Using Rules to Filter Entourage Messages and Spam

Is your inbox getting filled with [SPAM] messages?

Many of the message management functions available in Entourage can be easily accomplished with the use of rules. Rules can perform a variety of actions on a message, e.g., changing the importance level, automatic filing into other mail folders, or even automatic deletion.

Table of Contents

• Getting Started - find something unique about the message
• Examples
  • Transferring to a Mail Folder Based on Subject - good for filtering mailing list messages
  • Changing Importance Based on Sender - mark some mail as important, based on the sender
  • Filtering Based on Customized Headers - bulk e-mail filtering
• Filtering SPAM

Getting Started

You first need to determine something unique about the messages from the list or sender that will allow the messages to be filtered out while leaving the rest of your mail intact. This might something in the subject, a unique sender, something in the body of the message, or a customized header.

Note On Deleting Messages: Even the most thoroughly thought-out filter can fail due to any number of unforseen variables. We do not recommend creating a filter to automatically delete messages.

Examples

Transferring to a Mail Folder Based on Subject

A few months ago you subscribed to the mailing list Earth-Info. At first the list wasn't getting a lot of traffic, but a recent Newsweek article has drawn a lot of attention and membership is booming. You still find all of the information on the list useful, so you don't want to unsubscribe, but the dozens of messages you receive in a day makes it difficult to get thru your more important e-mail. It would be a lot easier if you could have these messages automatically delivered to a separate folder rather than to the Inbox so that you can view them at your leisure.

Entourage's "Rules" functions can accomplish this. You first need to determine something unique about the messages from this list that will allow them to be filtered out while leaving the rest of your mail intact. This mailing list includes the text "[earth-info]" in the subject line of every message.

1. Select Tools | Rules.
2. Click to select "Mail (Exchange)".
3. Click the New button.

   

4. Enter a Rule name, e.g., FILTERSPAM
5. Select Subject from the "All messages" pull-down menu.
6. Type the text to search for—in this example [SPAM] in the field after "Contains".
7. Select Move message from the "Change status" pull-down menu.
8. Select an existing folder or create a new one by selecting Choose folder | New folder | folder name [Earth-Info iin this example] | OK |Choose .
9. Click OK.

Changing the Importance Based on Sender

Lately you've been receiving several dozen messages per day. All of it is important, of course, but you've been expecting something of the utmost importance from your research collaborator Philip Jackson < >. When his message comes in, you don't want it to get lost in a sea of unrelated e-mail—you want to see it immediately.

Entourage's message rules can make an important message stand out. If you set a message as highest priority, a red exclamation mark (!) appears off to the side of the message.

We already know something about Philip's messages that are unique to him—his "From:" address. His "From:" address always displays as:

From: Philip Jackson < >

You can easily set up a filter based on the sender's address: < >.

1. Select Tools | Rules.
2. Click to select "Mail (Exchange)".
3. Click the New button.
4. Enter a Rule name, e.g., Important.
5. Select From from the "All messages" pull-down menu.
6. Type the text to search for—in this example [ ] in the field after "Contains".
7. Select Change priority from the "Change status" pull-down menu.
8. Select appropriate priority from the pull-down menu.  Highest priority will mark items with a red exclamation point.  High priority will mark items with an orange exclamation point.  In our example, select "HIGHEST" from the pull-down menu.
9. Click OK.
10. Your screen should now look like Figure 2 below:
    
    

    Figure 2: Based on Sender

Filtering Based on Customized Headers

A mailing list you are subscribed to has recently been hit by a sudden surge of e-mail postings. Unfortunately, this list doesn't appear to include any way of distinguishing the messages from other mail. The subject isn't modified, the "From:" field always appears as the original sender rather than the list, and the "To:" field is always your own e-mail address.

Viewing the full headers of the message reveals something, however. (To view all of the headers, select View | Options... while reading the message.) The messages from this mailing list includes the header:

X-List-Remailer:

The following example moves all e-mail messages that contain the above header into a mail folder called "FilteredMessages".

1. Select Tools | Rules.
2. Click to select "Mail (Exchange)".
3. Click the New button.
4. Enter a Rule name, e.g., FilteredMessages.
5. Select Any header from the "All messages" pull-down menu.
6. Type the text to search for—in this example [X-List-Remailer: ] in the field after "Contains".
7. Select Move message from the "Change status" pull-down menu.
8. Select an existing folder or create a new one by selecting Choose folder | New folder | folder name [FilteredMessages in this example] | OK |Choose
9. Click OK.
10. Your screen should now look like Figure 3 below:
    
    

    Figure 3: Based on Customized Header

    
    

Filtering SPAM

Entourage offers a couple of different ways to filter SPAM mail:

• Filter your mail that has been flagged as possible SPAM by PureMessage. See Filtering Spam Flagged by PureMessage for more information.
• Use Entourage's Junk E-Mail Feature. This feature transfers possible SPAM to a "Junk E-Mail" folder. You can then look through the folder to determine if it is really SPAM or if you would like to keep it.

Using Entourage's Junk E-Mail Feature

To setup the feature, follow the steps below:

1. Choose Tools | Junk E-Mail Options.

   

2. Select the level of junk e-mail protection you wish to use.
3. Click OK to save your changes.

You should check your "Junk E-Mail" folder regularly to make sure you are not filtering messages you wish to read and also to clean it out.  Junk E-mail Protection never classifies messages from contacts in your Address Book as junk.

Adding a Sender to the Address Book

1. To quickly add a message sender to the Address Book, hold down CONTROL and click the sender's name in an open message or the Preview pane (or right-click on a message).

   

2. Click "Add Sender to Address Book."