Inside Outlook Express
Tips and Ideas
Message Rules
Message Rules can be very helpful in keeping your email store organized as well as blocking unwanted mail. But they can also be maddeningly complicated if you are not used to thinking with the strict logic that rules require. The rules on this page are offered as examples of several techniques. Some of them you can copy exactly as they are, but others will need to be adapted a bit to reflect your needs. If you are new to using rules, you should first read about common errors in creating rules.
- Deleting messages without downloading
- Using rules to filter IN instead of OUT
- Rules to sort messages into folders
- Complex rules
- Rules for Sent Items
Deleting messages without downloading
Caution should be used when creating rules that delete messages from the server without downloading them. If your rule is too broad you will likely delete some legitimate mail, and there is no way to recover it.
Also care must be taken not to create a 'delete' rule based on conditions that require the message be downloaded in order to test against the rule. Those conditions are "where the message body contains text", "where the message has an attachment" and "where the message is secure". The same restriction applies if you use the action "do not download".
Rules that delete message from the server MUST be at the top of the rules list or they might not work as expected. If your very first rule includes a condition requiring that the message be downloaded, then no 'delete' rule will ever do anything at all.
- Delete from server if FROM
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the From line contains '1234' or 'globetics' or 'funny.com' or 'powerlist.com'
Delete it from server
Use this to block known spammers who always use the same FROM address. To add a new address to the rule, click Tools | Message Rules | Mail, then click once on the rule to select it. In the Description pane at the bottom, just click on any of the blue underlined addresses to open the Add dialogue.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'cupid' or '$$' or 'bad credit' or 'credit?' or
'incest porn' or 'a nice game' or 'a good tool' or '!!' or 'love!' or 'friends!' or
':-)'
Delete it from server
Use this to capture and delete messages that contain typical spam words, phrases or strings of characters in the subject line. This is much more reliable in stopping spam than the Block Sender feature, since spammers seldom use the same From address.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT excite game
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'excite' and 'game'
Delete it from server
This is a very specific rule designed to delete one variant of the Klez virus.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT funny game
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'game' and 'funny'
Delete it from server
This is a specific rule to delete another variant of the Klez virus.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT special game
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'game' and 'special'
Delete it from server
Yes, this is yet one more specific rule to delete yet one more variant of the Klez virus. Three rules are required because it is not possible to create a condition like this:
Where the Subject line contains 'excite' or 'funny' or 'special' AND 'game'
It is possible however to use a single rule like this:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'very nice game' or 'funny game' or 'excite game' or
'exciting game' or 'humorous game' or 'humor game' or 'new game'
Delete it from server
That said, it's still a good idea to keep the separate rules also. The combined rule would not catch "special nice game", but the separate rules would.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT FW: and screensaver
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'fw:' and 'screensaver'
Delete it from server
The 'fw:' string is added to a message when it is forwarded. A screensaver that appears to have been forwarded is almost certainly a virus.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT FW: and love AND >35kb
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'fw:' and 'love'
and Where the message size is more than 35 KB
Delete it from server
This rule is designed to stop spam and viruses, both of which often have the word 'love' in the subject. But friends or other valid senders might also use that word, so the rule is further limited to only delete 'love' messages that are also forwarded ('fw:') and overly large. That allows some leeway in friends forwarding 'love' jokes and such while still stopping some spam and viruses.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT Viagra AND fee
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'Viagra' and 'fee'
and Where the message size is more than 35 KB
Delete it from server
The combination of words is very useful to delete spam. Filtering only for 'Viagra' might not be a good idea if you subscribe to any medical or health newsletters. But when it is combined with 'fee' in the subject, it is almost certainly spam.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT grants AND $
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'grants' and '$'
and Where the message size is more than 35 KB
Delete it from server
This is another case where the individual word or string might appear in valid email, but the combination of the two is almost certainly spam.
- Delete from server if SUBJECT and SIZE
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the Subject line contains 'klez'
and Where the message size is more than 40 KB
Delete it from server
There is a variant of the Klez virus that sends itself attached to a message that claims the attachment is an anti-Klez tool. This rule blocks it.
- Delete from server if FROM and SUBJECT
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the From line contains 'friend/relative'
and Where the Subject line contains '<annoying something>'
Delete it from server
This rule is to remove the stupid joke list, or bridge club announcement, or quote-of-the-day, or other annoying something that a friend/relative is always sending, no matter how often you beg that they stop. This rule only blocks the annoying something from that person but still allows other mail from the person to go through.
Using rules to filter IN instead of OUT
- Allowed Attachments
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the From line contains 'friend1' or 'friend2' or 'friend3' or 'friend4'
and Where the message has an attachment
Stop processing more rules
This is an example of using rules to filter mail IN rather than OUT. Friends sometimes do send attachments, and you don't necessarily want to treat those in the same way you treat attachments from unknown sources. This rule simply stops processing rules for known senders of attachments so that those messages are not affected by the following rules.
Rules to sort messages into folders
- Unknown Attachments
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the message has an attachment
Move it to the Attachments folder
and Stop processing more rules
This rules assumes you have created a folder named Attachments. Because it moves messages, the rule requires the "stop processing" action. If that is omitted, a message might fit the condition (it has an attachment) but it will be tested against all following rules, and so will never be moved to the Attachments folder.
Complex rules
- Newsletters
Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the From line contains 'Woody's' or 'newsletter@newscientist' or
'Nieuwsbrieven' or 'PC Newsletter' or 'Expatica.com'
or Where the Subject line contains 'advocate.com' or 'The Scientist' or 'Neat Net
Tricks' or 'Slashdot' or 'Reg Headlines' or 'Nieuwsbrief'
or Where the To line contains 'project-censored'
Move it to the Newsletters folder
and Stop processing more rules
Here we have a single rule with many conditions designed to capture all newsletters to which I subscribe. Some of those newsletters always have the same word in FROM, others in SUBJECT, and one in TO. It assumes that you have created a folder named Newsletters. Once again the 'stop processing' is required or the messages will never be moved.
Rules for Sent Items
It is possible to use rules to sort messages in Sent Items into other folders. However OE applies rules automatically only to incoming messages. You will have to apply Sent Items rules manually. To avoid having Sent Items rules applied to incoming messages, the rules should be disabled by removing their check marks in the list of rules. When you wish to sort Sent Items, simply click Tools | Message Rules | Mail, then click Apply Now. Select all the Sent Items rules (use Shift-click or Ctrl-click to select more than one at a time). Click Browse and select the Sent Items folder. Click Apply Now and the selected rules will do their magic.
If you use Outlook Express for newsgroups and save a copy of your own posts in Sent Items, you will have one small problem with rules. Mail rules filter only on mail headers, and news message do not have the same headers. But since news messages do not have a TO line, and every mail message you send does, we can use that to separate mail from news quite easily.
- Sent Items - stop processing news messages
This rule is currently turned off.
Where the To line does not contain '@'
Move it to the Sent News folder
and Stop processing more rules
This assumes you have created a folder named Sent News.
- Sent items - move mail to Sent Mail folder
This rule is currently turned off.
For all messages
Move it to the Sent Mail folder
and Stop processing more rules
This assumes you have created a folder named Sent Mail. Note that there are no conditions specified, just 'all messages'. This is because the previous rule has already moved all news messages into another folder. Therefore any message that is still in the Sent Items folder must be a mail message.
