EMAIL FILTER INFORMATION PAGE

Email filters allow you to manage and organize your messages.  For example, you can create a message filter that automatically moves incoming messages to a particular folder or deletes them before they ever reach your inbox.  Remember that these filters are only set up on your individual computer.
 

Setting up E-mail Filtering in  Netscape Version 4.79

1. Open Netscape Messenger :
2. Click on "Edit" from the toolbar and select Message Filters.
3. Select "New" A window will appear to let you edit your new filter.
4. First enter a name for your filter that you will recognize it by.
5. Now you must set-up how your filter will work. First select an option for the "if" field (the white box with the word "the" in
front of it) . This is the option that tells the filter where to look when filtering your mail (e.g. the mail's sender, subject, body,
etc.)
6. Now select how to search the "if" field by choosing one entry from the box to the right of the "if" field. (e.g. Filter mail if the
previously selected field [contains, doesn't contain, is, etc.])
7. Then select what text the filter is to search for in your previous fields. This must be typed in the empty box following your
previous selections.
8. If you wish to add more criteria to your current filter, select "more" then repeat the above process.
9. Next select how to handle the mail that is grabbed by the filter by choosing one entry from the box to the right of the word
"then". (e.g. move to folder, delete, change priority, etc.)
10. If moving it to another folder, select the folder which it should be sent to.
11. If you like you may enter a description of your filter so that you can understand what it does.
12. Finally, click "OK". This returns you to the filter screen. Your filter will now appear in the box.
13. If you wish you may select "log filter use" or view log to observe any actions that your filters have made. Initially this should
be empty since no mail has been filtered yet.
14. If you wish to turn a filter off without deleting it, click on the check mark to the right of that filter's name - the check mark
should disappear. Click on this area again if you wish to turn the filter on again - the check mark should re-appear.
15. If you wish to edit or delete any filters, highlight their name in the box and pick "edit" or "delete".
 

Setting up E-mail Filtering in  Netscape Version 6

1. Open "Mail & Newsgroups"
2. Click "Edit" from the toolbar menu and choose "Message Filters".
3. Click "New".
4. Type a name for the filter.
5. Select "Any of the following".
6. Use the drop-down lists to choose the search criteria (for example, "subject", "sender", "contains", "doesn't contain") and then type the text of phrase you want to match.
7. Click "More" to add criteria and "Fewer" to remove them.
8. Use the drop-down list to choose the action you want the filter to perform on the messages (for example, "delete").
9. Click "OK" to confirm your settings.
10. Click "OK" in the Message Filters dialog box.  The filter begins filtering incoming messages as soon as you click OK.
 

Setting up E-mail Filtering in  Netscape Version 7.0

1. Open "Mail & Newsgroups".
2. Click on the "Tools" menu and choose "Message Filters".
3. If you have multiple mail accounts, choose the one to which you want to apply the filter.
4. Click "New".
5. Type a name for the filter.
6. Select "Any of the following".
7. Use the drop-down lists to choose the search criteria (for example, "subject", "sender", "contains", "doesn't contain") and then type the text of phrase you want to match.
8. Click "More" to add criteria and "Fewer" to remove them.
9. Use the drop-down list to choose the action you want the filter to perform on the messages (for example, "delete").
10. Click "OK" to confirm your settings.
11. Click "OK" in the Message Filters dialog box.  The filter begins filtering incoming messages as soon as you click OK.
 

Setting up E-mail Filtering in Outlook Express 6.0

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Click "Tools" then select the "Message Rules" option, then select "Mail".
3. Select the conditions for the rule, for example: "where the from line contains people", " where the subject line contains specific words", etc.
4. Select the actions for your rule, for example: "move to a specific folder" or "delete it".
5. Click the blue links in the third box to give the filter the information it needs.
6. Name your rule.
7. Click "OK".
8. Click "OK" on the Message Rules window.
9. Your filter will now begin filtering all incoming email.

Last Updated July 18, 2003