about message filtering

[Tom Deering <tdeering@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 20 Aug 1999, Brian Reynolds wrote:

> KK wrote:
> > I'd like a function where you can just avoid a
> > whole string if it is about a topic that has no interest to you.
> 
> Digest format and thread killing are at odds with each other. If you
> get the list as a digest you can't filter the individual messages.

Yes, this is certainly true.
 
> The general way to do thread killing with email is to filter based on
> the Subject: line.  There are two basic problems with this.  First you
> have to use intelligent mail software.  I don't know if the AOL email
> software will do this for you.  

Yes, good email software is a must.  The best is Eudora Pro.

> Second, members of the list have to
> reply to the appropriate message, and change the Subject: line when
> the topoic of discussion changes.  This list in particular is pretty
> bad about doing that, but since I don't filter topics I don't think
> it's too big a problem.

Some software can do MUCH more.  If you are using Eudora Pro, you can do
many, many more things than filter by the subject line.

- Eudora puts all of my MF-3D mail into a special folder.  Likewise with
all my other mailing lists, my personal email, my webmaster email.  Huge
aid to sanity. Makes digest mode unnecessary, since I can easily ignore
certain kinds of mail for a day or so if I'm busy. (More often, I ignore
the rest of my email and read only MF-3D.)

- Mark "read" email which contains certain words, like "viewmaster", in
the title or in the main body.

- Delete email from a particular author (great for spam and Photo-3D.)

- Mark "urgent" all mail that mentiones "sputnik" or whatever.  Eudora
could play a special sound or use a special color.

- Ignore mail over a certain size so you don't wait to download some big
file you didn't ask for.

- I can set Eudora to automatically send a response to certain kinds of
email.  I don't use this often, but it's a godsend sometimes.

These same tools are excellent for spammers and junk mail.  My "garbarge"
folder currently contains 850 message that I've never even seen.

Granted, this is a heavy duty tool, but it's not difficult to use.  I use
it to keep sane, since I get 100+ emails every day.  There is a free
"lite" version of Eudora, but I don't know if it includes filtering.

Tom Deering