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Server Side Rules on the Central Mail Service (CMS)

Table of Contents

Introduction
Creating A Server Side Rule as You Read Email
Creating, Defining and Editing, Deleting Server Side Rules
     First Steps
     Creating a Server Side Rule
     Defining and Editing a Server Side Rule
     Deleting Components from a Server Side Rule
     Deleting a Server Side Rule
     Changing a Rule's Priority
Rule Name
Rule Priority Caveats
Match Criteria
Rule Actions
Questions

Introduction

Server side rules allow you to process incoming messages by directing them to server mailboxes (sometimes called folders) other than your INBOX or by redirecting the messages to other email accounts. Using server side rules allows you to reduce the number of messages in your INBOX and to use other locations to receive new messages about a class, a project, a work group, etc. Since the rules exist on the CMS email server, their effect is evident for any email client (Mulberry, Web Mail, Eudora, etc.) that you use.

To process messages as they are delivered to your Central Mail Service (CMS) account, create one or more server side rules. After rules are created, the CMS checks each new incoming message according to your rules and the priorities you have set for the rules. Note that rules are applied to messages as they arrive in your account after a rule is created; when you create a new rule, messages existing in your INBOX are not processed. Note also when an incoming message matches a rule whose action is move to or forward to, the message is no longer available to other rules for further processing. Since the rule actions copy to and mirror to do not remove the message, the message continues to be passed to the next rule for evaluation.

You create and manage server side rules using the Web Mail interface to the CMS. The message sender, recipient name, subject or other message header are used to create the rule match fields and to process incoming messages.

Creating A Server Side Rule as You Read Email

To change or delete a rule after it has been created, please see the instructions under Creating, Defining and Editing, Deleting Server Side Rules.

The simplest way to create a new server side rule for your CMS account is to:

1. Go to the Web Mail interface.
2. Login with your email id (example: mst3k) and email password.
3. Select a message for which you would like to create a rule.
4. Open the message.
5. In the upper right of the message display window click the icon (icon interface; in the text interface, click the link for Make Rule).

   Remember: To stop the rule creation process, click the cancel link that normally appears near the bottom of each Add Rule window.

6. The first Add Rule window will display. It will appear similar to:
   

   

   Click the down arrows to choose the existing text for the rule match field(s) you want to use. You will have the opportunity to edit this text later in the rule creation process.

   Multiple selections are treated as logical AND meaning that all criteria selected must exist in an incoming message for a match to a rule to occur. At the present time, a logical OR is not possible.

   Click the Next button.

7. The Add Rule Current Rule Matches window will appear. It will be similar to:

   

   Use this window to modify the match criteria, or the text of the match field(s) you chose in the previous step (if needed) and to select a rule action.

   Click the Next button.

8. If you selected an existing mailbox or are sending the match to another email address, go to the next step.

   If you selected CREATE NEW MAILBOX, the next window will prompt you for the name of the server mailbox you want to create. Type the name of the server mailbox into the text box after your selected rule action.

   Click the Next button.

9. The next Add Rule window provides information about what you have selected thus far and asks you to provide a rule name and priority. The rule name/rule priority Add Rule window is similar to:

   

   To complete the rule creation, give the rule a name and choose a priority for it.

   Then click the Make Rule button.

10. The last Add Rule window displays the results of the process. It will be similar to:

    

    Review the information to insure it is correct.

    Click the Done link to close the box and return to your Inbox.

Creating, Defining and Editing, Deleting Server Side Rules

First Steps

To create, define and edit, or delete a CMS Serve Side Rule, you will need to:

1. Go to the Web Mail interface.
2. Login with your email id (example: mst3k) and email password.
3. Click on the Web Mail Settings tab.

4. On the left of the page, click on the link for Server Side Rules. The Server Side Rules window is similar to:

   

   Any existing rules that you have will appear in your list of rules. If you are using the CMS Spam Tagging/Spam Filtering service, you will have a rule named CMS Spam Filter.

Creating a Server Side Rule

After completing the First Steps, to create a new Server Side Rule:

1. In the Server Side Rules window, type a rule name into the box near the Add New button.

   If you do not specify a rule name, your rule will have the temporary name addnewtemprule. You can change this name in the Edit a Rule window. Having unique rule names allows easy management of your rules. Rule name does not affect rule processing order.

2. Click the Add New button.

   Follow the instructions found in Defining and Editing a Server Side Rule to specify criteria for your rule.

Defining and Editing a Server Side Rule

New rules have blank fields, so to define a new server side rule, specify criteria for it by using the drop down boxes and entering text. To edit an existing rule, change the values shown to values you want. Each rule must have a defined match operation (have a defined match criteria for specific fields and values) and a rule action (what you want to happen to a message that matches the rule). Multiple match operations and rule actions are possible for a single rule.

Multiple match operations are treated as logical AND meaning that all criteria selected must exist in an incoming message for a match to a rule to occur. At the present time, a logical OR is not possible. Multiple rule actions allow the matched message to be processed in several ways. For example, a message can be copied to a mailbox and sent to another email address.

1. If needed, specify a name for the rule in the text box at the top of the Edit Rule window.
2. In the Match Operations section are three text boxes. Click the down arrow at the end of the first text box beneath the words Add New Match to see the rule match fields (From:, Any Recipient, Subject, Header Field). Select the rule match field you want to use.
3. To select match criteria options (is, is not, begins with, ends with, contains), click the down arrow at the end of the next text box .
4. In the last text box, enter the value to which you want the rule match field compared.
5. In the Actions section indicate what you want to happen with the message when there is a match between an incoming message and the rule. Here you select a rule action by clicking Forward To or Mirror To or by clicking Move To or Copy To. If you choose Forward To or Mirror To you must enter a valid email address. If you choose Move To or Copy To click the down arrow at then end of the text box to choose an existing mailbox into which you want the message placed.
6. After you have specified at least one match operation and one rule action, you can complete your rule by clicking Update, Update and Back to Rules, or Back to Rules:
   
   

   Update

   Make changes permanent and remain in the Edit Rule window.

   Update and Back to Rules

   Make the changes permanent and return to the main Server Side Rules window.
   

   Back to Rules

   Return to the Server Side Rules window, abandoning all changes that have been made in the Edit Rule window.

To delete one or more of the components (match operation or rule action) for a rule, in the Edit Rule window click the Delete link to the right of the component you want to delete.

Deleting a Server Side Rule

To delete a Server Side Rule, on the right side of the Server Side Rules window, click the Delete link next to the rule you want to remove.

Changing a Server Side Rule's Priority

To change the priority for a Server Side Rule, go to the Server Side Rules window and click the down arrow at the beside the existing rule priority to select a priority number for this rule. 8 is the highest priority. Please read the rule priority caveats to understand how rule priority affects rule processing.

Rule Name

A rule name can be anything you choose. Managing rules is simpler if each rule has its own unique name.

Rule Priority Caveats

A rule's priority determines the order in which the rule is processed, with higher priority number rules (up to 8) being processed before lower priority number rules (down to 1). The default rule priority is 5. Several rules can have the same priority. Rules with a shared priority are evaluated in a random order.

Set priorities and rule actions carefully. If a rule moves or forwards a message, the message will not be processed by any other rules.

For example, if you want all messages that have the word homework in their subject line moved to your homework mailbox and also want messages from mst3k@Virginia.edu to be moved to your friends folder, you might create the following rules and priorities:

• a priority 6 rule to move messages with the word homework in their subject to the homework mailbox
  
  and
• a priority 5 rule to move messages from mst3k to the friends mailbox.

If you are using the spam tagging/spam filtering service, you will notice that the CMS Spam Filter rule has a priority of 8, which means that it is processed first. If you change the priority of this rule, or create another rule with a priority of 8, you may see spam messages in the mailbox/account for the highest priority match.

Match criteria

is

Select any message where an exact match exists between the values of the designated selection field(s) - From/Recipient/Subject/Header - and the value(s) of the corresponding field(s) in the incoming message.

is not

Select any message where there is no match between the values of the designated selection field(s) - From/Recipient/Subject/Header - and the values of the corresponding field(s) in the incoming message.

begins with

Select any message where there is an exact match between the values of the designated selection field(s) - From/Recipient/Subject/Header - and the values of the beginning of the corresponding field(s) in the incoming message.

ends with

Select any message where there is an exact match between the values of the designated selection field(s) - From/Recipient/Subject/Header - and the values of the ending of the corresponding field(s) in the incoming message.

contains

Select any message where any part of the values of the designated selection field(s) - From/Recipient/Subject/Header - matches any part of the values of the corresponding field(s) in the incoming message.

move to

When a message arrives that matches the selection criteria, put the message into the indicated mailbox without putting the message into your CMS INBOX; incoming message is unavailable for processing by other rules

copy to

When a message arrives that matches the selection criteria, put the message into your CMS INBOX and put a copy of the message into the indicated mailbox; incoming message continues to be processed by other rules

forward to

When a message arrives that matches the selection criteria, forward the message to the indicated email address without putting a copy in your CMS INBOX; incoming message is unavailable for processing by other rules

mirror to

When a message arrives that matches the selection criteria, put the message into your INBOX and forward the message to the specified email address; incoming message continues to be processed by other rules

More help

If you have questions about server side rules on the CMS contact the ITC Help Desk. Please include your phone number so we will be able to reach you.