send mail fails when I add a new user

Two difficulties. My main issue is 1. I'll probably have to use a different email method.

1. When I attempt to add a new user, I get the error below.

2. FYI -- The record for that user is saved, but it is not functional. When I try to login with that user ID, the password never matches. Perhaps the error in (1) caused the record to be partially saved, without a password?

*

The error message from (1) is:

#0 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Zend/Mail/Transport/Abstract.php(348): Zend_Mail_Transport_Sendmail->_sendMail()
#1 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Zend/Mail.php(1194): Zend_Mail_Transport_Abstract->send(Object(Zend_Mail))
#2 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/controllers/UsersController.php(309): Zend_Mail->send()
#3 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/controllers/UsersController.php(188): UsersController->sendActivationEmail(Object(User))
#4 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Action.php(516): UsersController->addAction()
#5 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Dispatcher/Standard.php(295): Zend_Controller_Action->dispatch('addAction')
#6 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Front.php(954): Zend_Controller_Dispatcher_Standard->dispatch(Object(Zend_Controller_Request_Http), Object(Zend_Controller_Response_Http))
#7 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Zend/Application/Bootstrap/Bootstrap.php(97): Zend_Controller_Front->dispatch()
#8 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Zend/Application.php(366): Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrap->run()
#9 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/application/libraries/Omeka/Core.php(165): Zend_Application->run()
#10 /home/gatordav/public_html/omeka/admin/index.php(44): Omeka_Core->run()
#11 {main}

This looks like something on the server does not have email set up correctly. Given the trials and tribulations you've had with other server issues, that's my first guess. But, there are some things to try.

Omeka uses Sendmail as the default way to send emails. I usually see this problem on servers where Sendmail hasn't been installed, so that might be the first thing to check. If it turns out that there is a different email mechanism installed on your server, that can be set up in the /application/config/config.ini file, starting around line 170. Your server admins should be able to fill in what's needed if they have a different email mechanism set up.

As for problem #2, that might be much easier. By default, when a new user is created, it is not yet marked as active. After you create the user, go back to edit the user and look for the "active" checkbox. Hopefully, that's all that will be needed.

HTH

Thanks, Patrick! Problems solved.

Problem: When I added a new account, I got errors sayiing that email could not be sent.
Remedy: Change the default email method from sendmail (which is not active on my server) to SMTP. Per John's instructions:

http://omeka.org/forums/topic/smtp-email-for-contribute-plugin

Problem: When I added a new account, I could not log in with the credentials.
Remedy: Open the new account. Select the Active checkbox for the account. New accounts are inactive by default.

Glad to hear you've gotten things working (again), but let me make one little correction:

Problem: When I added a new account, I could not log in with the credentials.
Remedy: Open the new account. Select the Active checkbox for the account. New accounts are inactive by default.

While it's technically true that new accounts are inactive by default, when everything's working correctly this doesn't really matter.

What normally happens when you add a user is that they get an email with a link allowing them to set their password. When a new user sets their password through this link, they get set as active at the same time.

The only time you'll need to manually set a new user as active is when there was some problem with the initial email and you're manually setting the user's password for them.