CREATING A REUSABLE, NON-LOOPING VACATION RULE ON A PC

Below are instructions for setting up a vacation rule that is in effect between specific dates, so you don't have to worry about turning it off when you return from a vacation. You can easily reuse the rule for a different vacation by simply editing the start and end dates and the text of the auto-reply message. And best of all, following this procedure helps ensure that you don't inadvertently create a looping message that swamps email servers at Smith or elsewhere.

Please allow yourself about 20 minutes to complete this procedure. If that seems too long, remember that the time you invest now will leave you with a robust vacation rule that can be used over and over again with minimal effort.

Starting a new rule
Defining conditions for your rule
Defining actions and saving your rule
Interactions between rules

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Starting a New Rule

1. Open the GroupWise Tools menu and select Rules. The Rules dialog box will appear.
   
   
   
   Note that the user in this example already has one rule; your own list may be empty. If you have other rules, be sure to read the section on interactions with other rules at the end of this document.
   
   
2. Click on the New button. The New Rule dialog box will appear.
   
   
   
   
3. In the Rule Name field, type a name for the rule, something like " Vacation rule".
   
   
4. In the area labeled When event is, make sure that New Item is selected and Received is selected.
   
   
5. In the area labeled If conditions are, under Item Types, select Mail and any other item types you care about. When you're done, your window should look like this:
   
   
   
   
   
6. Click on the Define Conditions button, and the Define Conditions dialog box will open. You'll define the meat of your rule here.
   
   
   

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Defining Conditions for Your Rule

1. First, click on the down arrow for the drop-down menu on the left side of the window. If you see the Delivered option in the list, select it, and skip to step 2 below.
   
   
   
   If the Delivered option is not in the list, click on the All Fields option at the end of the list. The All Filter Fields dialog box will appear, with the Account option highlighted.
   
   Click on the Delivered option, then click OK to close the All Filter Fields dialog box.
   
   
   
   
2. Back in the Define Conditions dialog box, click on the button to the right of Delivered, and select the On or After Date option in the last part of the drop-down menu. (Do not select the On or After option in the first part of the menu.)
   
   
   
   
   
3. To select the date you want the rule to start processing, you can either click on the small calendar button or enter the date directly in the field.
   
   
   
   

4. Click on the End button to reveal the last drop-down menu. Select And from the list to start a second row of conditions.
   
   
5. Your second row will be a lot like the first one, but will define the end of your vacation. In the first drop-down menu, select Delivered.
   
   
6. Click on the button, and select <=On or Before Date, it must say date otherwise you will not see the same screen.
   
   
7. To select the date you want the rule to stop processing, you can either click on the small calendar button or enter the date directly in the field.

You've now defined the period of your vacation, so that even if you forget to disable this rule when you get back, GroupWise will stop sending automatic replies to incoming messages. You can change these dates any time to re-use the rule.

8. Click on the End button to reveal the last drop-down menu. Select New Group from the list to start a new group of conditions. (The new group will be your "To" group.)
   
   
9. In the new row, select To in the first drop-down menu, leave Contains in the second, then type your e-mail address in the next box. Use the following format: username@email.smith.edu
   
   
   
   
   
10. Click on the End button, and select Or, then make the same selections but insert the version of your full name that appears next to the GroupWise globe near the top of your GroupWise window, (typically, Firstname Lastname).
    
    
    
    This ensures that only e-mail sent directly to you, unlike e-mail sent to you by way of list servers and whatnot, will be affected by the rule.
    
    
11. Click on the End button, and select New Group again to start another group. (The new group will be your "From" group.)
    
12. In the new row, select From in the first drop-down menu, click on the button and select Does Not Contain, then enter your e-mail address in the text box.
    
    
    
    This ensures that you won't get caught in an endless loop with yourself.
    
    
13. Click on the End button, and select Or. (You'll notice that a scroll bar appears on the right at about this time, and only the last part of your list of conditions is visible. To review or edit any of the earlier conditions, just scroll upward.)
    
    
14. Select From in the first drop-down menu, then Does Not Contain, then in the text box, enter the word: list
    
    
    
    This will catch any generic mailing from "listserv" and the like. (It also means that the rule will not be applied to anyone with "list" in their address, so if your family name is "Lister", you'll have to get creative with other rules or logic.)
    
    
15. If you get regular mailings from other named list services, you should add a row to this group for each one, joining the rows with the Or operator. In the example below, the user gets regular mailings from a list service with adobe.com in its address.
    
    
    
    
16. You are now finished defining conditions. Click OK to close the Define Conditions dialog box and start defining actions.

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Defining Actions and Saving Your Rule

1. Back in the New Rule dialog box, go down to the Then actions are area. Click on the Add Action button, and select Reply.
   
   
2. When the Reply dialog box appears, make sure Reply to Sender is selected, then click OK.
   
   
   
   
   
3. The full Reply dialog box will appear, with your name in the From field. Enter the subject of your choice and your vacation message, then click OK to close the dialog box.
   
   
   
   
   
4. You are returned to the New Rule dialog box. Click Save.
   
   
5. You are returned to the Rules dialog box. Your new rule should appear in the Rules list, with a check mark beside it to indicate that the rule is active. Click Close, and you're done!
   
   
   
   

This rule works only during the dates specified in the rule itself. You can activate it, then forget about it until it's time to go on vacation again. When your plans are set, simply type new dates in the conditions rows, update your reply message, and save the rule again.

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Interactions with Other Rules

If you've discovered how useful rules can be, you may have several rules already. You should also be aware that where you position your vacation rule in your Rules list, and the actions you assign to your other rules, will affect how your rules function.

Rules are processed in the order they appear in your Rules list. If you have several rules, put the most frequently matched rule, or the most significant rule, at the top of the list. To reorder your rules, simply click and drag the rule name up and down in your Rules list.

ALL rules are applied to every message unless you have added the Stop Rule Processing action to a rule. You should always add this action to any rule that is intended to stand alone.

For example, you may have a rule that automatically files all messages from a certain list server into a folder in your cabinet. Since you probably don't want any other rules to act on these messages, you should add the Stop Rule Processing action to your list-server-filing rule. This action ensures that no other rules are applied to the messages in this category.

You should also be sure to place your vacation rule after this rule in your Rules list, so your vacation rule never has to deal with the list server's messages.

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