Restore bounce to Mail in Lion

Hi Stefan,

I was using the a Service type of Bounce function with Lion, however, I've just found and installed your packaged button version and I think it's great.

Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to prepare this for us all.

Great work, thanks.

Dave

Hi Stefan

Is it possible to create a rule that bounces specified email addresses automaticaly?

@paulebarrow

Use "rules" in Mail preferences for that......

Apologies I'm rather inexperienced on a Mac so would appreciate some help.

When creating a rule there doesn't appear to be an action for bouncing an email? Would I need

to run an applescript and if so what?

Go to Mail menu (above left) and select preferences. Choose rules. Add rule. Fill in your criteria and the actions that have to be performed. No further script needed. After OK you are asked to apply it to all email or just new ones (then don't apply).

Hope this clearifies it.

Bas

Yeah, @bndekker doesn't seem to be getting why this won't work.

@paulebarrow, the reason the standard method for applying a rule (which is what @bndekker is describing) won't work is because we've used a hack, of sorts, to re-enable a feature that hasn't necessarily been removed entirely from Mail, but has been removed entirely from the Mail interface. Therefore, Bounce is not an option within the rules actions.

You're leaning in the right direction. You'll need to apply an Applescript. Now, I haven't done anything with Rules in many ages, so don't look to me for step-by-step instructions. But it seems like you've got a grasp on Rules, and can see an option for running an Applescript. What you'll need to do is look back in the history of this conversation, and you'll find the appropriate Applescript. It is copied in text somewhere early on in this discussion; I also linked to an Automator Service that you can download (the link should still work), which has the Applescript as part of the Service.

Essentially, you want to grab that Applescript, and plug that script into your Rules. Hope that helps.

@JBWTucker and paulebarrow

If bounce is installed and shows up in the Mail Toolbar with the blue "bouncing" arrow, that part is correct.

Automating bounce does not make sense. Bounce is used to send the message back to the KNOWN sender (not "no reply"-addresses). You use it once or twice on the same sender. By then they usually stop sending messages. For the "no-reply" and other persistent senders you use rules in Mail preferences. That eliminates unwanted email without you having to "see" it if you delete it completely.

If this is not the answer to your question, could you elaborate on that?

Bas

@bndekker, no doubt you're correct, for the most part. But he didn't ask if automating bounce made sense; he asked how to do it. When you go for a haircut and give your stylist specific instructions, you don't expect her to lecture you on what an idiot you are for wanting such a haircut. When you get on an auto repair board and ask for instructions on fixing your carburator, you don't expect a lecture on why fuel injection is better; you expect someone to provide some assistance with fixing your carburator. When you ask a trainer at the gym for advice on some good chest exercises, you don't expect him to tell you that you shouldn't be working your chest, but should instead work on calves and quads.

You don't automate bounce, and you never will, and that's fine. But you don't know someone else's context, and how it might actually be very useful for them. And even if all it does is exacerbate their current spam situation, what's it to you? It's their system, they can do what they want to it. There has been more than enough warning on this board.

By the way, here's an example of why automating bounce might not, as you suggest, always and forever be a useless and bad idea, no matter the circumstances. I stay away from my mom's side of the family; many of them are awful, criminal people that I don't want involved in my life, or my kids', or even knowing where we are. Those that aren't terrible, dangerous people constantly enable those that are, and share information about me and mine with those people, and as such are just as dangerous. Somehow, that entire side of the family got ahold of my email address at one point. I do NOT want that. So I bounce. And you know what? They're persistent, dim-witted people, at least when it comes to bounced messages. It takes more than once or twice. It took a good while for me to stop getting messages from them. But eventually, it worked. They finally got the idea. And when they contacted my mom to get my new email address, she had instructions from me to evade the question and under no means give them that information.

So you see, there are situations where it might be useful. I may even use it myself—so that if I EVER get an email from ANYONE on that side of the family, at ANY of my email addresses, it immediately and automatically bounces, and it does so as many times as necessary.

Bounce was dropped from Lion as it was simply not doing as people were fooled into thinking it was. That is why only third party hacks are available. You can Automate and write all the scripts you want, but Apple dropped a useless feature and I believe will not reintroduce it at any stage. I have had an greatly decreased amount of spam since the bounce feature was taken away. Like it or lump it, it's gone as a component of OSX, so Apple obviously had little faith in it's ability to do anything productive.

But good luck

Pete

Pete, there's a pretty huge distinction between it being a counterproductive feature for the masses because the vast majority of them don't understand how to properly use it, and a very positively productive feature for those who understand how and when to use it properly. Thus, while it was removed from the interface in Lion (it was not removed from the Operating System as a feature altogether, since it is still available to be accessed via AppleScript; nor is the hack a third-party one), this does not automatically mean that it is an entirely useless and negative feature. It simply means that it wasn't a good idea to have available to the vast majority of people.

To those who do understand when and how to use it properly, it is still highly useful and desirable. As there has been more than enough discussion on this board as to the potential effects of using Bounce in a variety of situations, it's safe to say that those following the instructions on this board to re-implement it can and ought to be considered among those that know how and when to use it properly. If they fail to read or heed the warnings and other discussion on that issue in this thread, then any negative results from using Bounce improperly are their own fault.

As for the rest of us, who actually do know quite well exactly what we're doing and don't need a tired, narrow-minded, self-aggrandizing, patronizing sermon from the likes of you and 17 other people, it goes like this: It's my own bloody computer and my own bloody email, and I'll do as I please with it; since that only affects me, you can kindly bug off.

JBWTucker wrote:

As for the rest of us, who actually do know quite well exactly what we're doing and don't need a tired, narrow-minded, self-aggrandizing, patronizing sermon from the likes of you and 17 other people, it goes like this: It's my own bloody computer and my own bloody email, and I'll do as I please with it; since that only affects me, you can kindly bug off.

You really have no idea on the Bounce feature. It is counter productive, but those who do know its uselessness (I believe there are about 100 million Mac users world wide - where are they in this forum?) and have tried to explain it, you won't listen because you know better and the other 17 here (Did you have to go and do a count to try to justify your 'theory'?) know nothing. Bounce has gone, face it. Hack away all you want, but don't come back crying when you mess up your system. If Bounce is the most important thing in your Computer Workflow, then I saddens me a bit. Computers do lots of other things too you know?.

But It's your computer as you say, but not your thread, so thanks for the kind words, but I won't be bugging off anywhere.

Kind Regards

Pete

JBWTucker wrote:

It's my own bloody computer and my own bloody email, and I'll do as I please with it; since that only affects me, you can kindly bug off.

You are exactly why bounce should never come back, you nasty spammer 😮

I agree with JBW.

Please stop trolling this thread Pete. People here have tried to explain to you what use the feature has, and all you do is ignore them and continue to come back and "preach" to us about how the feature is useless and that we shouldn't use it. You choose to ignore that we do understand what it's useless for, but still have our own uses which are different from what you're saying that you see improvement on (spam).

I *want* this feature and am glad of the hack. I know where the junk button is and use it for spam. I agree that Bounce isn't useful for that (I was always aware of that), and never used it for that. I am also fine with it not coming back, and don't expect Apple to bring it back. Hacking a little feature like this won't mess up our systems, but it does provide a useful function for me, and I am happy to be able to use it for that.

It seems to me that you were the one who *was* clueless about the feature, and now that you're "englightened' you feel an overwhelming need to spread that enlightenment down others' throats. Point noted, *please* move on.

No.

Pete

@JBWTucker, I don't need THREE examples of your vision on this matter. Paulebarrow indicates he is a novice to Mac. If he would ask me to automate screen-pictures of everything he does on the computer so he has it on file, I would say to him: there is "an app" for that: back-up or Timemachine.

And I never called him an idiot, and I certainly have no intention on lecturing him. I even kept the discussion/question open by asking him to clarify if he wasn't satisfied with my answer.

You also miss the distinction between Bounce and Rules (in Mail). If you had put you nasty families email addresses in rules, with the option of deleting the selected messages, it would have stop ALL their emails and avoided confrontation because the message would be deleted before you see it...... Even if they get hold of your new email address, you avoid confrontation all together.

Reading back all the posts my conclusion is that Bounce works IF and WHEN applied porperly.

And to petermac87: start you own thread: I am so happy that Bounce is bounced!