Gmail Sending & From Name Woes

gmail-related problem 1: Sending via gmail using SMTP

I have a domain and email I use gmail with. I can log in to gmail through my browser of course, but I'm unable to get the Open Cart configuration to send email via SMTP. Through my searches online I've found several complaints of this issue, but none of the suggested remedies are working. I am using OC 1.5.6 and my host is JustHost.

Do I need to have a particular service level from my hosting provider in order to establish the secure connections required for SSL?

Here are the particular settings I've tried for Mail Protocol = SMTP...
Mail Parameters = tried blank and -fuser@domain.com
SMTP Host = ssl://smtp.gmail.com or smtp.gmail.com
SMTP Username = user@domain.com
SMTP Port = 465 or 587

...I've tried all 16 permutations and all result in errors:
PHP Warning: fsockopen(): unable to connect to ssl://smtp.gmail.com:465 (Connection timed out) in /home5/collecv0/public_html/store/system/library/mail.php on line 153
PHP Notice: Error: Connection timed out (110) in /home5/collecv0/public_html/store/system/library/mail.php on line 156

email problem 2: From header not in tact upon delivery

Ok, so given the above issue, I figure who cares and reconfigure to send via the Mail option. This dispatches emails just fine (localhost and I evidently need to provide the "-fuser@domain.com" Mail Parameter), however the issue is the "From" Header contains only the email address upon delivery. The name is not present, at least not in the test emails I've received in gmail or yahoo using different test email accounts.

The problem I have is that the recipient's experience is that the sender just has the sterile "user" (gmail, etc) or "user@domain.com" (yahoo, etc) listed as the From. I'd much rather it have my polished store name, which appears to be present in the Reply-To header, which is UTF-8 encoded, but complete in the header.

I've even used vQMod to hard code values, but it just seems that the Mail approach makes it not possible to navigate around this issue. Is that so? Is this perhaps a result of the "-fuser@domain.com" parameter I am providing? And if so, is there a variation possible? I tried to get creative and copy/paste the UTF-8 encoded name from a Reply-To header in to the Mail Parameter field after the "-f"... alas that did not work.


Assistance solving either of these problems would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!
-Joe

By default outgoing email "from" field would be formatted as:
Store Name <email@storename.com>

Not sure why your wouldn't be unless you have some mod interfering with mail settings. It shouldn't matter if you use php or smtp mailer.

Billy, thanks for your reply. I do not have any modifications which would be interfering with default mail code/settings. Subsequent to my post above I did also try PHPMailer with updated libraries. My experience with these issues was identical to my earlier description.

*SOLVED* I spent several hours experimenting and researching further last night while I was waiting for this post to receive admin approval. I have answers to my own questions, I'll share so this serves as a reference for others. Hopefully it saves someone else this headache.

First, my host (JustHost, reportedly same as BlueHost and several others) has these ports blocked. So regardless of proper settings, the connection cannot be made. I had a chat with them and they tried to upsell me to a higher plan. Disappointing, but I solved the second part of this issue so no longer needed, also this isn't critical enough to warrant the additional expense.

Second, when sending through localhost using the Mail option, I had to use the Mail Parameters in order to get it to send at all. Researching parameters further I discovered another possibility in the -F (capital) switch. The documentation and examples demonstrated usage in combination with the actual name to be displayed. However, after trying many unsuccessful combinations (single quotes, double quotes, various escapes), I found that just using the -F parameter alone somehow did the trick! (It's also worth mentioning that this did NOT work with PHPMailer, just the default OpenCart code.)

My working setup has the Mail Parameter value = -F -fuser@domain.com

The Store Name will now appear in the email header upon delivery, UTF-8 encoded just like the Reply-To had successfully been doing before.

Sorry to bother you Joe,

so how does now your MAIL settings look like when you are using your Gmail?

Anticipated thanx

arames wrote: so how does now your MAIL settings look like when you are using your Gmail?

JoeCart wrote: My working setup has the Mail Parameter value = -F -fuser@domain.com

For example: BTW, Mail Protocol = Mail