error in sending Contribution Statements

[bjwhitson]

Hi all,
I've looked at the other topics with an error sending contribution statements and haven't seen this particular error. So here goes my question - I'm trying to send 3rd qtr statements thru my home computer. I've done this numerous times with no issues. I am current on MR updates. I'm running version 11.5.

When I got thru the steps to send the reports I get the following error message
"A problem occurred in connecting to the SMTP server prior to sending the emails.
Error in Socket Connect
Time out"

I have never had this problem and have not changed any email setting in MS Outlook recently.

Any suggestions where to look first?

Betsy

[NeilZ]

Hi all,
I've looked at the other topics with an error sending contribution statements and haven't seen this particular error. So here goes my question - I'm trying to send 3rd qtr statements thru my home computer. I've done this numerous times with no issues. I am current on MR updates. I'm running version 11.5.

When I got thru the steps to send the reports I get the following error message
"A problem occurred in connecting to the SMTP server prior to sending the emails.
Error in Socket Connect
Time out"

I have never had this problem and have not changed any email setting in MS Outlook recently.

Any suggestions where to look first?

Betsy

This has nothing to do with Outlook, and everything to do with how you have the Powerchurch email settings set.

Take a look at those settings in the File -> Preferences. If you're using your home computer, are you trying to connect to the SMTP server that the church uses? If so, does that server use secure connections? If so, you need to reflect that in the Powerchurch email settings.

We'll need more info on the following:

What email address are you using for the FROM address? Are you using the correct email log in ?? Is the SMTP server the one used by the church?

[bjwhitson]

Hi Neil,
You've always answered my questions before so I hope we can get this one resolved!

A couple of comments -
1. I haven't changed any setting in the File-> Preferences in weeks
2. I'm sending emails from home so there is no server.
3. When I send emails from the office computer, that computer serves as a server - the other 2 computers have access to the database through my computer.
4. I log into the program the same way at home or the office - as the System Administrator. The email address is contact@domain.org, which it has been for years.
5. the Outgoing email server (smtp) is mail.bellsouth.net. The outgoing email server box is not checked and there is no user name or password entered.

All that to say, I'm not really sure what I should be looking for. I"ve downloaded the current Maintenance Release also.
Betsy

[tborgal]

Betsy,
I am not here to answer your question but to give some advise. It is not a very good idea to include email address in your posts. I would edit your post and remove the address as soon as you can.

[bjwhitson]

Thanks, Tom,
I just changed it
BJW

[NeilZ]

Hi Neil,
You've always answered my questions before so I hope we can get this one resolved!

A couple of comments -
1. I haven't changed any setting in the File-> Preferences in weeks
2. I'm sending emails from home so there is no server.
3. When I send emails from the office computer, that computer serves as a server - the other 2 computers have access to the database through my computer.
4. I log into the program the same way at home or the office - as the System Administrator. The email address is contact@domain.org, which it has been for years.
5. the Outgoing email server (smtp) is mail.bellsouth.net. The outgoing email server box is not checked and there is no user name or password entered.

All that to say, I'm not really sure what I should be looking for. I"ve downloaded the current Maintenance Release also.
Betsy

Have you sent emails using Powerchurch from home before ?
Is the email setup in Powerchurch the same as that used in Outlook. Powerchurch does need a userid and password to connect to the SMTP server or else the server has no idea who is trying to send out emails, and would consider someone trying to access in such a way a Spammer .

[bjwhitson]

I've sent emails from home for years. I almost never go into Preferences to change anything.
I tried again sending the statements from church and got an error a message as the system tried to send every one of the 50+ statements. I didn't write it down to have at home but it was something like Authentication failed. I tried to replicate it at home to no avail.
BJW

[bjwhitson]

I found my notes when I tried to resend the statements from the church office. The system tried to send every envelope number, but each got this error message "530 5.7.1 Authentication failed"

[NeilZ]

I found my notes when I tried to resend the statements from the church office. The system tried to send every envelope number, but each got this error message "530 5.7.1 Authentication failed"

That's saying that the ISP requires a login/authentication. Who is your ISP, and while I don't need your full email address, I do need the part after the @ ..

[bjwhitson]

It's @bellsouth.net

[bjwhitson]

ISP is AT&T

[NeilZ]

It's @bellsouth.net

According to the data that AT&T has here, http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp ... 570&cv=804, your SMTP settings should be:

outbound.att.net:465, with SSL set as the security protocol, and the login would be youremail@bellsouth.net with your password.

There is a way to test the connection in Powerchurch, and I would verify these settings, then do the test.

Neil

[bjwhitson]

Thanks, Neil,
I verified those settings and even checked my Outlook setting - the outgoing email server is "outbound.att.net" The port "465" is found on another page.

Here's what my System Setup Options - Email tab looks like -
Email address - myemail@churchdomain.org
Display Name - My Title
Outgoing email server (smtp) - outbound.att.net
Outgoing email requires authentication - checked
User name - my email@bellsouth.net
Password - (the one I use when I sign in to email on the att.net web page-not on PowerChurch)
security - SSL is checked. Validate certificates is checked
I clicked on the "test" button and got this error message - "error within Socket Connect:Server certificate validation failed."

I unchecked the Validate Certificate and clicked "test" and got the message "A successful connection was made." Good result!

Then I went back to the Contribution module, Reports and tried to send an individual report to myself. My personal profile has the "email Contribution Statement" box checked. When I go thru the Report selections and select "email statements" at the end, I get a error message that reads" No valid email addresses with "Email Contribution Statements" enabled were found for this envelope."

I went back and selected another envelope number that also has the "Email Contribution Statement" box checked. When I go thru the steps again to send an individual statement, the report is created but the error message on the report simply says "failed".

Thanks for your help in trying to get this resolved. I'm just not really sure what else to try.
Betsy

[NeilZ]

See below ..

Thanks, Neil,
I verified those settings and even checked my Outlook setting - the outgoing email server is "outbound.att.net" The port "465" is found on another page.

Here's what my System Setup Options - Email tab looks like -
Email address - myemail@churchdomain.org
Display Name - My Title
Outgoing email server (smtp) - outbound.att.net

this is supposed to read in Powerchurch setup : outbound.att.net:465

Outgoing email requires authentication - checked
User name - my email@bellsouth.net

Why are you not using the church email address here ?? If its using the same ISP/Email system you should use that church email as the log in. If the church is using a different ISP, then you should be using that ISP to send the emails, not AT&T.

Password - (the one I use when I sign in to email on the att.net web page-not on PowerChurch)
security - SSL is checked. Validate certificates is checked
I clicked on the "test" button and got this error message - "error within Socket Connect:Server certificate validation failed."

I unchecked the Validate Certificate and clicked "test" and got the message "A successful connection was made." Good result!

This is interesting as the system did not have the correct port number, but if it works.

Then I went back to the Contribution module, Reports and tried to send an individual report to myself. My personal profile has the "email Contribution Statement" box checked. When I go thru the Report selections and select "email statements" at the end, I get a error message that reads" No valid email addresses with "Email Contribution Statements" enabled were found for this envelope."

OK, I'm going to ask the obvious. Is an email address attached to the person's personal profile on the CONTACT tab of the profile?

I went back and selected another envelope number that also has the "Email Contribution Statement" box checked. When I go thru the steps again to send an individual statement, the report is created but the error message on the report simply says "failed".

Thanks for your help in trying to get this resolved. I'm just not really sure what else to try.
Betsy

[bjwhitson]

The "myemail@churchdomain.org" is an alias that maps to the "myemail@bellsouth.net". I use them interchangeably.
When I use the "Myemail@bellsouth.net" address with the password that I use to log into the webmail, I get the "A successful connection was made." message.

When I change the user name from "myeamail@bellsouth.net" to "myemail@churchdomain.org", I get an error message that says -
"Error within Authenticate.
SMTP authentication failed after sending password.
Check your username/password or your SMTP server's auth settings.

And yes, the Contact page of the member's profile has a valid email address and contributions that have posted this year so there is something to select.
BJW