Call Mail System via PHP

Objective of the Tutorial

Note: This tutorial is aimed at developers and shows how to directly call the integrated mail system of the bluetronix CMS via PHP.

The bluetronix CMS provides central PHP functions for sending emails.

This means that SMTP connections, mail accounts, and basic sending functions do not need to be reprogrammed for each individual PHP script.

The following function is available for direct email and newsletter sending:

BlueSMTPMail($MailType,$MailAccount,$SMTPType,$From,$To,$NewsletterTo,$Subject,$TextContent,$HTMLContent,$Attachments,$EmbedImages,$MailPlaceholderReplacement,$FormEntry);

Additionally, the following function is available for sending form emails:

BlueFormSend($SMTPType,$SendMail,$SendSubject,$CopyToCustomer,$TextToCustomer,$FormArchive,$FormID,$SendTo);

BlueSMTPMail()

With BlueSMTPMail(), standard emails and newsletters can be sent through the central mail system of the bluetronix CMS.

The function call is:

BlueSMTPMail(
   $MailType,
   $MailAccount,
   $SMTPType,
   $From,
   $To,
   $NewsletterTo,
   $Subject,
   $TextContent,
   $HTMLContent,
   $Attachments,
   $EmbedImages,
   $MailPlaceholderReplacement,
   $FormEntry
);

$MailType

Determines which type of email should be sent.

Possible values:

Mail
Newsletter

Example:

$MailType = "Mail";

or:

$MailType = "Newsletter";

$MailAccount

$MailAccount determines the email account whose SMTP settings will be used.

This value loads the corresponding SMTP configuration data from the CMS database tables.

Which configuration is used additionally depends on $SMTPType.

$SMTPType

Determines whether an internal or external email account is used.

Possible values:

Intern
Extern

Internal

When:

$SMTPType = "Intern";

an email account is used that has been set up directly in the bluetronix CMS.

The accounts are located at:

Email → Accounts

The sender address used under $From must be present as an account there.

External

When:

$SMTPType = "Extern";

uses external SMTP access data.

These are managed in the CMS under:

Email → Server - Extern

The sender address used under $From must be properly configured there.

The sender address used in $From must be configured accordingly.

$From

Contains the email address of the sender.

Example:

$From = "info@example.com";

The email address must match the selected SMTP configuration.

$To

Contains the email address of the recipient of a regular email.

Example:

$To = "customer@example.com";

In a regular email send, this variable is used as the recipient.

$NewsletterTo

$NewsletterTo is used for sending newsletters.

The variable contains multiple email addresses as text. Each email address is separated by a line break.

Example:

$NewsletterTo = "customer1@example.com\ncustomer2@example.com\ncustomer3@example.com";

$Subject

Contains the subject of the email.

Example:

$Subject = "Welcome to our website";

$TextContent

Contains the plain text part of the email.

This part can be used by email programs that do not display HTML emails.

Example:

$TextContent = "Thank you for your request.";

$HTMLContent

Contains the HTML part of the email.

Example:

$HTMLContent = "<h1>Thank you</h1><p>Thank you for your request.</p>";

This allows formatted emails to be sent with headings, texts, links, images, and other HTML elements.

$Attachments

Files can be attached to the email using $Attachments.

The files are specified by their path within the website.

Example:

$Attachments = "/bx_doc/Intro.pdf";

For multiple attachments, the individual file paths are separated by a line break.

Example:

$Attachments = "/bx_doc/Intro.pdf\n/bx_doc/PriceList.pdf";

$EmbedImages

With $EmbedImages, it can be specified whether images should be embedded directly in the email.

Example:

$EmbedImages = "ja";

If the option is enabled, the images used within the HTML email are integrated directly into the email and not only loaded via external URLs.

This allows the images to be directly available within the email for the recipient without needing to be loaded separately from the web server.

$MailPlaceholderReplacement

With $MailPlaceholderReplacement, placeholders within:

$TextContent
$HTMLContent

can be replaced with individual values.

The principle is:

Search
   ↓
Replace

This allows for personalized content to be generated within an email.

Typical use cases are:

• Name des Empfängers
• Kundennummer
• Bestellnummer
• individuelle Links
• weitere dynamische Inhalte

$FormEntry

With $FormEntry, it can be specified whether the dispatch should also be saved in the form archive.

When:

$FormEntry = "JA";

an entry in the database table will also be created:

00_form

saved.

This allows the sending to be documented simultaneously as a form or archive entry.

Example: Sending a regular email

The following example sends a regular HTML and text email via an internal mail account.

$MailType                  = "Mail";
$MailAccount               = "info@example.com";
$SMTPType                  = "Intern";
$From                      = "info@example.com";
$To                        = "customer@example.com";
$NewsletterTo              = "";
$Subject                   = "Your request";
$TextContent               = "Thank you for your request.";
$HTMLContent               = "<h1>Thank you</h1><p>Thank you for your request.</p>";
$Attachments               = "/bx_doc/Intro.pdf";
$EmbedImages               = "ja";
$MailPlaceholderReplacement = "";
$FormEntry                 = "NEIN";

BlueSMTPMail($MailType,$MailAccount,$SMTPType,$From,$To,$NewsletterTo,$Subject,$TextContent,$HTMLContent,$Attachments,$EmbedImages,$MailPlaceholderReplacement,$FormEntry);

The simplified procedure is as follows:

PHP
   ↓
BlueSMTPMail()
   ↓
internen Mail-Account laden
   ↓
SMTP-Verbindung verwenden
   ↓
E-Mail erzeugen
   ↓
E-Mail versenden
   ↓
MailCache-Eintrag erzeugen

Example: Sending a newsletter

For a newsletter, set $MailType to:

Newsletter

.

The recipients are then passed via $NewsletterTo.

$MailType                  = "Newsletter";
$MailAccount               = "newsletter@example.com";
$SMTPType                  = "Intern";
$From                      = "newsletter@example.com";
$To                        = "";
$NewsletterTo              = "customer1@example.com\ncustomer2@example.com\ncustomer3@example.com";
$Subject                   = "Our latest news";
$TextContent               = "Discover our latest news and products.";
$HTMLContent               = "<h1>Our latest news</h1><p>Discover our latest news and products.</p>";
$Attachments               = "";
$EmbedImages               = "ja";
$MailPlaceholderReplacement = "";
$FormEntry                 = "NEIN";

BlueSMTPMail($MailType,$MailAccount,$SMTPType,$From,$To,$NewsletterTo,$Subject,$TextContent,$HTMLContent,$Attachments,$EmbedImages,$MailPlaceholderReplacement,$FormEntry);

The individual newsletter recipients are separated by line breaks within $NewsletterTo.

Use external SMTP connection

If an external mail server is to be used, then:

$SMTPType = "Extern";

.

The SMTP access data must be set up beforehand at:

Email → Server - Extern

.

Example:

$SMTPType    = "Extern";
$From        = "mail@external-domain.com";
$MailAccount = "mail@external-domain.com";

BlueFormSend()

In addition to direct email sending, the function is available:

BlueFormSend($SMTPType,$SendMail,$SendSubject,$CopyToCustomer,$TextToCustomer,$FormArchive,$FormID,$SendTo);

.

This function is specifically intended for email sending in connection with CMS forms.

The variables are already fully in English.

Parameters of BlueFormSend()

MailCache

Each call to BlueSMTPMail() additionally creates an entry in the database table:

00_MailCache

This table can be used to track the status of the email sending.

It can be checked there, for example, whether an email was successfully processed or sent.

The MailCache entries are for:

1 Woche

saved.

Typical process of mail sending

PHP-Skript
   ↓
BlueSMTPMail()
   ↓
MailType prüfen
   ↓
MailAccount auswählen
   ↓
SMTPType prüfen
   ↓
SMTP-Konfiguration laden
   ↓
Empfänger bestimmen
   ↓
Text- und HTML-Inhalt erstellen
   ↓
Platzhalter ersetzen
   ↓
Anhänge hinzufügen
   ↓
Bilder gegebenenfalls einbetten
   ↓
E-Mail versenden
   ↓
00_MailCache aktualisieren
   ↓
optional 00_form speichern

Overview of BlueSMTPMail parameters

Zusammenfassung

The central mail system of the bluetronix CMS can be called directly from your own PHP code.

Für normalen E-Mail- und Newsletter-Versand wird verwendet:

BlueSMTPMail($MailType,$MailAccount,$SMTPType,$From,$To,$NewsletterTo,$Subject,$TextContent,$HTMLContent,$Attachments,$EmbedImages,$MailPlaceholderReplacement,$FormEntry);

For CMS forms, the following is also available:

Internal
→ Email → Accounts

or:

Every email sent is also tracked via:

This allows developers to use the existing mail system of the bluetronix CMS directly from their PHP scripts without having to implement the complete SMTP logic themselves.

What functions does the central mail system provide for PHP?

For regular emails and newsletters, you use BlueSMTPMail(). For sending in connection with CMS forms, BlueFormSend() is also available.

Where can I find the internal email accounts?

Internal mail accounts are set up under Email → Accounts. For their sending, set $SMTPType to Intern. The sender address must belong to a configured account.

How do I use an external SMTP server?

Set up the access data under Email → Server - External and use $SMTPType = "External";. The sender address must match the chosen configuration.

What is the difference between mail and newsletter?

]}

BlueFormSend($SMTPType,$SendMail,$SendSubject,$CopyToCustomer,$TextToCustomer,$FormArchive,$FormID,$SendTo);

Die SMTP-Konfiguration kann entweder über:Intern → Email → Accounts or:

Extern
→ Email → Server - Extern

erfolgen.Every email sent will also go through:

00_MailCache

protokolliert. Die entsprechenden Cache-Einträge bleiben eine Woche erhalten.This allows developers to use the existing mail system of the bluetronix CMS directly from their own PHP scripts without having to implement the entire SMTP logic themselves.