E-mail filters control how your incoming e-mail is handled, helping to ensure that you receive less spam. The Global Email Filters page allows you to create filters which will be applied to all of the e-mail addresses linked to your domain.
Note: It is strongly recommended that you use multiple, short filters instead of one long / complex filter.
To add a new filter, do the following:
1. Click Create a New Filter.
2. In the Filter Name field, enter a name for the filter.
3. In the first drop-down menu under Rules, select a message characteristic.
- From - the address from which the message was sent
- Subject - the subject line of the message
- To - address to which the message was sent
- Reply Address - address to which the reply will be sent
- Body - body or content area of the message
- Any Header - a header of the message
- Any recipient - a recipient of the message
- Has not been previously delivered - affects messages still in queue for delivery
- is an error message - affects error messages received from an auto-response system
4. In the adjacent drop-down menu, select an operator.
- equals - exactly matches the word or phrase you define
- matches regex - matches a regular expression you define
- contains - contains the word or phrase you define
- does not contain - does not contain the word or phrase you define
- begins with - begins with the string you define
- ends with - ends with the word or phrase you define
- does not begin - does not begin with the word or phrase you define
- does not end with - does not end with the word or phrase you define
- does not match - is not equal to the word or phrase you define
In the field below, enter the filter or characteristics you wish to use as the filter. (Regular expressions are accepted.)
For example:
This rule will target any emails from the sender spammer@example.com.
You can add and remove rules by clicking the +/- buttons.
Note: Do not use special characters, such as * or $, as these can result in legitimate e-mail from being blocked.
In the Actions drop-down menu, select an action for the rule you created.
- Discard message - destroys the incoming message with no failure notice
- Redirect to email - re-directs the message to another e-mail address that you specify
- Fail with message - discards the message and automatically returns a specified failure notice to the sender
- Stop processing rules - skips all filter rules
- Deliver to folder - deposits the message into a specified folder
- Pipe to a program - sends the incoming message to a program you have specified
When piping to a program, you should enter a path relative to your home directory. If the script requires an interpreter, such as Perl or PHP, you should omit the /usr/bin/perl or /usr/local/bin/php portion.
Make sure your script is executable and has the appropriate hashbang:
#!/usr/local/bin/php -q -- For PHP
#!/usr/bin/perl -- For Perl.
Click Create to initialize the filter.
Testing a Filter:
You can test your filters by filling the following details out in the Filter Test section:
- To: If you have selected the To: filter, enter the e-mail address you are filtering here.
- From: If you have selected the From: filter, enter the e-mail you are filtering here.
- Subject: If you have selected the Subject: filter, enter the subject you are filtering here.
- This is a test message: If you have selected the Body: filter, enter the body content you are filtering here.
To run the test, click on the Test Filter button.
Once the test has been completed, the next screen should display the results. This screen summarises the actions taken by the filter. It is important to read over the data to ensure that the filter produces the desired result.
