using the mail function to send multiple emails

[sim_pack]

hello all.

i have this simple script to send emails to my subscribers. i've broken the sending into 20 emails per batch to get around getting a timeout error in my browser. without bias from using PEAR in sending multiple emails, any comments to improve the code will be appreciated. thank you.

<?php 
include("user_functions.php"); 
include("connection.php");     // connects to MySQL database 
$allsent = false;            // flag to signal that message has been sent to all subscribers 
$subject = "email subject"; 
$message = "Content of the Email message."; 
$headers = "From: [e-mail]"; 

// send email 20 at a time 
$query = "SELECT * FROM email_database WHERE sent != 1 LIMIT 20"; 
$result = mysql_query($query, $conn); 
if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) { 
    while ($rows = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) { 
        mail ($rows['email'], $subject, $message, $headers);  
        $query2 = "UPDATE email_database SET sent = 1"; 
        $result2 = mysql_query($query2, $conn); 
    } 
} else { 
    $allsent = true; 
} 
include("close_connection.php");    // close the connection 
for ($i=0; $i<=1000000; $i++) { 
//delay counter 
} 
if !$allsent { 
    redirect_to( self );     // user defined function (header function) 
} 
?>

[karthik_ppts]

Post your time out error here

[twiss]

This is what the php manual says:

It is worth noting that the mail() function is not suitable for larger volumes of email in a loop. This function opens and closes an SMTP socket for each email, which is not very efficient.

For the sending of large amounts of email, see the » PEAR::Mail, and » PEAR::Mail_Queue packages.

[twiss]

By the way, is it correct that the subject and body are the same for every mail? If so, use BCC to send them all at the same time.

[vibhaJ]

better to use BCC.
It may because of execution time.
Use below function for overcoming time limit.

set_time_limit(0);

[sim_pack]

By the way, is it correct that the subject and body are the same for every mail? If so, use BCC to send them all at the same time.

if i use BCC, wouldn't the emails be sent to the spam folder instead of all the recipient's inboxes?

[twiss]

Generally, it shouldn't be possible to penalize the use of bcc. In any case, if your mail contains real text or information, it will not get in the spam folder. Also read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_carbon_copy#Visibility

[sim_pack]

picked up a lot from your all your posts. thank you for your time and effort.

[asimshahiddIT]

Check your php.ini setting max_execution_time and other time_out setting.