You can create filters for how you would like new email messages routed: to a new folder you create or an existing folder

1. Filters fall into three general categories
   • All messages: These filters apply to all incoming messages, regardless of their characteristics.
   • Header match: These filters apply to messages that match a header you specify, such as having “JimBob@aol.com” in the To: field.
   • Size match: You can process messages if they're over a certain size limit that you specify. For example, if a message is larger than 5MB, and you would like to move it to a folder you call “Big attachments.”
2. Filters will take effect upon delivery of a message, not just when you're using Web Mail. In other words, even if you set up a filter and you pull down your mail using a client like Outlook or Thunderbird, the filters will still run.
3. Filters can be enabled or disabled from the Filters control panel.
4. You can configure filters to:
   • Reject messages with a bounce message to the sender
   • Discard them silently (no sender notification)
   • Move them into a folder other than your Inbox
   • Send a vacation message (see #6 below Vacation Message Filter)
   • Send you a Notification by email (sending an email to your pager or cell phone, for example)
5. You can opt to take one action on a message that meets your filter criteria and stop there by setting the “STOP” flag, or allow processing of that message to continue.
6. Vacation Message Filter – To enable a vacation auto response message to senders of emails
   • If you have not created a vacation message before, you start by creating a new filtering rule in Web Mail (Squirrel Mail)
   • Click on “Filters” at the top of the page
     
   • Click on the “Add a New Rule” button
     
   • In the “Condition” section, select “All Messages” in the “Rule Type:” drop down
     
   • In the “Action” section, click on the “Vacation” radio button
     
   • Type in your vacation message
     
   • For the initial creation, check the “Disable this rule…” checkbox and click on the “Add New Rule” button to apply
     
     
   • The next time you click on the “Filters” link within Web Mail (Squirrel Mail), you will have options to enable, disable, delete, edit or duplicate any rule including your vacation rule
   • To use the “Enable”, “Disable”, or “Delete” buttons, check the check box in the rule you want to enable, disable or delete and click on the corresponding button
     
   • In the “Options” section, you can edit this rule including your actual vacation message, duplicate the rule or delete the rule
   • A sample work flow once the vacation rule is created and you are going to be out of the office and want to list out the dates could be
   • Click on the “Filters” link on any Web Mail (Squirrel Mail)page
   • Click on the edit icon (see sample above)
   • Change the text of your vacation message (see step above)
   • Uncheck the “Disable this rule…” checkbox and click on the “Apply Changes” button
     
     
   • From the main filtering rules page (see above), you can enable or disable your vacation message rule at any time and an example of when you could use those buttons solely is if you only use a generic/vacation message (see step above) and don’t care about ever editing the text again