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Documentation

Mail Filters  

Introduction

CIT’s Central Email pages allow you to use server-side filtering to manage your email filtering rules, enable or disable your vacation rules, and filter junk email and spam.

Filtering Your Email

CIT’s Central Email service uses filters to process email before delivery to a personal mailbox. They can be used to sort incoming email into folders, reject unwanted email, and auto-forward select email. You can also set filters to search for items in the To, From, Subject, Cc, and Date fields. It is even possible to create a filter that uses more than one of these fields at a time.

Server-side filtering uses filters on the Central IMAP4-based mail server to filter email messages. Some email programs also offer client-side filtering, which can be done in addition to server-side filtering, but this type of filtering will not be covered in this document.

Important: Do not attempt to create server-side filters if you are using POP mail and store your email on your local PC.

Creating an Email Filter

1. To create a filter, direct your web browser to http://ubit.buffalo.edu/mail/.
2. Click the filters link from the colored block at the top of the page.
   
3. Enter your UBITName, then click Continue.
4. Enter your UBIT Password, then click Continue.
5. Select Create a new filter, then click Continue. This will bring you to a page from which you may enter any combination of From, To, Subject, Cc, or Date fields. If all message headers are left blank, all incoming messages will be deleted or filed, depending on your selection. To match patterns against text strings in any of these fields, see the Regular Expressions section.

Note

There is no “or” option for filtering, so you must create separate filters based on each individual option if you want to filter on one of many options.

6. Enter the desired text strings in the From, To, Subject, Cc, or Date fields. Scroll down below the horizontal line. Choose File, Forward, or Delete. If you choose to file, enter an existing folder from the pull-down menu or create a new folder by entering a name for it. If you choose to forward, enter the email address to which you would like to direct the filtered email. Click the Create button.
   If you leave all message fields blank and attempt to forward the messages, you will be redirected to the Central Email Forwarding page. An error box will appear and you must click Continue to be redirected back to the Manage your email filters page.

Filtering Junk Email

Some junk email can be automatically filtered before it reaches your INBOX. You can automatically delete these messages; however, you may prefer to sort them to a junk mail folder, scan the headers to be certain no messages were misidentified as spam, and then manually delete the spam messages.

1. To enable junk mail filters, direct your web browser to http://ubit.buffalo.edu/mail/.
2. Click the filters link from the colored block at the top of the page.
   
3. Enter your UBITName, then click Continue.
4. Enter your UBIT Password, then click Continue.
5. Select Create a New Filter, then click Continue.

Note

Deleted messages cannot be recovered. There is always a risk that valid mail may be misidentified by the filter software and be labeled junk mail. To ensure valid messages are not accidentally deleted automatically, file junk email into a folder and scan before manually deleting them.

6. Select Filter Spam and Junk Mail.
7. Select Obvious junk mail is caught; lowest risk of wanted mail misidentified as junk. If you want, you can always increase the vigilance with which spam and junk mail are separated from your wanted mail.
8. Scroll down to the section below the horizontal line, then either select File in an existing folder and enter a folder name, select or specify a new folder and enter a new name for a folder, or select Delete if you want to delete the messages automatically.

Regular Expressions

A regular expression is a pattern (or template) that is matched against a string. You can insert regular expressions into the From, To, Subject, Cc, or Date fields. Regular expressions are not case sensitive.

Modifying Filters

You can change existing filters to better suit your needs.

1. Direct a web browser to http://ubit.buffalo.edu/mail/.
2. Click the filters link from the colored block at the top of the page.
   
3. Enter your UBITName, then click Continue.
4. Enter your UBIT Password, then click Continue.
5. Select the existing filter rule to modify, then select Modify the selected filter. Click Continue.
6. Make any changes to the filter rule, then scroll below the horizontal line and click Modify.

Deleting Filters

1. To remove a filter rule, direct a web browser to http://ubit.buffalo.edu/mail/.
2. Click the filters link from the colored block at the top of the page.
   
3. Enter your UBITName, then click Continue.
4. Enter your UBIT Password, then click Continue.
5. Select the filter rule you want to delete, then select Delete the selected filter. Click Continue.
6. Click Delete to confirm you want to remove the filter that is indicated.

The Vacation Rule

The vacation rule allows you to manage your email while you are away. Email received by your account automatically generates a response informing the sender that you are away on vacation.

1. Direct a web browser to http://ubit.buffalo.edu/mail/.
2. Click the filters link from the colored block at the top of the page.
   
3. Enter your UBITName, then click Continue.
4. Enter your UBIT password, then click Continue.
5. If you have not yet set a vacation message, you should, upon authentication, see the message The vacation rule is currently turned off. To turn vacation on, select Create vacation rule, then click Continue.
6. Enter the vacation message you want mailed back to the sender, then click Continue.
7. To turn the vacation rule off, select Remove vacation rule, then click Continue. Click Confirm to verify that you want to turn off the vacation rule.

Document Information