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Creating Rules to deal with the spam tagged messages

Rules help you manage your email messages by automatically performing actions on messages. The types of Rules shown below are processed automatically by the server, with the exception of Entourage. Entourage rules are client-only, which means that you must be using that software for the rule to take effect.

Creating a Rule in Outlook 2002/2003

The Rules Wizard leads you through three basic steps to create a rule to manage your messages: selecting a condition, applying an action to the items that meet the condition, and entering exceptions to the condition.

  1. With the Inbox open, click the Tools menu and select Rules Wizard.... The Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  2. Click New... to start creating a new rule. The Rules Wizard displays a list of the different types of rules you can create along with a description of the rule in the Rules description box.
  3. Above the upper box, select Start from a blank rule to specify your own conditions and actions. Click Next.
  4. This dialog box displays a list of conditions that must be satisfied for the rule to be applied. Check with specific words in the subject. A description of the rule/condition appears in the lower box.
  5. Click the underlined value to edit it. The Search Text dialog box appears.
  6. Type [Spamtag in the Select words or phrases to search for in the subject: field.
  7. Click Add. The text [Spamtag will be added to the Search list:.
  8. Click OK. The underlined value now shows the text you added.
  9. Click Next.
  10. This dialog box displays a list of actions for the rule. Check move it to the specified folder. A description of the rule/action appears in the lower box.
  11. Click the underlined value to edit it. The Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  12. Click New.... The Create New Folder dialog box appears.
  13. Type a name for your folder in the Name: field. Click OK.
  14. Outlook asks whether you want to place a shortcut to the new folder on the Outlook Bar. Click Yes or No according to your preference.
  15. Click OK.
    Note: The suggestion is to move these messages into a specific folder for the time being. This allows you to monitor what the spam tag is actually tagging. After a while, you may feel comfortable enough to change this setting to Deleted Items Folder.
  16. Click Next. A dialog box appears allowing you to make exceptions to your rule. You don't have to select any exceptions, but you can check as many exceptions as necessary. When an exception is selected, then the condition is added to the rule description box. Again, some exceptions may require additional information. Click an underlined value to edit it.
  17. Click Next. The final Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  18. A suggested name is in the Please specify a name for this rule: field. You can easily change the name of the rule if you want.
  19. Select one of the following:
    • Check the Run this rule now on messages already in "Inbox" if you want the rule to take affect immediately and be applied to any existing messages meeting the specified criteria.
    • Turn on this rule is on by default. Click to uncheck it only if you do not want the new rule to begin treating incoming messages accordingly.
    • Click the Back button to make any changes to the rule before you save it.
  20. Click Finish.
  21. The first Rules Wizard dialog box reappears listing the name of the rule and its final description. The checkmark means that the rule is on and will be applied to every message for which the criterion you specified is met. The rule is stored on the server. Click OK to close the Rules Wizard dialog box.

Creating a Rule in Outlook 2000

The Rules Wizard leads you through three basic steps to create a rule to manage your messages: selecting a condition, applying an action to the items that meet the condition, and entering exceptions to the condition.

  1. From the Inbox Information viewer, click the Tools menu and select Rules Wizard.... The Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  2. Click New... to start creating a new rule. The Rules Wizard displays a list of the different types of rules you can create along with a description of the rule.
  3. In the upper box, be sure that Check messages when they arrive is highlighted under the list of "Which type of rule do you want to create?". A description of this rule appears in the lower box.
  4. Click Next.
  5. This dialog box displays a list of conditions that must be satisfied for the rule to be applied. Check with specific words in the subject. A description of the rule/condition appears in the lower box.
  6. Type [Spamtag in the Select words or phrases to search for in the subject: field.
  7. Click Add. The text [Spamtag will be added to the Search list:.
  8. Click OK. The underlined value now shows the text you added.
  9. Click Next.
  10. This dialog box displays a list of actions for the rule. Check move it to the specified folder. A description of the rule/action appears in the lower box.
  11. Click the underlined value to edit it. The Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  12. Click New.... The Create New Folder dialog box appears.
  13. Type a name for your folder in the Name: field. Click OK.
  14. Outlook asks whether you want to place a shortcut to the new folder on the Outlook Bar. Click Yes or No according to your preference.
  15. Click OK to close the Rules Wizard dialog box.
    Note: The suggestion is to move these messages into a specific folder for the time being. This allows you to monitor what the spam tag is actually tagging. After a while, you may feel comfortable enough to change this setting to Deleted Items Folder.
  16. Click Next. A dialog box appears allowing you to make exceptions to your rule. You don't have to select any exceptions, but you can check as many exceptions as necessary. When an exception is selected, then the condition is added to the rule description box. Again, some exceptions may require additional information. Click an underlined value to edit it.
  17. Click Next. The final Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  18. A suggested name is in the Please specify a name for this rule: field. You can easily change the name of the rule if you want.
  19. Select one of the following:
    • Check the Run this rule now on messages already in "Inbox" if you want the rule to take affect immediately and be applied to any existing messages meeting the specified criteria.
    • Turn on this rule is on by default. Click to uncheck it only if you do not want the new rule to begin treating incoming messages accordingly.
    • Click the Back button to make any changes to the rule before you save it.
  20. Click Finish.
  21. The first Rules Wizard dialog box reappears listing the name of the rule and its final description. The checkmark means that the rule is applied to every message you receive or send. If all the criteria you specified is met then the rule is applied. If you uncheck a rule, the rule still exists but Outlook doesn't apply the rule to any new incoming or outgoing messages. If the rule has "client-only" behind the name, it is stored on your computer. If the rule name doesn't have anything behind it, then the rule is stored on the server. Click OK to close the Rules Wizard dialog box.

Creating a Rule in Outlook Web Access

In order to create or modify rules through Outlook Web Access, you must get into Outlook Web Access using Internet Explorer. Rules management is not available when you get into Outlook Web Access using any other web browser.

  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. Enter this Address: owa.ku.edu
  3. At the KU Outlook Web Access screen, type your KU Online ID and Password. Look at the Security area right below the password to make sure that Enhanced mode is marked because rules cannot be created or modified in Basic mode.
  4. Click on the Rules button on the left side of the screen. The Rules window will appear.
  5. Click the New button in the toolbar. The Edit Rule window appears.
  6. Enter a name for the rule (e.g., Spamtag) in the Rule name field.
  7. Click in the field next to Subject contains and type [Spamtag.
  8. Click on Move it to the specified folder to select it. Click on specified to choose the folder where items will be sent. The Move/Copy Item screen will appear.
  9. Click on New... to create a new folder.
  10. Type a name for your new folder in the Name: field. Click on your name in the area below the Name: field, then click on OK to create the folder.
  11. Select the folder you created in step 10 and click OK.
    Note: The suggestion is to move these messages into a specific folder for the time being. This allows you to monitor what the spam tag is actually tagging. After a while, you may feel comfortable enough to change this setting to "Delete message" (selected from the left pop-up menu instead of Move message).
  12. To save your new rule, click Save and Close at the top of the screen.

Creating a Rule in Entourage

  1. Before you create the rule, you need to first create a folder to have the rule move all the spam messages into. In Mail view, choose New, then Folder from the File menu.
  2. Enter a name for the folder and click Create.
  3. Choose Rules from the Tools menu. The Rules window appears.
  4. Click the Mail (IMAP) button.
  5. Click the New button in the toolbar. The Edit Rule window appears.
  6. Enter a name for the rule (e.g., Spam) in the Rule name field.
  7. Choose Subject from the left-most pop-up menu under If.
  8. Choose Contains from the next pop-up menu to the right.
  9. Enter [Spamtag in the text field that completes the line.
  10. Under Then, choose Junk mail from the pop-up menu on the right in the first line.
  11. In the second line, choose Move message from the pop-up menu on the left.
  12. Choose Choose folder from the pop-up menu on the right.
  13. Select the folder you created in step 2 and click Choose.
    Note: The suggestion is to move these messages into a specific folder for the time being. This allows you to monitor what the spam tag is actually tagging. After a while, you may feel comfortable enough to change this setting to "Delete message" (selected from the left pop-up menu instead of Move message).
  14. Click OK.