Create a Filter for Your Calendar Notifications
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Creating a Filter for Meetings
In contrast with the Oracle calendar system, which is driven by a central database, Stanford Calendar is a message-based calendar system. All of the changes to your calendar are created by email messages with attachments. To keep meeting notifications and responses separate from your other emails, you can create folders to file your notifications.
Caveats
Creating a mail filter will work for most of your meeting invitations. However, keep in mind that the filter could also catch other messages—not just calendar messages. At present, there is no way to standardize the text string on which the filter rules can operate. IT Services is working with the vendor to find a way to develop a more reliable solution. In the meantime, if you do opt to set up the calendar filter, you will probably want to closely monitor your calendar notifications for anomalies.
Create a Filter for Calendar-Related Messages
This filter is designed to file almost all calendar-related email, flagging the text *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* that Stanford Calendar uses in all calendar messages.
- Create a mail filter, using the Preferences > Mail Filters tab. Remind me how.
- Click New Filter (the
sign on the left).
The Add Filter dialog box displays. - In the Filter Name box, type a descriptive name. For this example, we’ll use “Calendar Messages.”
- Retain the default “If any of the following conditions are met:” in the first dropdown box.
- Choose Body in the next dropdown box. This automatically defaults the next dropdown box to contains. Then, copy and paste this text into the text field: *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* (ten asterisks separated by nine tildes).
- In the “Perform the following actions:” section, choose File into folder.
Note: Do not have your filter Discard your calendar-related messages. Doing so would prevent appointments from being put on your calendar or updated once they are there.
- Click the Browse... button.
A list of mail folders is displayed.
- Click New to create a folder for your filtered messages, give it a descriptive name, and click OK.
Your new folder will be displayed. - Choose the new folder and click OK.
- Click OK in the Add Filter dialog box to save your changes.
A “Filters Saved” message displays, and you can see your new filter listed in the Mail Filters list.
- Review the rule’s placement in the list to determine if it should come before or after other filters you have created. Rules are applied in the order listed.
Create Multiple Filters for Responses
At times, you may want to track Accept and Decline responses to a particular event.
For example, if you wanted to track Accept replies to an event called Holiday Party:
- Repeat steps 1–3 above, naming your filter "Holiday Party Accepts" or some other descriptive name.
- Change any to all in the first dropdown box.
- Choose Subject, contains, and type Accept in the text field.
- Click the sign to add another line. Retain Subject and contains, and type Holiday Party (or whatever the subject line of your invitation) into the text field.
- In "Perform the following actions:" section, change Keep in Inbox to File into folder, and click Browse... to choose or create a folder. In this screenshot, we've named the folder "Holiday Party Accepts."
- You could set up a similar filter for Holiday Party Declines, setting up a different folder for those responses.
- Click OK in the Add Filter dialog box to save your changes.
A “Filters Saved” message displays, and you can see your new filter listed in the Mail Filters box. - Review the rule's placement in the list to determine if it should come before or after other filters you have created. Rules are applied in the order listed.
- Note: In order to view your Accept and Decline messages in their separate folders, in the Mail tab, make sure that View is set to By Message.
