GroupWise Rules!
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Rules in GroupWise can help you organize your Mailbox. When you are away, you can automate your Mailbox by having GroupWise automatically respond to senders describing you absence. Rules can also move items with a certain subject or from a certain person to a specific folder.
As for dealing with spam, the filters set at the server level already scan for mail sent from known spammers and also scan for certain words. Occasionally spam will still get through. For more information on spam, please visit http://www.cwu.edu/~itstraining/TechTips/NoMoreSpam.html
In order to create a rule, you must do the following:
- Name the rule.
- Select an event. The event is the trigger that starts the rule.
- Select the types of items that will be affected by the rule.
- Add an action. The action is what you want the rule to do when it is triggered.
- Save the rule.
- Make sure the rule is enabled.
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Sample Rules
Going on vacation or just going to be away from the office for awhile? Have GroupWise automatically reply to incoming messages of your absence.
Note: While activated, this rule will generate one automatic reply per person so if your co-worker sends you a message while you're gone, gets the automatic reply but sends you another message, he or she will not get another automatic reply.
To create this rule,
The New Rule dialog box displays.
- Click in the Rule name box and enter a name for the rule.
In the When event is section,
- Make sure New Item and Received are selected.
Optionally you can select which specific Item types such as only Mail, otherwise GroupWise will act on all items.
In the Then actions are section,
- Click on the Add Action button.
- In the list that appears, click on Reply.
In the Reply dialog box that displays, you can choose whether or not to include the original message to the sender with a check box.
When you have made your selections,
In the Message field,
- Type in the text you would like to send as a reply to each message received while you are away.
Hints: Include the dates of your absence and an alternate contact in case the matter is urgent. Remember that this message will be sent to anyone who sends you a message in your absence! If you want to make sure your reply doesn't go to list servs or [SPAM] mail, see the Stop Rule Processing below.
When you are satisfied with your message,
- Click OK to return to the New Rule window.
- Click on the Save button.
The Rules dialog box displays, with the name of the new rule highlighted.
When you are ready to leave and want to activate the rule,
- Click on the check box next to the rule name.
Unchecked boxes means the rule is NOT active. When you come back from your absence, uncheck the box so your automatic reply stops going out.
To have your rule only work during a specific time period,
- Click on the Define Conditions button.
The Define Conditions dialog box displays.
- Click on the drop-down arrow next to the first box and choose Delivered from the list.
- Click on the button with the two triangles and choose On or After Date.
- Click in the next box and enter the first date of your vacation.
- Click on the End button and choose And from the list.
A second row appears.
- Click on the arrow next to the first box of the new row and choose Delivered.
- Click on the button with the two triangles in the new row and choose Before Date.
- Click in the next box and enter the date you will return from vacation.
- Click OK to return to the New Rule window.
If you've already done the steps above for the Action to take (i.e. what reply message to include), then
- Click on the Save button.
The Rules dialog box displays, with the name of the new rule highlighted.
If you are on distribution lists, such as the OUTAGES, CLASSIF, FACULTY or ADMIN or any list-servers, you should set a rule so automatic replies are not distributed back to the sender of the distribution lists. You typically only want an automatic reply sent back to someone who e-mailed you directly, as an individual. You can also use this rule to make sure your auto-reply doesn't go to messages marked with [SPAM].
To set up this rule,
- Click on Tools, Rules, and then the New button to create a new rule.
In the Rule name field,
- Type in a descriptive name such as “no auto-reply.”
In the When event is section,
- Make sure New Item is selected and the Received box is checked.
- For Item Type, just check Mail.
- Click on the Define Conditions button.
To stop replies from going to the distribution lists:
- Select To from the drop down menu.
- Select the Contains operator in the next field.
- Enter the name of the distribution list in the last field, e.g. CLASSIF, OUTAGES, ADMIN, EXEMPT, etc.
If you are on more than one such list,
- Click on the End button and choose Or from the list to add another row.
- Choose To from the drop down list in the first field of the second row, the Contains operator in the second field, and enter the name of the second distribution list in the last field.
- Continue for all such distribution lists.
To stop replies from going out to [SPAM] messages,
- Click on the drop down arrow next to the first box and choose Subject.
- Click on the button with the two triangles and choose Contains.
- Click in the next box and type in [SPAM].
When all the conditions are selected,
- Click OK to return to the New Rule window.
- Click on the Add Action button and select Stop Rule Processing from the list.
- Click on Save to save this rule.
Important: This rule must be listed before your vacation message on the list of rules. If necessary, click and drag the name of the rule to the appropriate spot on the list. Also, make sure the rule is checked to indicate that it is running.
If you regularly receive e-mail with the same subject, or from the same person, that you would rather send to a folder to be read later, you can create a rule to do that.
The following demonstrates how to set up a rule with specific text at the start of each Subject line (i.e. special project) that is also From a certain person (i.e. your boss). This rule can be modified as necessary.
- Click on Tools, Rules, then New.
In the New Rule dialog box that displays,
- Type in a descriptive name for the new rule such as “Send to Folder [name of folder].”
In the When event is section,
- Make sure New Item and Received are selected.
In the If conditions are section,
- Select the item types, (in this example Mail)
- Click on the Define Conditions button.
- Click on the drop down arrow in the first field and select Subject from the list that appears.
- Click on the button in the next field and select Begins Withfrom the list.
- Click in the next field, and type in the text that you know will be at the start of each Subject line, i.e. SPECIAL PROJECT.
To add that these messages will always come from a certain person,
- Click on the End button and choose And from the list to add another row.
- Click on the drop down arrow in the first field of the second row and select From on the list.
- Click on the button in the next field and select the Contains operator.
- In the third field (second row), type in the name of your boss or whomever the message may be coming from.
Note: If the Special Project message could come from more than one person, either add all names or just leave it as looking for items with a certain Subject; that way it won't miss an e-mail just because it came from someone not on your list.
Once you have entered all the criteria you need,
- Click OK to return to the New Rule window.
Finally, to specify what to do when the incoming message meet the criteria you have set,
- Click on the Add Action button and select Move to Folder from the list that displays.
The Move Item to Folder Action dialog box displays.
- Click on the name of the folder to which you want the incoming messages moved, and then click Move.
The message, “Move to folder [folder name]” displays in the Add Actions box.
The Rules box displays, with the name of the new rule listed. Close when done.
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Modify a Rule
You can edit existing rules as you need to.
For example, with the automatic reply, or absence, message, you can create the message once, then modify the dates each time you need to use it.
Or, if you have a rule that filters messages based on the sender, and the sender changes, you can edit the sender's name in your rule.
- Click on Tools, Rules to display the Rules dialog box.
- Click on the rule you want to modify, and then click the Edit button.
The Edit Rule dialog box displays.
This dialog box has the same options as the New Rule dialog box used to create the rule.
- Select and change options you want to
- Click the Save button to save the changes.
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Stop, Start, or Delete a Rule
If want to temporarily stop the rule as in the case of an automatic reply or absence message, you can disable it, then enable it again in the future.
- Click on Tools, Rules to display the Rules dialog box.
- Click on the name of the rule to select it.
- Click on the Disable button or uncheck the box next to the rule.
The rule remains on the list, and the Disable button changes to Enable.
- Click on Tools, Rules to display the Rules dialog box.
- Click on the name of the rule to select it.
- Click on the Enable button or check the box next to the rule.
The Enable button changes to Disable.
If you no longer need a rule, you can delete it.
- Click on Tools, Rules.
- Click on the name of the rule to select it, and then click on the Delete button.
You will be prompted to confirm the delete.
If you delete a rule it's gone and you cannot run it again in the future. You'll need to recreate the rule.
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Page last updated 06/14/07. Send questions or comments to ITS Training.
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