Mail and IMAP and setting rules

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Level 1

104 points

Mail and IMAP and setting rules

I have been a longtime POP mail user, and am just now migrating to IMAP since I access my mail from multiple computers but I have a question on the best way to handle rules.

Under POP, I had all these rules set up in Mail -- things like, "if the message subject includes <mailinglisttitle>, move it to folder <mailinglist>" so that I could keep mail instantly organized upon receipt. I typically kept Mail open on 1 computer 24/7 and accessed it from only that computer.

But now with IMAP, how do I do that? Since I'm accessing my e-mail from multiple computers (2 different Macs and 1 iPhone), how do I handle organizing my incoming e-mail without having to do it manually?

Mac Pro 2.66, Mac OS X (10.5.3)

Posted on Sep 12, 2008 9:16 AM

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Answer 1

floba

Level 3

696 points

Sep 12, 2008 9:26 AM in response to David Das

Hello David.

Just set up the rules. If messages are moved to a different folder by your mail client, they will be moved on the IMAP server as well. (Note: Apple Mail's Smart Mailboxes won't sync with the server.)

floba

(MN462)

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Answer 2

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

Sep 12, 2008 9:28 AM in response to David Das

you can use smart mailboxes (you'd have to set them up on each Mail client you use) or you can use imap folders. IMAP allows creation of folders on the server. you can then use the same kind of rules you used with POP. the only difference would be that the destination folder will be on the server. IMAP folders are displayed at the bottom of the sidebar.

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Answer 3

floba

Level 3

696 points

Sep 12, 2008 9:35 AM in response to V.K.

V.K., you're right, I forgot to mention that the folders have to be on the server. It won't work with local ones. (But again, keep in mind that Smart Mailboxes won't sync either.)

floba

(MN463)

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Answer 4

David Das Author

Level 1

104 points

Sep 12, 2008 10:04 AM in response to floba

Thank you all for your responses, however, maybe you missed the main point of my question (or I didn't state it clearly enough). That's good to know I can set up rules to move messages to IMAP folders, however, this requires keeping Mail running at all times in order to sort them and apply these rules. If Mail doesn't run, messages don't get sorted, which is the crux of my question. What if I don't want or can't keep Mail running 24/7 on any computer?

Hypothetically let's say I do keep Mail running on my main machine 24/7, and let's say I set it to check for new mail every 30 minutes (and therefore, every 30 minutes it applies my rules).

Let's say I'm away from my main machine, and from my iPhone I check my IMAP mail 10 minutes into the 30 minute cycle. That means on the iPhone I'm going to see all my unsorted mail -- which is a disappointment...and that it will take 30 minutes before my main machine's Mail program will sort them. (But I don't want to set my main machine to check once a minute because that will just annoy me and prevent me from getting work done when I'm actually working on my main machine.)

Should I set up the same rules on every computer I use? What a pain to have to do things in triplicate, and then anytime I want to make changes, have to do them in triplicate too.

I realize the question I'm asking goes beyond Apple Mail, but I'm asking if there are any other ways to handle stuff like this, as I make this transition from POP to IMAP, and from one main computer to three.

(BTW my mail accounts are not Mobile Me accounts, before anyone asks. They are hosted by a web site hosting company.)

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Answer 5

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

Sep 12, 2008 10:25 AM in response to David Das

you want a bit too much. mail rules can only be applied when a mail client is running. they are client rules not server rules. so if your home computer is not running Mail and you don't set up the rules on the iphone they won't get applied on the iphone until you start Mail at home. personally i have mail running all the time on my home computer. There is absolutely no reason not to as far as I'm concerned. most Mail IMAP servers support pushing email. make sure that in mail preferences->accounts->advanced the checkbox "use IDLE command if the server supports it" is checked. that's the default anyway so it should be checked already. then emails will be pushed to your computer as soon as they arrive on the server regardless of your mail check interval.

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Answer 6

floba

Level 3

696 points

Sep 12, 2008 11:18 AM in response to David Das

You might want to check whether your email service provider offers the sorting by rules. I know that it's supported by Gmail, for example. See [Google's Help Page|http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hlrm=de&answer=6579] for further info.

floba

(MN464)

Message was edited by: floba

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Answer 7

Sep 12, 2008 3:25 PM in response to David Das

I went through the POP to IMAP switch and ended up discarding almost all my local, Mail-client rules. I use Gmail IMAP, and found it best to sort them on the server side. Gmail's filtering rules don't have as many options as many mail clients, but enough for most of my needs. That way everything is pre-sorted by the time I look at it on my client machine.

I'm still working on rules for the Mail client. There are messages I want to keep copies of locally; so I assume I'll have to set up rules to copy (move?) the messages from a label/folder to a local mailbox. It looks like it is going to be easier since I've already organized the mail on the server side.

HTH,
Rob

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Answer 8

David Das Author

Level 1

104 points

Sep 13, 2008 3:56 PM in response to Rob Gendreau

Thanks all, and especially Rob (last post) -- that's exactly my dilemma.

I've since learned that my hosting company, since it gives me CPanel access, CPanel has server-side e-mail filtering I can use -- I can set up rules to filter incoming mail and automatically channel it to various mailboxes. That's exactly what I need to do, so that I can access ALL my IMAP folders from everywhere with one central set of rules.

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Answer 9

floba

Level 3

696 points

Sep 14, 2008 12:25 AM in response to David Das

David, I'm glad to hear it worked out for you. BTW, server side filtering is exactly what I suggested in my last post using the example of Gmail.

floba

(MN466)

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