ITS Tech Tips : GroupWise Tips

GroupWise Junk Mail feature

Despite extensive efforts to reduce spam at the server level, we're still getting unwanted e-mail in our mailboxes.The Junk Mail Handling tool is an additional step GroupWise 7 client (installed locally on the computer) users can take to reduce the amount of spam they get. Once the Junk Mail feature has been enabled you can block individual non-GroupWise e-mails or entire domains. The following are instructions for setting up and using the Junk Mail Handling tool in GroupWise.

Enabling Junk Mail
Adjusting the Junk Mail Settings
Using Junk, Block and Trust Lists
Junk Mail Tips

Enabling Junk Mail

By using the Junk Mail Handling tool, you can filter your spam to either be completely blocked or go to a special folder called "Junk Mail" that you can look through later on, leaving only the important stuff in your Mailbox folder. The Junk Mail Folder will only become visible once the Junk Mail feature has been enabled and can only be set up using the GroupWise client, not GroupWise on the web. Although the screen shots below are taken from the PC, the functions are the same on the Mac.

To set up the Junk Mail feature,

• Click on Tools, Junk Mail Handling.

On the Settings tab,

• Click in the checkbox Enable Junk List to turn this feature on. Once this box has been checked, a Junk Mail folder will be created for you and placed in your folder list.
• Click in the checkbox for Enable Block List to turn this feature on. You will NEVER see blocked e-mail. Use caution with this feature, especially when blocking entire domains as it could mean legitimate e-mail doesn't get through.

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Adjusting the Junk Mail Settings

Also on the Settings tab,

• You can specify whether you want blocked e-mail to automatically be deleted or moved to the Junk Mail Folder.
• You can tell GroupWise to only accept e-mails and calendar items from people already in your address books.

Using the Junk, Block and Trust Lists

Junk List: this is where you add either entire domains (i.e. “hotmail.com” or “yahoo.com”) or specific e-mails (i.e. myemail@hotmail.com) to automatically go to your Junk Mail folder rather than your Mailbox.

Block List: tell GroupWise to completely block a domain or e-mail address. These e-mails will never make it to your account.

Trust List: What if you want to block most of a domain? For example, you have a couple of contacts with hotmail accounts but you want to block everyone else from that domain? Add entriesto this Trust list to specify that certain e-mail addresses are okay even though you've blocked that domain.

• Add entries to any of these lists by clicking on the New button

• Type in specific addresses or entire domains and click OK.

You can also right-click on an incoming e-mail, go to Junk Mail from the shortcut menu select Junk, Block or Trust Sender.

Again, be VERY careful about blocking entire domains. Some spam e-mail appears to be coming from CWU users and some people are inadvertently adding the entire CWU domain to their block lists.

Junk Mail Tips

Periodically check your junk and block lists. Having a lot of entries on theses lists can slow performance as GroupWise has to match every e-mail you get with these lists to determine how to handle them.

Note the Last Used and Count columns. If there's a zero in the Count column and the date in the Last Used column is older than two weeks or so, you probably don't need that entry anymore and can delete it.

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Page last updated 01/09/08. Send questions or comments to ITS Training.