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Get Started Lesson: Learn to Setup Rules

Read Rules Basics First!

If you like your mail sorted into specific folders by type ...

Let's say you have no custom rules created. You have a ton of mail in your Inbox and Junk folder. If you already have rules set up and want to experiment, move the Rules file out of your Identity folder. Quit and restart Entourage to create a new blank Rules file. You can even duplicate your Identity and test rules there without fear of making a mess. Messages must be in the Inbox for testing. Just remember to set Entourage to "Work Offline " under Entourage in the Menu bar while testing. If you like your new Rules, the rules file can be moved back to your regular Identity. (this assumes you are using a clone and the folders are identical. If not you'll have to reset the folder destinatons.)

  1. There are three types of rules in Entourage. They run in the order listed.
    • Mailing List Manager
    • Junk Mail Filter
    • Rules (custom rules that you create.)
  2. Having an up-to-date Address Book is key to managing your mail and using rules. Assign a category to every entry in your Address Book. You can select using command-select to quickly add a lot of entries to one category.
    1. Having a category is useful when something causes duplicates. The duplicates have the category "none" assigned.
    2. We want our good mail to go to the Inbox not the Junk folder where it could get lost. The JMF never assigns messages from contacts in your Address Book to the Junk category.

Using the three types of rules listed above, we are going to address creating our rules in this same order. If you don't belong to any mailing lists, then you can skip this step.

Steps to creating your rules:

  1. Create your Mailing List Manager rules. Most lists generate a lot of messages, unless you are on the digest. Moving these out of your Inbox will get the bulk of your mail out.
  2. Deal with your Junk folder.
  3. Deal with personal mail by creating a custom rule.

If you like each account to go to it's own Inbox...

By default all POP mail goes to the Inbox under "On My Computer." IMAP and Exchange accounts have their own Inboxes. The Default Account will list on top in the Folder list starting in Entourage 2008.

Create a rule for each account:

If you like to view all POP, IMAP and Exchange accounts in one Inbox...

Create a Custom Mail View.

Handy Links: