Web Site Hosting Features: SpamGuard

  

Overview

SpamGuard assists you in dealing with emails you do not wish to receive, namely spam. Spam is the digital equivalent of junk mail, that is, unsolicited email sent to a large number to addresses, generally for the purpose of advertising.

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Instructions:

  • Turn On SpamGuard

    • When this is checked, the rules for blocked and Spam e-mails are activated. To check or uncheck, make sure to click on 'Save Settings' after you make the change.

  • Blocked E-mails

    • Based on the rules below, the program will take e-mails that contain words that you indicate as unwanted, and either delete the e-mails or store them in the 'blocked mails' file.

    • Block E-mail address

      • Enter an e-mail address, click on 'Add Block', and then click on 'Save Settings' to add that e-mail address to the list of Blocked Addresses.

    • Blocked addresses

      • Any e-mail from an e-mail address in this list will be blocked. Select one or more of the addresses, click on 'Remove Block', and then click on 'Save Settings' to remove them from the list.

    • Block words

      • Enter a single word, click on 'Add Block', and then click on 'Save Settings' to add that word to the list of Blocked Words.

    • Blocked words

      • If there is an occurrence of any word on this list in an e-mail, then that e-mail will be blocked. Select one or more of the words, click on 'Remove Block', and then click on 'Save Settings' to remove them from the list.

    • Blocked mails will be stored to file

      • If you want the blocked e-mail to be deleted, then leave this field blank. If you leave this field blank, then all blocked e-mails will be deleted. To make the field blank, you need to highlight the text in the field, press delete on your keyboard, and then click on 'Save Settings'. To empty the contents of the file, click on the 'Empty' link. NOTE: To delete all blocked e-mails, you need to make sure this field is blank, not merely empty the file of its contents.

      • If you do not want the blocked e-mail to be deleted, then you need to enter a filename. You can also indicate directories. The directories and filename must be made up of alpha characters, the underscore, or the dash. No other special character can be used, e.g., the period. Once you make the change, make sure to click on 'Save Settings'.

        • Valid Examples:

          • blocked_mail

          • mail/blocked_mail

        • Invalid Examples:

          • domain-mail/blocked_mail.txt

          • mail/blocked.txt

    • HINT: You can store e-mails that the program has blocked to your -mail directory, and then create a user in your mail manager that matches the name of the 'blocked mails' file. This will allow you to retrieve an e-mail that you know is not Spam.

  • Spam E-mails

    • The program will determine whether an e-mail is Spam based upon a scoring system that uses the lists of Spam and Non-Spam words. The more Spam words in an e-mail, the greater potential for the program to mark the e-mail as Spam. Conversely, the more Non-Spam words in an e-mail, the greater potential for the program to not mark an e-mail as Spam.

    • To add to either the 'Spam words' or 'Non Spam words' list, type phrases into the appropriate text box. The program will consider each line in the text box as a phrase. Then click on 'Save Settings'.

      • For example, if you enter 'God is great' on one of the lines, the program will search for every instance of 'God is great' in an e-mail and not just for a single instance of any of those words. For example, if an e-mail had 'God is awesome', the program will not take that phrase into consideration because it does not exactly match the phrase, 'God is great'.

    • Execute SpamGuard Command

      • SPAM: If you have a file with Spam e-mails, choose 'SPAM' from the drop down menu, enter the filename to the right, and then click on 'Save Settings'. This will teach SpamGuard which e-mails it should consider as Spam.

      • GOOD: If you have a file with good e-mails, choose 'GOOD' from the drop down menu, enter the filename to the right, and then click on 'Save Settings'. This will teach SpamGuard which e-mails it should consider as non-Spam.

      • REMOVE: If SpamGuard is marking a good e-mail as Spam, then create a file with that good e-mail, choose 'REMOVE' from the drop down menu, enter the filename to the right, and then click on 'Save Settings'. This will remove that e-mail from the database of e-mails that SpamGuard considers to be Spam.

    • Spam mails will be stored to file

      • All e-mails the program marks as Spam will be stored in the file listed here. You can also indicate directories. The directories and filename must be made up of alpha characters, the underscore, or the dash. No other special character can be used, e.g., the period. Once you make the change, make sure to click on 'Save Settings'.

        • Valid Examples:

          • spam_mail

          • mail/spam-mail

        • Invalid Examples:

          • domain-mail/spam_mail.txt

          • mail/spam.txt

      • HINT: You can store e-mails that the program has determined to be Spam to your -mail directory, and then create a user in your mail manager that matches the name of the 'spam mails' file. This will allow you to retrieve an e-mail that you know is not Spam.

      • To empty the contents of the file, click on the 'Empty' link.

SpamGuard is included in all our hosting packages.