BAYESIAN FILTERING

In an effort to further reduce unwanted spam we have enabled bayesian filtering in our server software. In addition to using predetermined rules such as origin of message and various kinds of content within the message, our system can now "learn" additional rules based on the email that you personally receive.

If you are currently set up with an IMAP connection you will be able to use this service. If you are not running IMAP you can contact support@hausinteractive.com to switch you over.

We have created two folders on the server that you can use to train Spam Assassin with:

- Mark-as-Good
- Mark-as-Spam

You will find these in the listing of online folders, generally on the left-hand side of your mail program. You may refer to the images below for screen shots of Apple Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird and Outlook Express.

If you don't see these folders you can force a synchronization by selecting the menu...

- Apple Mail: Mailbox -> Synchronize
- Thunderbird: File -> Subscribe -> (Check the boxes for these folders and click "subscribe")
- Outlook Express: Tools -> IMAP Folders -> Reset List
- RoundCube webmail: Personal Settings -> Folders

To use bayes on a day-to-day basis all you need to do is drag spam messages into the Mark-as-Spam folder and drag false-positives (messages marked as spam that are not) into Mark-as-Good. Our server will automatically read these messages and use the contents to better mark future messages.

Be sure to check your "Junk" folder from time to time to make sure that the server has not marked any good messages as spam.

IMPORTANT:In order for the filter to begin running for your account it needs to be initially fed 200 good messages and 200 spam messages. Spam training can include messages that have already been marked as spam.

Ideally you will want to COPY 200 good messages from your archives into Mark-as-Good, leaving a copy in your Inbox or archive folder.

To do this:

Apple Mail: Select your messages and right click on them (Control-click). Choose "Copy to -> Mark-as-Good" in Psychology Today

Thunderbird: Select your messages and right click on them. Choose "Copy To -> yourname@psychologytoday.com -> Mark-as-Good"

Outlook Express: Select your messages and right click on them. Choose "Copy to folder...". Select "Mark-as-Good" in secure.hausinteractive.com

RoundCube webmail: The current version of RoundCube does not support "copying" of large numbers of emails but you can move them for training, then move them back the following day.

Unless you want to keep your spam, you can simply drag-and-drop spam messages from your Trash/Junk/Spam folder into Mark-as-Spam.

That's all there is to it! After the initial training and about 2-4 weeks of subsequent training you should see your spam volume drop off noticeably.