Advanced SPAM filtering for Dropzone.com Mail

[sangiro 4]

Heya all,

Below are some pointers on how to set up Advanced Spam Filtering for your Dropzone.com Mail account. Before you jump in remember:

• The default Dropzone.com anti-spam settings are already pretty strict. See out Policy here.


• If you set this up incorrectly you can very easily filter out legitimate email messages, so walk carefully though the steps.


• If you suddenly stop receiving any email after you've set this up, delete the filter and start over. You probably did something wrong.
[/UL]A quick description of how spam is filtered on Dropzone.com

We use an application called SpamAsssassin which scans through every email we recieve, apply some rules and logic and "mark" every email to indicate the probability of the message being Spam. In the message header (not visible in normal view) all messages are tagged with a line that looks like this:

X-Spam-Level: ****

The number of stars indicates the Spam probability. The more stars, the more likely it is Spam. The Dropzone.com server is currently set to remove all email that scores 4 stars (****) or higher. That's a pretty strict setting. However, you may choose to filter even stronger. We suggest you take your settings down by one additional star at a time, check the results for a while before you tighten it even more. Remember, the stricter your rules, the higher the chance that you may filter out some legitimate emails as well.

How to set an Advanced Spam Filter

To set your filters to be more sensitive you can filter directly on the X-Spam-Level in the header. If for example you want to also filter those messages that receive as little as 3 stars then set your filters like this:

From your email interface go to:

• Options -> Advanced Filters


• Click on "Add new" to create a new filter.


• Set up one of the two filters below:


1. To delete all messages marked as Spam before they are delivered.
   
   To do this, use the following settings for your Spam filter:
   
   If Any header
   contains
   X-Spam-Level: ***
   then: Delete it
   
   If you use this method, messages will be deleted from the server before they are delivered to you. You will never see them, they will not be sent to your Trash folder.
   
   
2. To route all messages marked as Spam to a "Junk" folder.
   
   To do this, use the following settings for your Spam filter. Create a folder called "Junk" (or any other creative name you come up with!)
   
   If Any header
   contains
   X-Spam-Level: ***
   then: Move to
   Folder: Junk
   
   If you use this method, then messages will be routed to your custom folder. You have to manually delete them from there. After you delete them here they will appear in your Trash folder. Remember to empty that from time to time.
IMPORTANT: You must use the full phrase "X-Spam-Level: ***" in your filter. If you use just part of it or only the word "spam" you may end up filtering out all the mail you receive!

Make sure you only have one of these filters running. The choice is yours delete them before they ever get to you or sort them to a folder of your choice.

Also, make sure to have at least one star in your filter setting. With no stars all your emails will be deleted! Also remember, the lower your star rating the higher the likelihood that it will catch and delete some legitimate emails as well. Most normal emails should have a zero star rating.

That's it!

Safe swoops
Sangiro