Email filters for Entourage for Mac OS X

1. Open Entourage.
2. From the Tools menu, select Rules.
3. Select the IMAP tab.
4. Select New.
5. Give the rule a name, e.g., spamflag.
6. Under If, select the Execute pull-down menu.
7. Choose if any criteria are met.
8. From the next pull-down menu, select Specific header.
9. In the first text box, type: X-Spam-Flag.
10. From the second pull-down menu, select contains.
11. Type Yes in the text box.
12. Under Then, from the first pull-down menu, choose Move Message.
13. From the second pull-down menu, select your spam folder.
14. Make sure the Enabled check box is marked.
15. Select OK.

X-Spam-Level filter
An X-Spam-Level filter can be used to catch messages whose hits percentage is less than the 50% threshhold. You might want to create one if you feel that 50% is too high (doesn't catch enough spam). If you choose a threshhold that is not a multiple of 10 (e.g., 45%), you will need to create two of these filters instead of one. Before you construct a spam filter, be sure to set up a spam folder in the Inbox of your email client so that you can retrieve any legitimate messages caught by the filter.
WARNING: Be very careful if you create an X-Spam-Level filter. The lower the hits percentage you choose for filtering, the more likely you will mistakenly catch legitimate mail and send it to your spam folder.

To construct a spam filter based on the PureMessage X-Spam-Level header:

1. Open Entourage.
2. From the Tools menu, select Rules.
3. Select the IMAP tab.
4. Select New.
5. Give the rule a name, e.g., spamlevel.
6. Under If, select the Execute pull-down menu.
7. Choose if any criteria are met.
8. From the next pull-down menu, select Specific header.
9. In the first text box, type: X-Spam-Level.
10. From the second pull-down menu, select contains.
11. Type in your chosen hits percentage using the letters X and/or I:
    • If your percentage is a multiple of ten, type a number of X's equal to the tens digit of the percentage.
      For example, for 60%, you would type 6 X's (upper case):
      XXXXXX
    • If your percentage is not a multiple of ten, type a number of X's equal to the tens digit followed by a number of I's equal to the ones digit.
      For example, for 65%, you would type 6 X's and 5 I's (upper case):
      XXXXXXIIIII
      NOTE: In this case, you will need to create a secondary filter (see below).
12. Under Then, from the first pull-down menu choose Move Message.
13. From the second pull-down menu, choose your spam folder.
14. Make sure the Enabled checkbox is marked.
15. Select OK.

If your hits percentage is not a multiple of 10, you will need to create a secondary filter:

1. From the Tools menu, select Rules.
2. Select the IMAP tab.
3. Select New.
4. Give the rule a name different from the one above, e.g., spamlevel2.
5. Under If, select the Execute pull-down menu.
6. Choose if any criteria are met.
7. From the next pull-down menu, select Specific header.
8. In the first text box, type: X-Spam-Level.
9. From the second pull-down menu, select contains.
10. Type in a number of X's equal to one more than the tens digit of your chosen hits percentage.
    For example, for 65%, you would type 7 X's (upper case):
    XXXXXXX
11. Under Then, from the first pull-down menu choose Move Message.
12. From the second pull-down menu, choose your spam folder.
13. Make sure the Enabled checkbox is marked.
14. Select OK.

X-Virus-Detected filter
By using an X-Virus-Detected filter and creating a virus folder in the Inbox of your email client, you can retrieve legitimate messages that arrived with virus-laden attachments that were later removed by PureMessage. Be sure to set up your virus folder before you construct a virus filter.

To construct a virus filter based on the PureMessage X-Virus-Detected header:

1. Open Entourage.
2. From the Tools menu, select Rules.
3. Select the IMAP tab.
4. Select New.
5. Give the rule a name, e.g., virus.
6. Under If, select the Execute pull-down menu.
7. Choose if any criteria are met.
8. From the next pull-down menu, select Specific header.
9. In the first text box, type: X-Virus-Detected.
10. From the second pull-down menu, select contains.
11. Type yes in the text box.
12. Under Then, from the first pull-down menu choose Move Message.
13. From the second pull-down menu, choose your virus folder.
14. Make sure the Enabled checkbox is marked.
15. Select OK.

Go to the PureMessage main page.

Content last updated September 2, 2004 by chk
Page last modified February 1, 2006 by cawalker