I installed FoxMail, but I cannot use the "Bayes Filter", can you explain this?
The Bayes Filter in FoxMail needs to learn what you consider to be 'spam'; in order to do so the developers have hard coded into the program the necessity for 1000 good eMail messages, and another 1000 'spams'.
In order to train both filters, is it necessary that you use the training options for these filters for both types of messages; then alone the numbers will increase, and eventually (depending on the amount of good messages and spams you get, this could take some time) the Bayes filter becomes available to you.
For information on how to train your filters, see #02 on this page.
Select the inbox of your account (or a subfolder (aka'mailbox') of that inbox).
Check whether no spam is in this box, if so... move it to the spambox... we will meet it later there.
In the menu bar, open the "Tools" menu, then select "Anti Spam Options"
Click on the tab that says "Bayes Filter"
Click on the [Learn] button
Make sure that the right type of message ('not as spam' in this case) is checked
Also check whether the right mailbox is selected, if not then you can use the [Browse] button to find it and point FM to it.
Then, when all is checked and found OK, click on the [Next] button.
Next FM will ask you whether you are sure to learn the messages in the selected mailbox as being "Not spam"... if you are.. then click on the [Yes] button, if not... click on the [No] button; we assume here that you clicked [Yes].
After this last click the mail in the selected inbox (or its subfolder) will be processed, and you will see an increasing number behind "Learned as not spam".
When this is done, you have click the [Finish]button to write the data to the file which is used by FoxMail for storage of "not spam" data.
B. Training it to recognize spam.
Select the spambox of your account.
Check whether no legitimate ('good') mail is in this box, if so... move it to the inbox...
In the menu bar, open the "Tools" menu, then select "Anti Spam Options"
Click on the tab that says "Bayes Filter"
Click on the [Learn] button
Make sure that the right type of message ('Spam message' in this case) is checked
Also check whether the right spambox is selected, if not then you can use the [Browse] button to find it and point FM to it.
Then, when all is checked and found OK, click on the [Next] button.
Next FM will ask you whether you are sure to learn the messages in the selected mailbox as being "spam"... if you are.. then click on the [Yes] button, if not... click on the [No] button; we assume here that you clicked [Yes].
After this last click the mail in the selected spambox will be processed, and you will see an increasing number behind "Learned as spam".
When this is done, you have click the [Finish]button to write the data to the file which is used by FoxMail for storage of "spam" data.
Note: Due to the tricks spammers use to fool the Bayesian type of filters, it is necessary to clear the filters from time to time and to start all over again. This in order to keep the filters effective. To do so, proceed as follows:
Open the "Tools" menu
Select the "Anti Spam Options" sub menu
On the next screen, click on the [Advanced] button
Click on the [Clear Learned Data] button
Click on [Yes] to clear the data, on [No] to stop it.
I have trained my filters, but truck-loads of spam are still arriving into my inbox... what now?
First check on the "Anti Spam Options" screen, accessible through the "Tools" menu, that the filters are checked.
Then check for both filters the position of the slider at the bottom of the screen, it should be at least in the center position, but you may decide to put on high.
If you trained your filters some time ago, it may be time to clear the filters and start training them all over again, for detailed instructions on how to clear the filter, see item 02 on the Anti Spam FAQ, last paragraphs.
I want to use an external anti-spam program, is that possible?
Of course it is possible! However, a few things should be observed with external programs:
Many of these programs are so called "anti-spam proxies", which means that they 'sit and wait' untill your eMail client will open the port to the mail server to get the mail, then they will take over... download the headers (or sometimes even the complete message), process it and either delete the spams, or mark them as spam, after which they are transferred to the eMail program.
Configuring such a proxy to cooperate with FoxMail can be tricky, especially if you have an anti-virus program (you do have one, do you?) that will scan your eMail upon receiving it. Why this is so tricky? Because the eMail scanner of the anti-virus program acts as a proxy too, and that could cause conflicts! It is of the utmost importance that the sequence in which the programs are executed is:
FoxMail >>> anti-virus eMail scanner >>> anti spam proxy
In specific cases, post a question in the FoxMail Support forum, we will try to provide an answer there then.
