Re: OT: Why All the Trash in Alt.Sewing

WB wrote:

Snip


I have same question and use Mozilla Thunderbird. Thanks
JPBill

I use the same application so that makes things a bit easier ;-) .

NOTE: There may be slight variations between my instructions and what you see on your screen depending on what 'theme' you are using on your version of Thunderbird but the general procedure will be the same even if your screens/labels are slightly different to mine.

Filters are used in a variety of ways but the most common ones are 'kill filing' where you want to block a specific poster who repeatedly posts inflammatory material (i.e. a 'troll') and to filter message threads that you either want to ignore (and never see again) or to mark in some way to indicate that it is a thread that you are following or posting to.

There are a couple of ways to apply filters to newsgroups and posts in Thunderbird. One method applies the filter directly to the poster/thread/group you are reading and the other allows you to set filters for a specific group without having to be reading that group at the time. I will give you the directions for both and then you can decide which method you prefer to use.

Direct Method:

1.) To block a specific poster in a specific group click on a message from that poster in the upper pane and then right-click on the poster's name in the 'From:' section of the lower pane and select <Create Filter from Message>.

2.) In the control panel that pops up type a suitable name for the filter in the top box.

3.) Select the <Match all of the following> radio button.

4.) In the window below that select <From> in the first drop-down menu, <Is> in the second drop-down menu and ensure that the poster's email address (which could well be fake but it still identifies them)is shown in the final window.

5.) In the lower window select <Delete Message> from the drop-down menu.

6.) You can use the + and - buttons to add or remove additional rules if required.

7.) Once all your rules are set click <OK> to apply them and close the window.

NOTE: The same method can be used to highlight a specific poster whose messages you like to read so that their messages are easier to spot or to mark a message that you need to reply to later. In this case instead of selecting <Delete Message> in the lower window select either <Label Message As> or <Set Priority to> and then select the action you want to perform in the new drop-down menu that appears.

To ignore all posts to a specific thread follow steps 1-3 above and then...

4.) In the window below that select <Subject> in the first drop-down menu, <Is> in the second drop-down menu and enter the title of the thread in the last box either by typing into it directly or by cutting and pasting from the original message window.

5.) In the lower window select <Ignore Thread> from the drop-down menu.

6.) You can use the + and - buttons to add or remove additional rules if required.

7.) Once all your rules are set click <OK> to apply them and close the window.

NOTE: The same method can be used to highlight a specific thread you are following so that the messages are easier to spot. In this case instead of selecting <Ignore Thread> in the lower window select <Watch Thread> in the drop-down menu.

Indirect Method:

The basic method of applying the rules/filters is the same once you get to the main input screen. To get to that screen follow the steps below.

1.) From the main toolbar at the top of the screen select <Tools/Message Filters>.

2.) From the drop-down menu at the top of the control panel select your newsgroup provider account and the newsgroup you want to apply filters to.

3.) Click on the <New> button to create a new filter. A new (and familiar ;-) ) control panel will open.

4.) Follow the steps outlined in the previous section to apply the required filter(s).

5.) If you need to apply more filters to other newsgroups select them from the drop-down menu on the initial control panel.

NOTE: The same steps can be used to filter your incoming email if you select your email account from the drop-down menu on the initial control panel.

Unfortunately I have not found a way to get Thunderbird to apply a filter 'globally' across all the subscribed newsgroups in order to deal with the identical messages that appear in every group on usenet from time to time. It is possible to do that with some newsreader software and I did ask the developers of Mozilla Suite if they could add that function but I have not seen it appear as yet (I only recently switched from Mozilla Suite to Mozilla Thunderbird). The only thing we can do at the moment is to individually apply the same filter to each newsgroup we subscribe to :-( .

Hope that helps you out and if you have any questions just ask ;-) .

--
Larry Green
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