PHP mail() Function
Example
Send a simple email:
<?php
// the message
$msg = "First line of text\nSecond line of text";
// use wordwrap() if lines are longer than 70 characters
$msg = wordwrap($msg,70);
// send email
mail("someone@example.com","My subject",$msg);
?>
Definition and Usage
The mail() function allows you to send emails directly from a script.
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: |
| 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) |
Technical Details
| Return Value: | Returns the hash value of the address parameter, or FALSE on failure. Note: Keep in mind that even if the email was accepted for delivery, it does NOT mean the email is actually sent and received! |
|---|---|
| PHP Version: | 4+ |
| PHP Changelog: | PHP 4.3.0: (Windows only) All custom headers (like From, Cc, Bcc and Date) are supported, and are not case-sensitive. PHP 4.2.3: The parameter parameter is disabled in safe mode PHP 4.0.5: The parameter parameter was added |
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=UTF-8" . "\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
