My ISP has been getting a little lax in filtering out spam/junk mail, and more is getting through to Thunderbird. TB recognizes it as junk, but then I have to manually delete the message, so I don't know what the Junk Mail designation is buying me. Many Forum posters mention a Junk Folder, but I don't seem to have one in my Local Folders. Do I have to create one myself or should TB have created one?
Once I do somehow get a Junk Folder established, do I then need to set up a filter to automatically have TB send Junk email to the Junk Folder?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Stew
Don't Understand Purpose of Junk Mail Designation
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sgitlin
- Posts: 44
- Joined: November 21st, 2006, 10:43 am
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mgagnonlv
- Posts: 848
- Joined: February 12th, 2005, 8:33 pm
Re: Don't Understand Purpose of Junk Mail Designation
The exact best way to work may depend on how your ISP works and to a point whether you use POP or IMAP, so here is what I do. I have a few email servers with various successes with regard to spam control. All my accounts use IMAP.
1. My private domain / email server. Spam control is done with a 66% success rate by SpamAssasin; those messages are marked "*** SPAM ***" and are automatically moved to a "Spam" folder on the server. In other words, the "Spam" or "Junk" folder was created automatically on the server.
2. My work email is going through a corporate server which is fairly efficient at controlling spam. Their folder is called "Undesirable".
3. I have a couple of Gmail accounts. Gmail does a fairly good job of identifying junk and labelling it that way. The exact term Gmail uses depends on the language you have configured your account. There are even different tag (folder) names in U.S. English and in British English.
4. I have my ISP default account – not used very much – with zero spam control.
5. I have a couple of other accounts with absolutely no spam control. On the other hand, they don't have much spam because they are truly private accounts.
So here is a scenario that works for me.
1. If you can (i.e. it's accessible and free), set up spam control on your server / ISP as best as you can.
There will probably have options like :
– Mark spam messages with "*** SPAM ***" in the subject line
– Move spam messages to the Junk folder (you may or may not have to define its name).
So check whatever identifiers your ISP provides, if any, and act from there.
2. In Thunderbird check for all folders on the server. Check especially if you have a "Junk" or "Spam" folder on the server.
– In the left panel, right-click on your account name and select "Subscribe..."
You will see the complete list of folders present on your server, with a check mark vis-à-vis those you are subscribed to. If there is a "Junk" folder on the server that you aren't subscribed to, subscribe to it.
– Quit and restart Thunderbird. It sometimes help.
3. Activate Thubderbird's Spam processing
– Right-click on your account name and select Parameters. Then select "Junk parameters" (the 4th item).
Configure by selecting the appropriate options:
– Activate adaptative spam controls (at the top) : if checked, Thunderbird "learns" gradually which emails should be flagged. It is lousy at first, but will behave much better within a week.
– Use headers placed by SpamAssasin (or other engines). If your ISP uses one of these systems, you could sort spam accordingly.
– Move newly identified spams into...
If your ISP has some sort of junk control and there is a junk folder created by your ISP (the one you found in step 2), move spams to that folder. If not, select the first option "Junk" folder on "my account"
– Delete automatically after 14 days.
The last option is good because it gives you time to check your spam folder once or twice a week, or especially when you receive one of these short confirmation email that's often seen as spam.
1. My private domain / email server. Spam control is done with a 66% success rate by SpamAssasin; those messages are marked "*** SPAM ***" and are automatically moved to a "Spam" folder on the server. In other words, the "Spam" or "Junk" folder was created automatically on the server.
2. My work email is going through a corporate server which is fairly efficient at controlling spam. Their folder is called "Undesirable".
3. I have a couple of Gmail accounts. Gmail does a fairly good job of identifying junk and labelling it that way. The exact term Gmail uses depends on the language you have configured your account. There are even different tag (folder) names in U.S. English and in British English.
4. I have my ISP default account – not used very much – with zero spam control.
5. I have a couple of other accounts with absolutely no spam control. On the other hand, they don't have much spam because they are truly private accounts.
So here is a scenario that works for me.
1. If you can (i.e. it's accessible and free), set up spam control on your server / ISP as best as you can.
There will probably have options like :
– Mark spam messages with "*** SPAM ***" in the subject line
– Move spam messages to the Junk folder (you may or may not have to define its name).
So check whatever identifiers your ISP provides, if any, and act from there.
2. In Thunderbird check for all folders on the server. Check especially if you have a "Junk" or "Spam" folder on the server.
– In the left panel, right-click on your account name and select "Subscribe..."
You will see the complete list of folders present on your server, with a check mark vis-à-vis those you are subscribed to. If there is a "Junk" folder on the server that you aren't subscribed to, subscribe to it.
– Quit and restart Thunderbird. It sometimes help.
3. Activate Thubderbird's Spam processing
– Right-click on your account name and select Parameters. Then select "Junk parameters" (the 4th item).
Configure by selecting the appropriate options:
– Activate adaptative spam controls (at the top) : if checked, Thunderbird "learns" gradually which emails should be flagged. It is lousy at first, but will behave much better within a week.
– Use headers placed by SpamAssasin (or other engines). If your ISP uses one of these systems, you could sort spam accordingly.
– Move newly identified spams into...
If your ISP has some sort of junk control and there is a junk folder created by your ISP (the one you found in step 2), move spams to that folder. If not, select the first option "Junk" folder on "my account"
– Delete automatically after 14 days.
The last option is good because it gives you time to check your spam folder once or twice a week, or especially when you receive one of these short confirmation email that's often seen as spam.
Michel Gagnon
Montréal (Québec, Canada)
Montréal (Québec, Canada)
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sgitlin
- Posts: 44
- Joined: November 21st, 2006, 10:43 am
Re: Don't Understand Purpose of Junk Mail Designation
Michel, thank you for your reply. I should have mentioned that my only account that feeds TB, is a POP account from Earthlink.net. I do have a Gmail account, but that is kept separate for special usage.
I did have 'adaptive junk mail controls' checked, but did not have 'Move new junk messages to:' checked. As soon as I checked that, a new Junk folder was built in my Local Folders and I left the 14 days delete option set. Hopefully a couple of spam emails will sneak through Earthlink's filter, so that I can test this new set up.
Thanks again.
Stew
I did have 'adaptive junk mail controls' checked, but did not have 'Move new junk messages to:' checked. As soon as I checked that, a new Junk folder was built in my Local Folders and I left the 14 days delete option set. Hopefully a couple of spam emails will sneak through Earthlink's filter, so that I can test this new set up.
Thanks again.
Stew