Test thankyou email fails

Where do I go for more debug information? There are no errors in the php log

I haven’t actually worked almost at all on the email subsystem since I adopted the plugin, so there are very few diagnostic entries dropped into the log.

Because every WordPress hosting environment is different, the built-in WordPress email capability often is somewhat unreliable.

There are plugins that use external mailing engines and substantially improve mailing reliability. Visit the Seamless Donations Plugins and Extensions page for some great, free email-helper plugins: https://zatzlabs.com/project/seamless-donations-plugins-and-extensions/.

There’s also a great video tutorial on solving this problem by WPBeginner located at https://youtu.be/GhKSg5-FskM.

–David

P.S. Marking as resolved because because this usually solves the issue.

Hi David,

I’m already using the WP-Mail-SMTP plugin and it works great for other functions. However according to your debug log, it is failing on sending. I’ve never seen this before with anything else that sends emails.

Where can I start looking for more information?

Thanks
Rob

I’ve never seen that either. Does the test email send? Also, you’re seeing that response with the null IPN log entry, which I think might be a bug. I wonder if the two are related?

P.S. Marking as unresolved because it’s not resolved.

The log I uploaded here is from when I click “send test email”.

That’s definitely odd. I haven’t seen that before. My best suggestion now is wait until 4.0.17 and see if any of the bug fixes I’m working on somehow resolve what you’re experiencing. If not, let me know and we can dig in further.

–David

I just installed Seamless Donation 4.0.16, got an SSL cert to the website and using live server to process through paypal. Donations all go through but no thank you email or donations recorded in donations page of the site. The logs are not helping. I’ve tested different emails, and no luck. All emails from other forms are working. The test thank you email is working, but I donated 2x at $1.00 each donation. All goes through paypal but no thank you email to donor or it gets recorded. The logs is pasted below.

[Seamless Donations Log Data]
2016-04-24 19:50:32 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 19:50:32 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 19:50:32 —————————————-
2016-04-24 19:50:32 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 19:50:32 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 19:50:32 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 19:50:32 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 19:52:10 —————————————-
2016-04-24 19:52:10 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 19:52:10 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 19:52:10 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 19:52:10 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 19:52:11 —————————————-
2016-04-24 19:52:11 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 19:52:11 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 19:52:11 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 19:52:11 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:52:11 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:52:11 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:52:11 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:52:11 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:52:11 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:52:12 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:52:12 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:52:12 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:52:12 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:52:12 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:52:26 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:52:26 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:52:26 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:52:26 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:52:26 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:52:26 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:52:26 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:52:26 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:52:26 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:52:26 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:52:30 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:52:30 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:52:30 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:52:30 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:52:30 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:52:30 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:52:30 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:52:30 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:52:30 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:52:30 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:49 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:49 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:49 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:49 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:49 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:49 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:49 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:49 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:49 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:49 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:52 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:52 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:52 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:52 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:52 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:52 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:52 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:52 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:52 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:52 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:56 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:56 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:56 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:56 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:56 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:56 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:56 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:56 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:56 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:56 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:59 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:59 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:59 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:59 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:59 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:55:59 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:55:59 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:55:59 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:55:59 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:55:59 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:56:40 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:56:40 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:56:40 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:56:40 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:56:40 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:56:40 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:56:40 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:56:40 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:56:40 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:56:40 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:57:10 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:57:10 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:57:10 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:57:10 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:57:10 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:57:10 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:57:10 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:57:10 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:57:10 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:57:10 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:57:11 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:57:11 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:57:11 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:57:11 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:57:11 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 20:57:11 —————————————-
2016-04-24 20:57:11 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 20:57:11 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 20:57:11 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 20:57:11 IPN processing complete.

I just did another $1.00 donation and not entry into donations page or a thank you email?

[Seamless Donations Log Data]
2016-04-24 21:41:26 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:41:26 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:41:26 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:41:26 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:41:26 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:41:48 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:41:48 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:41:48 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:41:48 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:41:48 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:41:48 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:41:48 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:41:48 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:41:48 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:41:48 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:41:49 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:41:49 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:41:49 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:41:49 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:41:49 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:41:49 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:41:49 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:41:49 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:41:49 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:41:49 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:22 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:22 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:22 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:22 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:22 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:23 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:23 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:23 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:23 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:23 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:35 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:35 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:35 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:35 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:35 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:35 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:35 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:35 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:35 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:35 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:36 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:36 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:36 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:36 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:36 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:36 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:36 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:36 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:36 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:36 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:41 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:41 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:41 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:41 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:41 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:41 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:41 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:41 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:41 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:41 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:48 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:48 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:48 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:48 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:48 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:48 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:48 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:48 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:48 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:48 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:53 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:53 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:53 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:53 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:53 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:46:54 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:46:54 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:46:54 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:46:54 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:46:54 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:00 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:00 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:00 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:00 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:00 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:00 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:00 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:00 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:00 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:00 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:12 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:12 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:12 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:12 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:12 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:12 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:12 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:12 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:12 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:12 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:20 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:20 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:20 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:20 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:20 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:20 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:20 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:20 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:20 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:20 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:28 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:28 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:28 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:28 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:28 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:28 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:28 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:28 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:28 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:28 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:51 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:51 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:51 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:51 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:51 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:52 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:52 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:47:52 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:52 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:47:52 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:47:57 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:47:57 PREPARING DONATION FORM
2016-04-24 21:47:57 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:47:57 User browser: Firefox 45.0
2016-04-24 21:47:57 Assigning hidden field session ID to SDS01-5046974C-DEF2-6EBD-DACE-CB701AB81E20
2016-04-24 21:47:57 Form action via: external php file
2016-04-24 21:47:57 Form action: https://www.anne4alamedaschools.com/wp-content/plugins/seamless-donations/seamless-donations-payment.php
2016-04-24 21:48:38 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:48:38 DONATION TRANSACTION STARTED
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Test mode: A
2016-04-24 21:48:38 PHP Version: 5.4.45
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:48:38 User browser: Firefox 45.0
2016-04-24 21:48:38 IPN: https://www.anne4alamedaschools.com/wp-content/plugins/seamless-donations/inc/dgx-donate-paypalstd-ipn.php
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Payment process nonce b1a4b97a33 validated.
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Session ID retrieved from _POST: SDS01-5046974C-DEF2-6EBD-DACE-CB701AB81E20
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Looking for pre-existing session data (guid/audit db mode): SDS01-5046974C-DEF2-6EBD-DACE-CB701AB81E20
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Duplicate session data not found. Payment process data assembly can proceed.
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Success URL: https://www.anne4alamedaschools.com/donations/?thanks=true
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Saving transaction data using guid/audit db mode
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Name: Liza Morse
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Amount: 1
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Preparation complete. Entering PHP post code.
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Checking for repeat. REPEAT value is [].
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Computed RETURN value: 'https://www.anne4alamedaschools.com/donations/?thanks=true'
2016-04-24 21:48:38 Redirecting to PayPal… now!
2016-04-24 21:50:22 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:50:22 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:50:22 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:50:22 IPN chatback attempt via TLS…
2016-04-24 21:50:22 IPN chatback attempt completed. Checking response…
2016-04-24 21:50:22 IPN VERIFIED for session ID SDS01-5046974C-DEF2-6EBD-DACE-CB701AB81E20
2016-04-24 21:50:22 PayPal reports payment status: Pending
2016-04-24 21:50:22 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:50:30 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:50:30 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:50:30 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:50:30 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:50:30 IPN processing complete.
2016-04-24 21:50:30 —————————————-
2016-04-24 21:50:30 PROCESSING PAYPAL IPN TRANSACTION
2016-04-24 21:50:30 Seamless Donations Version: 4.0.16
2016-04-24 21:50:30 Null IPN (Empty session id). Nothing to do.
2016-04-24 21:50:30 IPN processing complete.

Let’s see if anything is fixed in 4.0.17. I didn’t do any work at all on email, but it’s possible something else helped. Certainly all the null IPN log entries will go away.

Trying to get that out tonight. Maybe.

–David

Thanks David, but it seems to be doing the same thing. The log is shorter than before however.

I tried to do some debug of the smtp plugin, but didn’t get very far. It would seem my php knowledge isn’t as good as I thought it was. I thought if I can force it into debug mode and get a log out of it then that will be helpful, but I haven’t been able to do this.

[Seamless Donations Log Data]
2016-04-26 20:52:25 Error: Could NOT send mail.
2016-04-26 20:52:25 Subject: Thank you for your donation
2016-04-26 20:52:25 To Email: [email protected]

Hi folks. Figured it out. I was doing a website for school stuff and the owner of the site did not verify her paypal. All in all. Love this plugin! Thank you!

@aura — very cool.

@rperrett — not sure what to tell you. I’d recommend trying all the helper applications at https://zatzlabs.com/project/seamless-donations-plugins-and-extensions/ and see if any work. The code just uses very basic calls, so it’s pretty much out of Seamless Donations’ hands and may be a conflict, an issue with the host, naming, or something else. Given that that code hasn’t changed for anyone in at least since I’ve had responsibility for it, it’s certainly not a universal condition.

There’s also a great video tutorial on solving this problem by WPBeginner located at https://youtu.be/GhKSg5-FskM.

Hi David,

Just checking back again, I revisited this with a different plugin. Postman SMTP has full logging support built in, including complete SMTP logging. Why I ever bothered with WP-Mail-SMTP I don’t know. Please encourage your users to switch to Postman, its so much better.

The original issue turns out that Seamless donations sends emails ‘from’ the site administrator. My smtp host doesn’t like this as its ‘spoofing’ the senders address. Fixed now. All is simple once you have the logs.

In addition, the author of Postman is awesome. We’ve talked before and he’s been incredibly helpful.

–David

P.S. The Postman logs are a hell of an idea though. Worth it for that alone.