Set up my email account to process content filters before spam filters

The following article explains how to set up email filters for your mail account so that content filtering rules are run before spam filtering. By default the spam filtering rules come first so a message may not be handled by a content filter even if it matches that rule. These steps can also be used at the domain level but are recommended for each user to set up as needed.

1. Refer to the Spam filter guide to set your spam filters to No Action.
2. From the top menu bar, click Settings.

   

3. From the left side bar, expand My Settings.

   

4. Expand Filtering and click Content Filtering.
5. Click New.

   

6. Select the Filter Criteria select Other, then Spam Probability.

   

7. Click Next.
8. Choose what level of spam to filter. Content filters process from the top of the list to the bottom, so you would want to start with the highest spam score. If you want to use the same action for more than one spam level, you can skip the higher level rule because the next rule will include it. For example, you can choose Medium or Above, and click Next.

   

9. Create a name and assign rules for the new filter by entering the following details:
   • Rule: select a name for the new filter and verify the shown criteria
   • Actions: select the routing action for the message and set any comments or headers
     • Delete Message is not recommended, as it will permanently delete any message. Only use this if you want to remove any messages that break the rule, without warning.
     • Bounce Message should only be used for specific rules from known senders. If you use it to try to block spam, it will send a reply to the spammer, confirming your address exists.
     • Move Message is the best option, you should move spam to the Junk E-mail box.
     • Prefix Subject can be used to add warning to the subject line, such as Spam-Medium.
     • Add Header can add a special flag to the routing information of the message, but is rarely used.
     • Copy Message puts a copy in a selected mailbox.
     • Reroute Message puts the message in a different mailbox.

     

10. Click Save.

The filters are processed in the order shown. You can rearrange the order by clicking the "Up" or "Down" arrows next to a rule name. Once a message goes through a filter, it is processed and may not be affected by additional filters. Because of this, any filters for good messages should come first, and spam filters should be last.

Note: For detailed information about each filter option, view the SmarterMail support documentation by clicking on the Help menu in the upper right corner of the SmarterMail interface