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HOW TO USE OUTLOOK XP WITH GUMAIL: UNDERSTANDING RULES

Ever wish that all the mail sent from your friends would automatically go to a special folder called "Friends," or all high priority messages would go to a special folder called "Urgent," or all the mail from your boss would go to the Trash? Well, if you want to make these things happen, you can! You just have to learn to harness the power of rules. In fact, rules can process your incoming messages in many different and useful ways. Once you learn the basics of creating a rule, don't hesitate to experiment with the many available settings.

Filters are client dependent. Outlook XP rules only work with Outlook XP. Your Outlook XP rules will not work with any other e-mail clients. Your filters will not work while Outlook XP is not running.

Before You Begin Using Rules...

Before you begin using rules, you should have a general idea about how they work, and be familiar with some of their limitations:

  • Outlook XP rules only work with Outlook XP. They do not work with Netscape Messenger, Qualcomm Eudora, or other e-mail programs.  Filters do not work with GUWebmail (Messenger Express).
     
  • Rules will only work on the computer where you originally created them, or on a computer to which you have copied your rule settings.  If you check your mail from a computer that doesn't have your rules saved on it, all new incoming messages will arrive in your Inbox.  They will not be processed according to your rules.
     
  • If you are running Outlook XP on two computers with the same rules at the same time, you may get two copies of each e-mail that arrives.
     
  • Rules are not a good idea for filtering mail into shared folders if the person who controls the Inbox will not be logging in often. This is especially important to remember if you sort mail into a shared folder so that others can do the work of processing your messages.  Your rules will only be applied when you log in to GUMail; any mail you receive between log ins will sit unread in your Inbox (until your next log in).
     
  • Related to the last issue, rules are only applied to unread messages in your own Inbox. Your filters cannot sort messages in another person's Inbox that is being shared with you.
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