ITS Tech Tips: GroupWise Tips

In the continuing effort to fight spam, ITS makes use of a filter on the GroupWise server. Currently there is a list of known spammers that automatically get blocked, but as new spammers arise everyday (sometimes by the minute) and before these new ones can get added to the list, their spam may get through. Also, some mail may not get blocked but allowed through for the end-user to decide whether or not they want it. You'll know these e-mails because the word “Spam” will appear in square “[ ]” brackets in the Subject line of your incoming e-mail. You can choose to simply delete the ones you don't want right away or put a rule on your account to move them to the Trash, thereby giving you 10 days to look in your Trash to see if there's anything you want to retrieve before it's automatically deleted for good.

Please note: The instructions below are for GroupWise 7.0 for the Mac. If you are running an older version of GroupWise on your Mac, you may want to use the web version of GroupWise to set up your rule.

The following steps demonstrate how to set up a rule to look for e-mails with [SPAM] in the Subject line and send them to the Trash.

From the main GroupWise window,

• Click on Tools, Rules.
• Click on Create.

The New Rule dialog box displays.

• Type in a descriptive name for the rule.

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.

The Define Conditions dialog box displays.

In the drop-down list under Include entries where...

• Select Subject.
• Click on the button just to the right of that field with the double arrows.

A submenu of operators displays.

• Click on the I - > Begins With option.
• Click in the next field and type in the following text (not including quotes): “[SPAM]”

If you are getting mail from legitimate senders but it's getting marked with [SPAM], modify your rule to exclude those sender's from your rule. Otherwise just click OK and continue on to the Add Action section.

• Click on the End button and select And from the list.

A new row appears.

• Select From for the first field.
• Select Contains for the second field.
• Type in the e-mail address of the person/organization from whom you want to receive mail directly to your Mailbox.
• Click OK.

The final step is to set the action that will occur when GroupWise receives a [SPAM] mail.

• Click on the Add Action button towards the bottom left of the window.

The Add Action menu displays.

• Click on the Delete/Decline... option.
• Click Decline in the Decline dialog box - there's no need to type in any comments.
• Close the New Rule dialog box and click on the Save button when prompted to Save before closing.

The Rules box displays with the name of the new rule listed.

Options: You can use this rule in conjunction with Junk Mail Handling but be aware that the rule takes precedence. Even if you "trust" a sender, if that e-mail gets marked with [SPAM] and you have this rule in place, the e-mail will get trashed (or sent to whatever folder you picked). If you opt to have your [SPAM] mail moved to the Junk Mail folder instead of deleting, you can set that folder to either automatically delete after a certain amount of days (your trash is set at the system level to delete after 10 days) or never, thereby giving you some time to check for legitmate e-mail.

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Page last updated 08/25/06. Send questions or comments to ITS Training.