How to filter unwanted e-mail
A common question that we are asked is "How do I filter out all of the spam I am getting?"
It is not easy to filter out unwanted e-mail. There are however, several options.
- Install filtering software on the server:
We only support this on our dedicated servers - Install 3rd party filtering software on your desktop
computer
Google Search Results - Use 3rd party e-mail services
SpamCop is a good resource for this - Use built in e-mail filtering in current e-mail clients.
The rest of this page is devoted on how to do option 4. Why spend money on software that does what your e-mail client can already do for you?
How to Filter
When it comes to personal or business e-mail, I think that most people go about filtering things back-wards. Most crude filters will try and block things that they think you don't want. Block things that have "Interest rates" in the subject. Block messages with the words "XXX" or "porn".I propose that the opposite approach is taken. Filter what you know you want. For example, most e-mail clients have support for different mail folders. Start by creating folders for people you know. As you receive e-mail from them, set up filters to place their messages in the appropriate folder. By filtering your mail this way, you have reduced the importance of the generic Inbox. The Inbox is now filled with spam and e-mail from people who have never sent you a message before.
Below I will show how to set up e-mail filters in Outlook Express.
Outlook Express
These instructions are specific to Outlook Express 6.
First, start by selecting from the tool bar Tools -> Message
Rules -> Mail
as shown here:
Next, you will see a window like this:
This is where we will begin the filtering process.
Let's create a filter for our Aunt Alice. We want all e-mail from
her e-mail address to go into our "Aunt Alice" folder. So, in box
1, we check the box labeled "Where the From line contains people"
and in box 2 we check "Move it to the specified folder". In box 4,
we type in the name of the Rule as "Aunt Alice" and it looks like
this:
We are not done as we need to specify the items listed in box
3.
Click on the link "contains people" in box 3 and we get another
window and we add the correct e-mail address to it and after
clicking "Add" it looks like this:
Click "OK" to close this window and then click on "specified" in
box 3. Select "Inbox" then click "New Folder" and enter in "Aunt
Alice". It should look like this:
Click OK to close that window and then OK to close our New
Message Filter window.
We now see our new filter like so:
The next time we check mail, we get 157 new messages, but
Wait there's one from my dear Aunt Alice, I'll read that one
first.
Using this method of filtering, we can sort our incoming mail in such a way that we know who sent us mail just by retrieving the messages.
Before long, we have set up many filters and our Inbox may look
something like this when we are done: 
Now we can check the important e-mail right away (like e-mail from the Speed Racer Fan Club Mailing List) and slog through the Inbox when we have more time. If we find messages we want to keep in the Inbox, we can simply add another filter.