Update 06/07/08: This problem still exists in every WordPress version since I first published this post and the plugin still fixes it. Enjoy!
The upgrade to WordPress 2.3.1 may have fixed a lot of bugs that existed in the original 2.3 release but it seems that it created another rather large one. For a lot of folks who upgraded they found that they no longer received email notifications when a reader left a comment on one of their posts. And if they were running the invaluable and now standard “Subscribe to Comments” plugin, that no longer sent out email notifications either. All very frustrating to say the least especially for those trying to find answers on the WordPress forums when they turned up nada unless they knew exactly what to look for and/or knew their way around WordPress Trac.
Through a completely unrelated problem that my friend Sixty encountered when his host switched his server over to PHP 5, (which prompted me to check my profile/forum posts on the WordPress.org forums) I finally found a fix for this problem in the form of a tiny plugin from Peter Westwood (“westi”) which I’ve tested on two different WordPress blogs (one being my own and the other is Sixty’s) and it works just great. Both email notifications and comment subscription notifications are now working again. So until this shows up on the WordPress.org’s plugin directory, I’ve zipped up the plugin for download purposes for any who may need it.
Just click the link to download.
Installation is simple. Just extract the file and upload it to your wp-content/plugins directory and activate via your WP Admin’s Plugins page. All your comment email notifications should now be working again.
I highly recommend using this plugin rather than any core file hacks that are also offered in the Trac ticket link above since you would have to redo the hack every time a security release came out. Using the plugin instead means that no hack has to be done in the first place. By what I understand, this problem should be fixed in WP 2.3.2.
Hope this helps folks and thanks westi.
Note: If you install this plugin and you’re still not receiving notifications you might have to get into your hosting account’s cPanel (or the equivalent) and simply create a new email account that looks like this (without the quotes):
wordpress@(yourblogurl).com/.net/.org/.etc
That and/or the plugin should solve your problem.
Tags: features, wordpress 2.3.1, wordpress 2.5
Thanks for the plugin, it worked for me! Wordpress is now receiving mail notifications again
Thanks, the plugin worked! Super!
Hi,
I was also facing same problem.
I am sure nothing will work until you fix it in your C-panel setting.Its not Wordpress problem but its your domain localhost setting problem. Dont blame Wordpress.
Find solution here: http://annanta.com/web-world/w.....-this-fix/
Hi Kevin – Thanks for the tip and I now realize it wasn’t anyone’s particular “fault” rather than a matter of security on the host’s side of things if the site owner or, in this case, the blogging platform, purposely tied into it. WordPress did decide to add the code into the core that ties into this server based email “security measure” which is what is circumvented by this small plugin. As an example, I don’t particularly like the way my host does IMAP for their email accounts (it’s just plain sloppy) and much prefer using Gmail for all my site contacts which is why I use this Peter West’s plugin.
I’ll check my cPanel for this and see how it works. Of course not everyone’s host uses cPanel so this plugin may still have some use?
This fix did not work for me. I received the following error code: Incompatible archive PCLZIP_ERR_BAD_FORMAT (-10) : Unable to find End of Central Dir Record signature. Does anyone have another solution?
KC – This error usually indicates a conflict with another plugin that’s already called PCLZIP. I’ve tested the plugin out up to WordPress 2.8.4 and it appears to work fine (not my plugin though, custom job made by Peter Westwood).
However, when putting up a test site using version WP 2.8.4 I found I could use an email address external to the host server (Gmail address) and I received all the standard WP notifications without having to use the plugin. I haven’t asked about this on the “wptesters” list yet but it appears that the plugin is no longer needed.