[Spambayes] Problem with POP3 Proxy

[Kenny Pitt]

bhecht at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> I am using Outlook Express, which is functioning fine, and Windows
> XP.  It's just that SpamBayes doesn't seem to be doing anything - not
> seeing or doing anything with the mail.

First, make sure that you have Outlook Express configured to use
"localhost" as the server instead of going directly to
"pop.sbcglobal.yahoo.com".

Then, after receiving some e-mails in Outlook Express that don't appear
to be classified, right-click on the SpamBayes tray icon and select
"View information...".  In the "Status and Configuration" box at the top
of the page you should see the label "Emails classified this session:".
If all of these values are zero then SpamBayes is not seeing the
e-mails.  In that case you should also see "POP3 conversations this
section: 0".  This would indicate that you have not properly configured
Outlook Express to use the SpamBayes proxy.

If the status message indicates that SpamBayes has classified some of
your e-mails (probably all unsure), then the problem is more likely to
be that you haven't configured Outlook Express to filter the messages
that SpamBayes has processed.  The SpamBayes proxy can't actually move
any messages for you, it can only add information to the message that
your mail client can filter on.

OE's filter support is very limited, so you first need to change some
options in SpamBayes.  Go to the configuration page and scroll down to
the 3rd box, "Header Options".  Next to "Classify in subject header:",
check "unsure" and "spam".  This will cause SpamBayes to add the
classification to the beginning of the message subject.  After you save
the configuration change, you should immediately start seeing these
classifications appear on your received messages.

Now you need to set up your Outlook Express filtering rules to move
messages that SpamBayes classifies.  You'll need to create two folders
in OE, one for spam messages and one for unsure messages.  Then go to
Tools->Message Rules->Mail.  Create a new rule and select "Where the
Subject line contains specific words" and "Move it to the specified
folder".  In the Rule Description box, click "contains specific words"
and enter "spam".  Then click "specified folder" and choose the folder
that you created for spam messages.  Name this rule something like
"SpamBayes spam messages" and make sure it is at the top of the message
rule list.  Then create a similar rule to look for "unsure" in the
subect and move those to your unsure folder.

After you've done all that, you should start seeing all of your messages
moved to the Unsure folder.  You'll then need to use the SpamBayes web
interface to review the messages and select the proper classification.
Then click the Train button at the bottom to update your training
database.  SpamBayes should soon start classifying most of your messages
correctly.  You'll then need to review and train only when it gets an
unsure or makes a mistake.

-- 
Kenny Pitt