PHP mail() Function

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# PHP mail() Function

Complete PHP Mail Reference

## Definition and Usage

The mail() function allows you to send emails directly from a script.

This function returns TRUE if the email was successfully accepted for delivery, otherwise it returns FALSE.

## Syntax

    mail(to,subject,message,headers,parameters)

Parameter | Description
--- | ---
to | Required. Specifies the receiver / receivers of the email
subject | Required. Specifies the subject of the email. Note: This parameter cannot contain any newline characters

message

Required. Defines the message to be sent. Each line should be separated with a LF (\n). Lines should not exceed 70 characters.

Windows note: If a full stop is found on the beginning of a line in the message, it might be removed. To solve this problem, replace the full stop with a double dot:
<?php
$txt = str_replace("\n.", "\n..", $txt);
?>

headers | Optional. Specifies additional headers, like From, Cc, and Bcc. The additional headers should be separated with a CRLF (\r\n). Note: When sending an email, it must contain a From header. This can be set with this parameter or in the php.ini file.
parameters | Optional. Specifies an additional parameter to the sendmail program (the one defined in the sendmail_path configuration setting). (i.e. this can be used to set the envelope sender address when using sendmail with the -f sendmail option)

## Tips and Notes

Note: Keep in mind that just because the email was accepted for delivery, it does NOT mean the email is actually sent and received.

## Example 1

Send a simple email:

    <?php

    $txt = "First line of text\nSecond line of text";

    // Use wordwrap() if lines are longer than 70 characters
    $txt = wordwrap($txt,70);

    // Send email
    mail("somebody@example.com","My subject",$txt);
    ?>

## Example 2

Send an email with extra headers:

    <?php

    $to = "somebody@example.com";
    $subject = "My subject";
    $txt = "Hello world!";
    $headers = "From: webmaster@example.com" . "\r\n" .
    "CC: somebodyelse@example.com";

    mail($to,$subject,$txt,$headers);
    ?>

## Example 3

Send an HTML email:

    <?php

    $to = "somebody@example.com, somebodyelse@example.com";
    $subject = "HTML email";

    $message = "
    <html>
    <head>
    <title>HTML email</title>
    </head>
    <body>
    <p>This email contains HTML Tags!</p>
    <table>
    <tr>
    <th>Firstname</th>
    <th>Lastname</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
    <td>John</td>
    <td>Doe</td>
    </tr>
    </table>
    </body>
    </html>
    ";

    // Always set content-type when sending HTML email
    $headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0" . "\r\n";
    $headers .= "Content-type:text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" . "\r\n";

    // More headers
    $headers .= 'From: <webmaster@example.com>' . "\r\n";
    $headers .= 'Cc: myboss@example.com' . "\r\n";

    mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers);
    ?>

Complete PHP Mail Reference

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