PLEASE NOTE

vBulletin 3 Statement

This page is obsolete as it describes an older version of vBMS. Please refer to the current vBulletin 3 version instead.

However, if you are still using vBulletin 2, then this page accurately describes the feature set of vBMS 1, available to any vBMS license holder, including new license holders.

What is the vBulletin Mail System?

The vBulletin™ Mail System, more casually referred to as simply "Mail" or "vBMS" is a powerful webmail system that is 100% integrated with vBulletin. Its features include:

• Unlimited* folders per user in addition to the normal unsorted Inbox and Sent Messages
• Address book with unlimited entries
• Integrated with your forums' user base
• Unlimited filters to scan message senders, subjects, bodies, and headers for keywords and move and delete them accordingly.
• vB code formatting and smilies
• Use of a user's forums' signature and ability to reformat the signature for a non-Mail user.
• Template-powered user interface for better localization and visual customization
• Comparatively low query count per page
• Ability to receive e-mails that were either sent as the "To", "CC", or "BCC"
• "Alias" assigned to each user; each user does not necessarily have to be theirname@yourdomain.
• Integration with Who's Online
• Large set of admin CP options, including:
  • Restrict users from imposing as other users
  • Ways to handle HTML e-mails
  • Master switch to turn the whole system off at once
  • Aliases to ban (for example, "webmaster", "admin", etc.)
• Permissions to use the system are customizable per usergroup to easily deploy the system to specific users (for example, paying subscribers)
• Ability to show given HTML in any template when new mail is received (by default; a blinking e-mail icon in the header)
• Developed with a powerful backend API to eliminate redundancy in code, bypassing vBulletin's unwieldy functions.php
• Developed by a professional with years of actual programming experience

For the End User

Mail was designed for ease of use in mind. For example, to send an e-mail to any user of your forums, simply type in his username in the "To" textbox. Filters read just like a normal sentence; for example, If the subject of the message contains the text "myname", move it to the folder "About Me." Unread messages are clearly distinguished by a different color and formatting. When replying to a message, there is a link to view the original message in a new window, formatting and all. A miniature version of the Address Book can pop up when writing a message to add recipients easily.

For important security reasons, Mail does not support HTML e-mail. However, HTML e-mail sent to a Mail user can usually be converted to plain text, depending on the sender's mail client. HTML that can be added to your forum anywhere by an end user can ultimately result in a user completely taking control of your forums via cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in vBulletin. This is why user-entered HTML is never allowed: to protect your site from malicious hackers.

For the Administrator

Likewise, Mail is easy on the administrator: to deny a usergroup access to the mail system, simply change that permission from Yes to No in the normal vB permissions editor. To shut off the system completely for any reason, simply click one radio button in the admin CP settings. Its templates are as generalized as vB's default templates, meaning that the mail system will most likely immediately match your styles' formatting. Installing the system only requires uploading and editing some files, running a one-click install script, updating some settings, and making a few template modifications. You can be up and running in minutes!

For the Hacker

Finally, for the "hacker"** who loves to customize all the code he can touch, Mail uses a powerful API to simplify many common functions such as avoiding security breaches via HTML injection and scanning POST variables for checkboxes. The mailchecking script uses a proprietary MySQL class instead of vBulletin's relatively bulky DB_Mysql_vb class. By modifying the queries that Mail uses, the hacker can add additional information to the templates. The template cacher has been rewritten to automatically cache all Mail templates when appropriate, making the infamous $templatesused variable obsolete. Filters are powered by an object-orientated class and takes five steps to create new ones.

* note that "unlimited" anywhere in the features list is not to be taken literally but usually means no quota or a maximum of around one hundred million.
** hacking, in this context, refers to the benign editing of the underlying code to add new features, not any malicious use of the system. Hacked Mail installations are not supported.

System Requirements:

To test all of these system requirements except for the last two, download vmstest.zip, extract and upload the included vmstest.php to your forums' admin directory, and open it in your browser. It will inform you if you can run Mail or will tell you specifically what needs to be resolved before you can install it. Most of the common problems are due to old versions of software than can usually be easily remedied by just asking your host to upgrade.

• vBulletin 2.2.x or 2.3.x (see top of page for vB3 information)
  2.3.0 or later recommended
• PHP 4.2.0 or later with the imap extension
  4.3.1 or later recommended.
• MySQL 3.23.49 or later, or MySQL 4.0.12 or later
  Earlier versions of MySQL 4.0.x contained table corruption problems, so please ask your host to stay up-to-date.
• MySQL "CREATE" and "ALTER" permissions
  For the technical people: four tables will be added to your vBulletin database and two will be altered. The permissions will be needed for the user defined in vB's config.php.
• A POP3 "catch-all" e-mail account
  This is an account to which all e-mails that do not have a corresponding POP3 account are routed. Ask your host if you do not understand this.
• Ability to add PHP scripts to cron jobs
  Most hosts allow this. If you are not sure, ask your host; be sure to specifically mention "cron PHP scripts via the php executable" and not just "run cron jobs."

It is your responsibility to check your system requirements before you buy. Due to the software nature of the vBulletin Mail System, refunds cannot be offered to curb piracy.

The vBulletin Mail System is copyright © 2003 - 2004 Arien "filburt1" Talabac; vBulletin is a non-registered trademark of Jelsoft Enterprises Limited. vBulletin Mail System is a non-registered trademark of Arien Talabac. Unauthorized reproduction or use will be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law and constitutes a felony under United States law. Legal action will be persued against those who unlawfully use or distrute vBMS.