Outlook 2000 and 98 include features that build on the idea of rules for automatically handling junk email (more commonly referred to as "spam") based on certain conditions being met. When the junk email feature has been activated and configured, you can highlight any email message you receive and designate its sender as either an "Adult Content Sender" or "Junk Sender" and cause any future messages from that source to be deleted, flagged, or moved to a specified folder, among other possible actions. In a nutshell, you can establish rules that inspect almost any message characteristic, and the actions rules take can be as aggressive or permissive as you want.
First let's cover the "out of the box" junk email filters provided by the Organize tool.
1. Select the Inbox facility and choose Tools, Organize. In the pane that appears, click on the "Junk E-Mail" button.
2. From the drop-down lists, pick the actions you want taken for messages that meet the criteria for Junk and/or Adult Content messages.
3. Click the "Turn on" button(s) to activate the junk email feature.
Once you have activated junk mail formatting/handling rules using whichever interface you prefer (see sidebar "Automatic formatting rules vs. the Rules Wizard" at the end of this article), you can designate a sender whose address you want blackballed. Just right-click on a spam message, and from the pop-up menu you can click on the "Junk E-mail" option and designate the message as having come from a Junk Sender or an Adult Content Sender. Outlook will then perform whatever action you have defined on any new messages from that sender.
Outlook also filters your incoming message (assuming you've activated the junk email features) against the text strings listed in a file called Filters.txt (typically in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office). Filters.txt contains the text strings often found in spam messages. There are separate sections for general, commercial spam and the adult stuff. You can edit this file in any text editor and add your own spam traps if you are so inclined.
If you're a cautious soul, set up your junk filters to move messages to a custom folder so you can look over the types of messages Outlook deems spam before you delete them. That way you can fine-tune Filters.txt if you find it is declaring some messages as junk that you don't want deleted. Nor is moving messages to the Deleted Items folder or a custom folder your only option. You can change the color of a suspect spam message instead of moving it (see sidebar).
To tweak your junk options after they've been set up, open the Organize pane and click on the underlined "click here" part of the sentence "For more options click here." This gives you access to a number of options: you can manually edit the names you've added as junk or adult senders, or even access updated filters made available on the Microsoft Web site. For the former option, you can also use the Rules Wizard interface to accomplish the same effect.
Automatic formatting rules vs. the Rules Wizard
The Organize tool's "Junk E-mail" options represent a friendly interface on top of two separate features: (1) a rule-based automatic formatting feature that changes *only* a message's font and color, and (2) rules stored in the Rules Wizard that act on messages by moving them, deleting them, or taking some action. You can lift the hood on the automatic formatting feature like this: select View, Current View, Customize Current View, then click on the "Automatic Formatting" button. In the ensuing dialog you can turn junk email formatting on or off by checking or clearing the built-in rules related to spam. You can also customize the font and color for these rules, refine their conditions, or create your own formatting rules.
You can also use the Rules Wizard for spam filtering. If you've already activated the "move" features of Organize's Junk E-Mail then you'll see an "Adult Content Senders" rule and a "Junk E- mail Rule" rule checked in the list. You can modify the former built-in rule, but not the latter.
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