My aunt is a political activist, and she sends me -- and all of our other family members -- 25 or so emails per day with links to news stories that she?d like us to read. Is there any way to block her emails from flooding my iPhone every day?
Mail on the iPhone doesn?t offer any sort of rules, blocking, or spam filtering, so this sort of behavior has to be done on the server side. Even if you?re using Mail for the Mac, it?s best to set up these rules on the server side so your messages are filtered before they get to you, no matter what device you?re using.
Virtually every email provider offers some way for you to create rules or filters that automatically move certain emails to the Trash or the Spam folder, which should keep them from being pushed to your iPhone. If you use MobileMe, log in to www.me.com, click into the Mail section, and click the Settings symbol to access a pop-up menu. Choose Rules, and use the handy menus to set up filters to the Trash, other folders, and so on. Gmail and Yahoo Mail users can log in to their respective webmail accounts and set up rules in just about the same way. Or check with your email provider for instructions.
MobileMe now gives you a way to filter messages server-side.
However, instead of treating your aunt like a generic spammer by blocking her emails altogether, maybe you could help redirect her energies to more productive venues for sharing her opinions? For example, she could start a blog -- Posterous (free, posterous.com) is easy for non-technophiles. Your aunt simply forwards emails -- or URLs, photos, files, videos, and more -- to Posterous, and they?ll instantly turn it into a blog post for her, ready for people to comment and discuss. Facebook is equally simple and integrated with almost every news website out there. For lively discussions, there?s Yahoo Groups (groups.yahoo.com). If she insists on one-way email newsletters, we really like MailChimp (free and paid, mailchimp.com)?which, of course, lets people unsubscribe.
GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE?
Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life,
4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080
No comments:
Post a Comment