[SOLVED] Bluehost + Google Apps + Opencart

Hi Fellow Opencart Peeps,

I'm reaching out to the OC community as I'm having an issue with sending email via the forms in Opencart while being hosted at BlueHost. The issue is we are using Google Apps for email and it appears that BlueHost blocks outgoing SMTP traffic.

We prefer that Google handle even the SMTP for us as opposed to BlueHost, however, I have yet to find a configuration that will work.

Does anyone have Google Apps for email working in Opencart while hosted on Bluehost?

I have tried the steps listed here with no success. http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?t=60422#p352049

Hi there

Have you spoken to bluehost about having port 465 allowed through it's firewall. I have a dedicated server with webhostinguk.com and they allowed it. Only problem is I have to currently stay on the 2.0.1.1 version due to email forms not working.

They won't open ports for shared accounts.

As a follow-up, we were able to get it working.

Evidently, according to BlueHost, our domain sent so many emails that we got blacklisted by their own spam filter which also handles outgoing mail from their servers.

I didn't think this was the problem because all the mail sent was only tests we were sending while trying to verify that the forms and new registered user emails we actually working and being sent. So Bluehost must have a very low threshold before they actually blacklist a domain or email address as possibly involved in spamming activities.

After several calls back and forth with BlueHost support, a level 2 support person was able to get the domain whitelisted. Which fixed our problem.

In addition, I am not using SMTP with them but rather PHP Mail. I do, however, have a fake email account setup in CPanel at BlueHost with the same address that alerts are actually sent to at Google Apps. Evidently this is a requirement based on other feedback found around the web and this forum. See http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?t=60422#p352049

For the mail parameters field, I'm using -Fuser@domain.com. No space between -F and the actual email address.
Hope this helps if you get stuck in the same bind.

Login to your Google account. Visit the address below and hit ACTIVATE.
https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps

Mail Protocol: SMTP
Mail Paremeter:
SMTP Hostname: ssl://smtp.gmail.com
SMTP Username: username@yourdomain
SMTP Password: your_password
SMTP Port: 465
SMTP Timeout: 5