Setting a Rule or Filter

Each of these rules or filters below are aimed at setting for list mail from the Guai-Support Group. You need to be a member of the group to receive the list mail; click here to join or change your settings. The list mail arrives in your mailbox from the person who posted the message, and addressed to the list, not you, hence the particular instructions below.

Gmail (on the web) (this section added 15 June 2014)

1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Open an email from the mailing list you want to filter. Copy the list's email address to your computer's memory (highlight text, then Ctrl-C or right-click > Copy). If you have the address saved in the Gmail contacts list, you can skip this step.
3. Click on the Settings cog on the right of the screen:

1. Select "Settings" from the menu that appears:

1. When the Settings page appears, click on "Filters" in the menu across the top:

1. Scroll to the very bottom of the window (press the End key if you need to) and click on "Create a new filter":

1. In the To field, copy the list address (or if you have it already saved in your Contacts, start typing its name and it will appear; press Tab to select):

1. Now you have the complete address in the To: field:

1. Click on "Create filter with this search:

1. Click on "Skip the Inbox" to select it (tick the box):

1. Click on "Choose Label":

1. Either:
2. a) Click on "New label":

1. and type a name for a new label, then click on the Create button:

1. or
2. b) click on an existing label to select it:

1. When you're satisfied that the filter is doing what you want it to do, consider clicking on "Also apply filter to matching conversations" so that this label is applied to existing emails in your mail box that fit the criteria you specified:

1. Now you're ready to click on the blue "Create filter" button to finish:

1. When it's completed successfully, you'll see this message near the top of the window:

1. You're done! Continue with reading mail or whatever, as you please. All new incoming mail that matches this filter will now bypass the Inbox; when you're ready to read that mailing list, click on the label name in the column in the left of the window, and read away. Mail will remain marked as unread until you open it or mark it as unread, so you can tell what you've read before when you come back another time.

Hotmail

1. Log into your Hotmail mailbox.
3. Click on Options, in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
5. Click on Custom Filters.
7. Click on the New Filter button.
9. Click on Advanced Filter, in the top right-hand corner of the white part of the screen.
11. In Step 1, set the options so that it says:
12. If To or Cc lines contains guai-support@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM
14. In Step 2, select your folder (if you've already created it), or select New Folder and type in the name of the folder.
16. When you're satisfied that your filter is as you want it, click on the OK button at the bottom.

Microsoft Outlook Express v6

1. In Outlook Express go to the Menu Bar at the top of your screen. Click on Tools then Message Rules then Mail. In the new box that appears on your screen there are three tabs; click on Mail Rules if it is not the topmost one.
3. Click on New to create a new Rule. This opens the New Mail Rule box, which has four parts:
4. a. Select the Conditions for your rule (where you tell the rule what to look for)
5. b. Select the Actions for your rule (where you tell the rule what to do)
6. c. Rule Description (where the conditions and actions are spelled out and further refined)
7. d. Name of the rule
9. In the Conditions box click in the square next to "Where the From line contains people". In the Description box click on the blue link that says "contains people". Click on that and type in (or use your mouse to Copy and Paste) the address for the list: guai-support@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM
11. In the Conditions box click on the square next to "Where the To line contains people". Again, this will be copied to the Description box. You will need to click on the new "contains people" link and put the list address in again. Then click on the link "and" next to that second rule, and select the choice "messages match any one of the criteria" and click on Okay. That “and” will now say “or”. This means that it doesn’t matter how your list emails arrive addressed, the Rule will pick them up; different settings and/or different mail programs can affect the addressing of list emails, I’ve found, so this rule covers all bases.
13. In the Actions box click on the square next to “Move it to the specified folder”. In the Description box click on the blue link that says “specified” and select the folder you want the group emails moved to. If you haven’t set up this folder click on New Folder and give it a meaningful name, say Guai-Support Group. Click Okay to accept your changes (twice if you had to set up the new folder).
15. In the Name box, use your mouse to highlight the automated name for this new rule and give it something meaningful, say Guai-Support Group. (This is optional)
17. When you are happy that this rule has everything set, click Okay to save it. If you want to cancel and start over, click Cancel instead.
19. If you have Guai-Support Group emails in your Inbox, you can use the new rule to move them by clicking on Apply Now.
21. Click Okay to exit the Rule box.

Yahoo

1. Log into your Yahoo mailbox.
3. Click on Mail Options, near the top right-hand corner of the screen.
5. Click on Filters in the left-hand column.
7. Click on the Add button to set a new filter.
9. Give your filter a name, eg Guai-Support Group
11. Next to the line "To/Cc header:", enter the list address - guai-support@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM; leave the left-hand box set to "contains". Don't set it to match case.
13. Select the folder you want your list mail directed to; if you haven't created a new folder for this mail yet, you can select [New Folder] and you will be prompted to type in the name of the new folder. Call it something obvious, like Guai-Support, so you know exactly which list this folder relates to.
15. When you're satisfied that you've set the filter as you want it, click on the Add Filter button.