Communicator Help: Using AOL<sup><font size=-2>®</font></sup> Communicator Mail

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Using AOL Communicator Mail

Using Message Filters

Tutorial movie:

Set Up Filters for My Mail

If you get a lot of e-mail, Mail can help you keep it organized by automatically moving, deleting, or marking messages according to your message filters:

- Creating a Simple Message Filter for an E-mail Address: How to set up a filter based on an e-mail address.
- Creating a Message Filter: How to set up a filter from scratch and test it before activating it.
- Applying Message Filters: How to apply all filters associated with an account to selected messages.

Settings & Preferences:

- Setup Custom Message Filters: How to use the Setup Custom Message Filters window, which lists all the filters that are currently available.
- Custom Message Filter: How to use the Custom Message Filter window, which allows you to set up one or more rules for filtering messages with specified characteristics.

Creating a Simple Message Filter for an E-mail Address

To create a simple message filter based on an e-mail address:

1. Right-click any e-mail address listed in a message's header (the shaded area at the top of every mail message). Hold down the Ctrl key and click any e-mail address listed in a message's header (the shaded area at the top of every mail message).
2. Choose Create Filter from Message from the pop-up menu.
3. For Filter name, type the name you want to use to identify this filter. Example: John Chapman
4. Under Applies To, leave Incoming Messages selected.
5. Use the first drop-down list next to Perform the following action to specify the action that you want to perform on messages that this filter applies to.
   For example, choose Move to folder if you want to move messages from this e-mail address to a particular folder.
   If you choose "Move to folder" or "Copy to folder," you must also specify a folder:

- Use the second drop-down list to specify the account (or Local Mail) in which the destination folder resides.
- Use the last field to select a folder in that account.

6. Under For these conditions, leave the option If Any of the following conditions are met selected
7. In the bottom portion of the window, specify the condition you want the filter to test for.
   By default, it is set up to check whether the same field in each message (such as sender or recipient) contains the e-mail address you clicked in Step 1. If necessary, use the drop-down lists to change the message field or condition you want the filter to check for.
8. Click OK to confirm your filter settings.

The new filter is enabled by default and appears in the Setup Custom Message Filters window under the account to which it applies. From now on, messages that meet the conditions you specified will be treated as you specified.

You can use the Setup Custom Message Filter window to change the account the filter applies to or enable, disable, edit, or delete the filter.

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Creating a Message Filter

To set up a message filter from scratch:

1. Starting from the Mail window, open the Tools menu and choose Custom Message Filters, then Setup.
   The Setup Custom Message Filters window appears.
2. From the drop-down list labeled "Filter for messages on:", choose the account that you want the filter to apply to.
3. Click New Filter.
   The Custom Message Filter window appears.
4. Fill in the Filter name. Example: BigProject

The remainder of these instructions describe how to create a simple filter that identifies incoming messages whose To or Cc fields include the word BigProject. You can substitute your own decisions at each step, including adding additional conditions if necessary.

5. Under Applies To, leave Incoming Messages selected.
6. Use the first drop-down list next to Perform the following action to specify the action that you want to perform on messages that this filter applies to.
   For example, choose Move to folder if you want to move messages from this e-mail address to a particular folder.
   If you choose "Move to folder" or "Copy to folder," you must also specify a folder:

- Use the second drop-down list to specify the account (or Local Mail) in which the destination folder resides.
- Use the last field to select a folder in that account. For example, the name of the folder to which to move matching BigProject-related messages might be BigProject.

7. Under For these conditions, select If __ of the following conditions are met.
8. Select one of these options from the drop-down list:
   Any: Messages that satisfy any one of the specified conditions will trigger the filter.
   All: Only messages that satisfy every condition listed in this window will trigger the filter.
9. Specify your conditions in the bottom portion of the window. Choose items from the drop-down lists so that the sentence reads as follows:
   the recipient of the message contains
10. Finish the sentence by typing BigProject in the field after contains.
11. To add more conditions, click the Add button. To delete the bottommost condition, click Remove.
12. Click OK to confirm your filter settings and return to the Setup Custom Message Filterswindow.

You can set up as many filters as you want. They will be applied in the order they are listed against messages received in the selected inbox. Click Move Up or Move Down to change the position of the selected filter.

You can also use the Setup Custom Message Filter window to change the account your new filter applies to or disable, edit, or delete the filter.

Click OK to return to the main AOL Communicator Mail window. If you left the new filter enabled, messages that meet the conditions you specified will be filtered accordingly.

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Applying Message Filters

A message filter is associated with an account. When the filter is enabled in the Setup Custom Message Filters window, it is applied automatically to all incoming and/or outgoing messages for that account (depending how you set up the filter).

You can also manually apply the message filters associated with an account to selected messages that have already been received or sent.

To apply message filters manually:

1. Select the messages you want to filter.
2. Open the Tools menu and choose Custom Message Filters, then Run Filters on Selected Messages.
   If any of the selected messages meet the conditions specified for any of the filters for this account, they will be copied, moved, and so on accordingly.

Related Topics:

Controlling Spam
Creating a Simple Message Filter for an E-mail Address

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Setup Custom Message Filters

The Setup Custom Message Filters window lists all the mail filters that you have previously set up for each of your inboxes.

If you are not already viewing it, open the Tools menu in Mail and choose Custom Message Filters, then Setup. You can take these actions:

- Filters for messages on: Select the account for which you want this filter's rules to apply.
- New Filter: Click this button to open the Custom Message Filter window and create a new filter.
- To perform any of the following actions, select the filter you want to modify and click the appropriate button:
  Edit: Opens the Custom Message Filter window for the selected filter.
  Delete: Deletes the selected filter.
  Move Up: Moves the selected filter up in the list.
  Move Down: Move the selected filter down in the list.
  Note that the order in which filters are listed in the Setup Custom Message Filters window is the order in which the filters are applied. This can be important for complex filtering schemes.

Click OK to confirm your choices.

Related Topics:

Controlling Spam
Creating a Message Filter
Custom Message Filter

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Custom Message Filter

The Custom Message Filter window allows you to set up, view, and change a message filter's definition. You see this window when you create a new filter or edit an existing one in the Setup Custom Message Filters window.

Complete the filter definition as follows:

Filter name: Type the name you want to use to identify this filter. Example: My Project Filter

Applies To: Select the type of messages you want the filter to apply to:

- Incoming Messages: Filter will be applied to all incoming messages when you collect mail for the account to which the filter applies.
- Outgoing Messages: Filter will be applied to all messages that you send.

Perform the following action: Use the first drop-down list to specify the action that you want to perform on messages that this filter applies to:

- Move to folder: Move messages that meet your conditions to the destination you specify on the right.
- Copy to folder: Copy messages that meet your conditions to the destination you specify on the right, leaving the original message in its original location.
- Delete: Delete messages that meet your conditions.
- Mark Read: In the View pane (the right-hand side of the main AOL Communicator Mail window), change the entry for this message from boldface to plain text for this message and remove the orange icon (indicating that a message is unread) from the status column.
- Mark Spam: Messages that meet your conditions will be marked as spam.

If you choose "Move to folder" or "Copy to folder," you must also specify a folder:

- Use the second drop-down list to specify the account (or Local Mail) in which the destination folder resides.
- Use the last field to select a folder in that account.

For these conditions:

- No conditions, apply filter to all specified messages: Select this option with care—it performs the specified action on all messages to which this filter applies (incoming, outgoing, or both).
- If __ of the following conditions are met: Select this option to specify conditions that must be met for the filter to take the specified action. When this option is selected, you can select one of these options from the drop-down list:
  Any: Messages that satisfy any one of the specified rules will trigger the filter.
  All: Only messages that satisfy every rule listed in this window will trigger the filter.
  Selecting the conditions option also causes a box to appear in the bottom half of the window. Use the box to specify your conditions:

- the: From the drop-down list on the left, select the part of the message you want this filter to search.
  For example, if you choose "recipient," the filter will search the To and Cc fields of incoming messages (and the Bcc fields for AOL mail messages on which you've been Bcc'd). If the text you specify is found in either field of a message, it will be moved to the location that you specified above.
- of the message: From the drop-down list on the right, select the kind of condition you want the filter to check for, such as "contains" or "isn't.".
- (unlabeled field or drop-down list): In the text field to the right of the drop-down lists, enter the text you want the filter to check for.
  If you have chosen to search the Status field, the unlabeled field is replaced by a drop-down list, from which you can choose Read or Replied.

To create another condition for this filter, click Add. The filter applies additional conditions according to your selection of Any or All above.
To eliminate the bottommost condition, click Remove.

Click OK to confirm your filter settings.

A brand new filter is enabled by default and appears in the Setup Custom Message Filters window under the account to which it applies. You can use the Setup Custom Message Filter window to change the account or enable, disable, edit, or delete the filter.

Related topics:

Controlling Spam
Creating a Message Filter
Setup Custom Message Filters

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Last Updated September 16, 2003