bounce backs that had accumulated from users that didn’t have a valid email address.

I then started to do some Google searches for a vBulletin module (vBulletin’s search is horrendous and practically useless) and found this module.

The module works in conjunction with a POP3 account. You setup a catchall on your forums domain. A unique identifier is placed within the return path email. The message bounces and is sent to the catchall account which is forwarded to a POP3 account. A cronjob runs and accesses the POP3 account and parses the messages and action is taken on the user which is specified within the modules settings.

The module is in its BETA stages and there have been some users who just can’t seem to get it working. I’ve posted some comments on how to improve this module as a whole. I posted under another account as I have lost my vbulletin.org login.

fatal1980 fatal1980 is online now
Member

Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 33
I do have one suggestion. If a message is going to bounce properly, the messages sent from vBulletin wouldn’t even be accepted by the destination host. Typically if an email no longer exists, the message is bounced during the SMTP transaction.

Instead of your current method of verifying bounce messages. Why don’t you either re-write the vBulletin sending function or place a hook before the message is to be sent. And have a script resolve the domains mx record. Then connect to the destination mail server and confirm the message is valid. You pretty much just have to issue a HELO, MAIL FROM, and RCPT TO. You don’t even have to send a message through.

This definitely cut down the time and resources used to determine if an address is legitimate. You would obviously have to setup the pop account as well to catch mail servers that are accepting mail and then bouncing it (which is bad and shouldn’t happen).

Furthermore, the process of the bad mail addresses would happen during regular mail operations.

Thanks for the great mod.

Download Auto Bounce Messages Management from vbulletin.org.


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