ezmlm_hash()
Today, we will discuss the ezmlm_hash() function in PHP. This function is used to generate a hash value for use with the EZMLM mailing list software.
⚠️ Deprecated/Removed: The
ezmlm_hash()function was removed in PHP 7.0.0. Using it on modern PHP versions will result in a fatal error. This guide is provided for legacy maintenance only.
Today, we will discuss the ezmlm_hash() function in PHP. This function was used to generate a hash value for use with the EZMLM mailing list software.
What is the ezmlm_hash() Function?
The ezmlm_hash() function was a built-in PHP function used to generate a hash value for the EZMLM mailing list software. It takes an email address as input and returns a 32-bit integer that can be used as a subscriber ID for EZMLM mailing lists.
How to Use the ezmlm_hash() Function
Using the ezmlm_hash() function in PHP is straightforward. Here is an example of how it was used:
How to Use the ezmlm_hash() Function in PHP?
<?php
$email = '[email protected]';
// Generate the hash value using the ezmlm_hash() function
$hash = ezmlm_hash($email);
// Output the hash value
echo $hash;
?>In this example, we set the email address as a variable. We then call the ezmlm_hash() function with the email address as a parameter to generate the hash value. Finally, we output the hash value to the screen.
Note: This code will only run on PHP 5.x. On PHP 7.0+, it will throw a
Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function ezmlm_hash().
Why Was ezmlm_hash() Removed?
EZMLM (Easy Mailing List Manager) used a specific hashing scheme to map subscriber email addresses to internal IDs. The PHP function existed only to reproduce that one algorithm so PHP scripts could integrate with EZMLM directly.
It was removed in PHP 7.0.0 for two reasons: the EZMLM project itself fell out of common use, and the function had no purpose outside that single niche. The PHP core team removes single-purpose functions like this to keep the language surface small and maintainable.
What to Use Instead
If you are not specifically tied to EZMLM, you almost never want this function. For general-purpose hashing, PHP offers maintained alternatives:
md5()— produce a 32-character hex hash of a string (fine for checksums and identifiers, not for passwords).hash()family — modern, algorithm-agnostic hashing (hash('sha256', $email)).crypt()— one-way string hashing for legacy password storage.
For sending mail from PHP, see the mail() function.
If you must keep an EZMLM integration alive, the original algorithm is short and can be reimplemented in pure PHP — it computes a checksum over the lowercased email and reduces it to a 32-bit integer.
Conclusion
The ezmlm_hash() function was a practical tool for legacy EZMLM mailing list integrations, but it was removed in PHP 7.0.0 and exists only in PHP 5.x. If you are maintaining an old PHP 5 project that talks to EZMLM, the function is still available there. For everything else, reach for a maintained hashing function such as md5() or hash(), and migrate EZMLM-specific logic to a current mailing list platform when you can.