Information Technology Services University of Arkansas
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Email Filters

Setting filters for spam or other messages in UARK Gmail, Exchange, or UA Mail allows you to indicate which messages you wish to block or redirect at the server level (server-side filtering) before you check email, making these filters effective regardless of the computer or email program that you use. Server-side filtering can be especially useful for controlling spam.

Spam Filtering

IT Services tags suspected spam messages with {SPAM?} in the subject line, although not all spam will necessarily be tagged. You can use this tag to create a filter or rule that will move those messages to a spam folder. IT Services recommends creating a filter to move the messages to a folder rather than deleting them to ensure that legitimate email messages are not accidentally deleted as spam.

UARK Gmail

Web-based UARK Gmail automatically filters most spam. To create a non-spam filter from within a message:

  1. Click the down arrow next to Reply.

  2. Select "Filter messages like this."

  3. Enter your desired filter criteria in the fields provided.

You can create an unlimited number of filters, but the maximum amount of filters allowed for forwarding to other addresses is 20.

Exchange

Exchange automatically filters most spam. Create server-side email filters (Inbox rules) for Exchange mailboxes using Outlook Web App. Rules are enforced by Microsoft Exchange in the order they appear in the Rules list. Previously turned off rules using Microsoft Outlook will be deleted when modifying rules using Outlook Web App.

To create a non-spam filter:

  1. Log into exchange.uark.edu using your UARK email address and password.

  2. Click Options, More Options, and Organize Email. Click New to create an Inbox rule.

  3. Select an option from the "When the message arrives" dropdown menu. Enter the necessary information in the resulting dialog box.

  4. Select an action from the "Do the following" dropdown menu. Enter or choose the options needed for the new rule.

  5. Click OK. Click Save.

UA Mail

Filters are applied in the order they appear in the Filters list. Once matching criteria is found for a message, subsequent filter rules are not processed for that message. To refine the order in which the filters are applied, use the Move Up and Move Down features within the mail filter window.

Although the instructions below explain how to create a spam filter, you also can create filters for non-spam messages by naming a folder something other than "spam." For example, you can have all messages from a mailing list automatically sent to a folder instead of your Inbox.

  1. Log into https://mailhost.uark.edu:8443/ using your UARK username and password.

  2. Click Set Mail Filter. Click Add.

  3. From the "Select a mail filter" dropdown menu, choose "File to Folder."

  4. Name the filter rule "spam" in the Name field.

  5. Select Subject from the dropdown menu next to "If the header line."

  6. For "Contains the phrase," type {SPAM?}.

  7. For "Then file into the folder," type spam. A new folder named "spam" is automatically created on the email server. The spam folder will appear once a new spam message has been received.

  8. Click OK. Click Clear Status. Click Save.

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