Document number: 12037

 

New mail received in Lotus Notes may be filtered by creating rules to act automatically based on criteria specified for all new messages. For example, a rule could be created that automatically moves messages from a specific sender such as a user's manager to a folder.

Creating rules

Editing rules

Disabling rules

Enabling rules

Moving rules

Deleting rules

Note: A maximum of 50 rules can be enabled for a single mail file. Any additional rules enabled after the fiftieth one will not function.

 

 

 

 

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To create a mail rule to automatically filter mail based on specific criteria:
Note: Information Technology has added a SPAM filtering tool to the mail infrastructure. This tool will assist in identifying and filtering SPAM messages received from external sources.

1. Open the Lotus Notes mail file.

2. Click the Rules folder in the left hand navigation panel. The rules folder is located directly below the 'Discussion Threads' view.

3. Click the New Rule... button.

4. Specify condition: section:

   • Left condition window: Select a part of messages to check such as 'sender' or 'subject' by clicking the down arrow and selecting the condition from the drop down list.
   • Middle condition window: Select a state such as 'contains' or 'is' by clicking the down arrow and selecting from the drop down list.
   • Right condition window: Enter the criteria to check for such as the name of a person or a specific word in the empty window.
     
     
     • Example: If 'sender' and 'contains' are selected in the first two option windows and the name of the user's manager is entered in the third option window, all messages sent by the user's manager will be filtered.
       
       

5. Click the Add button to add the condition that was just created. The condition will now appear in the 'When mail messages arrive that meet these conditions:' window.

6. Steps 4 and 5 may be repeated to add more conditions or exceptions or to remove any.
   
   

7. Specify actions section:
   

   • Left action window: Select an action such as 'move to folder' or 'copy to folder.'
     • Note: 'Copy to folder' is not a recommended action as the message will only be copied yet will remain in the Inbox. If the message is deleted from the Inbox, it will also be deleted from the folders it has been copied to.
   • Second action window: Click the Select... button and select the folder the message should be moved to.
     
     

8. Click the Add Action button to add the action you just created. The action will now appear in the 'Perform the following actions:' window.
   

9. Steps 7 and 8 may be repeated to add more actions or to remove any.
   
   

10. Click OK.

The rule has now been created. It will perform the action(s) on new messages that meet the condition(s) specified. If the action is to move messages to a specific folder, they will not appear in the Inbox. That folder must be opened to see any new messages that met the conditions.

Creating rules for Internet mail

WARNING: If a rule is created to delete new messages that meet specific condition(s), any messages that meet the conditions will be deleted before they appear in the mail file. If a new message is sent that meets the conditions and it is needed, there is no way to retrieve it because it never actually went into the mail file.

 

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Rules for Internet mail need to be created in a specific way or they will not work.

To create a rule for Internet mail:

1. Open the Lotus Notes mail file.
   
   
2. Click the Rules folder in the left hand navigation panel. The rules folder is located directly below the 'Discussion Threads' view.
   
   
3. Click the New Rule... button.
   
   
4. Specify condition: section - Two conditions need to be added for the Internet mail rule to function properly:

   First condition:

   • Left condition window: Select 'Sender' by clicking the down arrow and selecting from the drop down list.
   • Middle condition window: Select 'contains' by clicking the down arrow and selecting from the drop down list.
   • Right condition window: Enter the name of the sender.

   
   Click the Add button.
   
   Second condition:

   • Left condition window: Select 'And' by clicking the down arrow and selecting from the drop down list.
   • Second condition window: Select 'Internet Domain' by clicking the down arrow and selecting from the drop down list.
   • Third condition window: Select 'is' by clicking the down arrow and selecting from the drop down list.
   • Right condition window: Enter the domain that the Internet mail came from.
     Example: If the message received is from Wonder Woman@hotmail.com, the domain entered would be hotmail.com.
     
     

   Click the Add button.

5. Specify actions section:
   

   • Left action window: Select an action such as 'move to folder' or 'copy to folder.'
     • Note: 'Copy to folder' is not a recommended action as the message will only be copied yet will remain in the Inbox. If the message is deleted from the Inbox, it will also be deleted from the folders it has been copied to.
   • Second action window: Click the Select... button and select the folder the message should be moved to.
     
     

6. Click the Add Action button to add the action you just created. The action will now appear in the 'Perform the following actions:' window.
   

7. Steps 7 and 8 may be repeated to add more actions or to remove any.
   
   

8. Click OK.

The rule has now been created. It will perform the action(s) on new messages that meet the condition(s) specified. If the action is to move messages to a specific folder, they will not appear in the Inbox. That folder must be opened to see any new messages that met the conditions.

 

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A rule can be edited to add or remove condition or actions.

To edit a rule:

1. Open the Lotus Notes mail file.

2. Click the Rules folder in the left hand navigation panel. The rules folder is located directly below the 'Discussion Threads' view.

3. Single click on the rule that will be edited and click the Edit Rule... button.
   
   
4. Add or remove conditions or actions for the rule.
   
   

5. Click OK.

Once the rule has been edited, it will perform the action(s) on future messages if they meet the conditions specified.

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A rule can be disabled if the action on specific messages is temporarily not needed.

To disable a mail rule:

1. Open the Lotus Notes mail file.

2. Click the Rules folder in the left hand navigation panel. The rules folder is located directly below the 'Discussion Threads' view.

3. Single click on the rule(s) that should be disabled and click the Disable Rule(s) button.

The actions on the disabled rules will no longer be processed on new mail that meets the conditions specified. The green check mark to the left of the rule no longer appears indicating that the rule has been disabled.

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Once a disabled rule is needed again, it can be re-enabled.

To re-enable a mail rule:

1. Open the Lotus Notes mail file.

2. Click the Rules folder in the left hand navigation panel. The rules folder is located directly below the 'Discussion Threads' view.

3. Single click on the rule(s) that should be re-enabled and click the Enable Rule(s) button.

The actions on the re-enabled rules will now be processed again on new mail that meets the conditions specified. The green check mark appears to the left of the rule to indicate that it is enabled.

 

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Rules have been designed so that they are used in the order in which they appear from top to bottom in the Rules folder. They can be moved to have a higher (or lower) priority. Therefore, if a new message you receive meets the criteria of two different rules, the rule that is closer to the top acts on the message first.

To move a mail rule:

1. Open the Lotus Notes mail file.

2. Click the Rules folder in the left hand navigation panel. The rules folder is located directly below the 'Discussion Threads' view.

3. Single click on the rule(s) that should be moved and click either the Move Up or Move Down button. Continue clicking the button until the rule appears in the location desired.

Once the rule is moved, the rules listed above it take priority over it on new messages received.

 

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A rule can be deleted if it is no longer needed.

To delete a mail rule:

1. Open the Lotus Notes mail file.

2. Click the Rules folder in the left hand navigation panel. The rules folder is located directly below the 'Discussion Threads' view.

3. Single click on the rule(s) that will be deleted and click the Delete Rule button.

4. A pop up window will appear that says "Permanently remove the selected rule(s) from the database?" Click Y es to delete the rule.

Once the rule is deleted, new messages that met the conditions of the deleted rule are no longer acted on.

 

 

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Created by the PeopleSoft Knowledge Management Team.
Copyright © 2003 All rights reserved.
Created: sak 08/30/2000
Revised: dcb 07/22/2004
Reviewed: 07/26/2004