Email Filters
From ITS Wiki - Information Technology Services - University of Rhode Island
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About Filters
Message filters can be created to address a variety of incoming mail conditions. For example, one filter can be used to delete all messages coming from a particular e-mail address (probable SPAM mail), another filter can be created to transfer all messages from a particluar e-mail address to a different folder (can be useful e-mail), and yet another filter can be used to flag a particular character string in the subject line of an e-mail and delete the message or transfer it to another folder for later consideration (possible SPAM).
Caution: Be very careful about the conditions you set to delete unwanted messages. To avoid the risk of inadvertently deleting useful e-mail, set your filter to move questionable mail to a particular folder (named Junk, for example) so you can look through it at a convenient time and decide whether to delete or keep the mail.
The instructions below illustrate the third condition listed above - flagging a particular character string embedded in the subject line of an e-mail. The word (character string) mortgage embedded in the subject line of incoming messages has been chosen as the SPAM mail identifier.
Eudora
1. Pull down the Tools menu and select Filters.
2. Click the New button. A filter screen appears; make sure that Incoming is checked under Match.
3. Pull down the Header field and select Subject. You will see other condition parameters in the field, such as From, To, Body, etc.
4. In the blank field to the right of contains, type mortgage; the letter case is not important.
5. Pull down the contains field; you will see other conditions such as not contain, begins with, ends with, etc.
6. Pull down the first field under Action and select Transfer To. Then pull down the field next to Action and select Trash.
7. Click the Close button (the X symbol in the upper right corner of the screen) and click Yes when prompted to Save changes to Filters?
Outlook Express
1. Pull down the Tools menu, select Message Rules, and then Mail. The New Mail Rule screen appears.
2. Check the boxes next to where the Subject line contains specific words in the Conditions field. Delete it in the Actions field. Alternatively, to prevent deleting useful messages, select Move it to the specified folder.
3. Click the link contains specific words in the Rule Description field.
4. Type mortgage; the letter case is not important. Click Add and then OK.
5. Type a name for your new rule in the Name of the rule field and click OK.
6. Click OK again to finish the dialog.
Related Links:
http://www.uri.edu/its/pdf/handout.no.42.pdf http://www.uri.edu/its/communications/filter.options.html
