Creating and Using Filters in Mozilla Mail or SeaMonkey Mail
Mozilla Mail includes Filters, which allow it to automatically process emails as they come in, according to rules you set up. Actually, you may be familiar with the concept of filer: Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook call them Rules.
As you'll see in a minute, Filters are a lot easier to setup than you might think. Besides, Mozilla Mail's Filter dialog lets you see all conditions in one screen, making very easy to create and edit.
To setup a filter in Mozilla Mail, go to Tools > Message Filters. The "Message Filters" window will pop up. Click New, and the Filter Rules dialog will open.
(Make sure you type a descriptive Filter Name that you'll remember in six month - "Filter 1" is not ideal, for example.)
Sample Filter in Mozilla Mail
Mozilla Mail comes with several blank conditions, and built-in "checkable" actions; these pre-built actions should address all your filters needs.
If one condition is not enough to define your filter, you can add more conditions by clicking the More button. Make sure you choose appropriately between Match all of the following and Match any of the following.
You can combine the actions resulting from a match to the condition defined in the top fields.
Here's our "Go away" filter rule:
Translation: any incoming email containing the word "viagra" in the subject line will receive the following punishment: not only will it be sent directly to the trash, it will also have been marked as junk in the meantime. Ruthless, but deserved.
Often, you will find yourself creating rule as a response to a flow of email. Fortunately, Mozilla Mail lets you run your filters on pre-existing emails: select your filter, and click the "Run Now" button.
Mozilla Mail will not give you a visual feedback or alert that the process has finished running (only a few seconds, usually) but looking at your email folders will show you if the filter achieved its goals.
If Mozilla Mail's new email ticker appears, but your inbox seems empty, check the folders where you told Mozilla Mail's filters to put certain emails.
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