POP import contacts to whitelist

[danmax]

I've just signed up for SpamCop and it's already working! I hope I am posting this question in the right spot. I've searched around a bit here on the forum looking for answers to a couple of related questions. I am using POP and Outlook Express.

1) Is it necesarry to create a whitelist with all of my contacts (about 700).

2) If so, how can I import my Outlook Express address book for my whitelist without having to enter each allowed sender individually.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

[swingspacers]

You have come to the right spot.

It is not strictly necessary to whitelist all your contacts, unless you check the "Block All" option. Many people only whitelist contacts as necessary, that is, whenever legitimate mail is moved to the Held Mail folder. This can be very easily done from the VER screen using the "Forward (and whitelist sender)" menu option.

Whether you need a lot of whitelisting will depend on how aggressively you decide to filter spam. If you check many blocking lists and select a low SpamAssassin treshold, you will need to whitelist more people. If you check few or no blocking lists and select a high SpamAssassin threshold or even turn off SpamAssassin, you might not need whitelisting at all.

You should activate daily Held Mail Reports so that you are informed of the messages that are being held in your Held Mail Folder. I also recommend using IMAP instead of POP in Outlook Express so that you can access your Held Mail folder directly from your email program.

I don't know any methods of importing a whitelist in bulk. The only whitelisting methods I know are "Forward (and whitelist sender)" on the VER screen and adding to your whitelist from within webmail.

[danmax]

Many thanks swingspacers for your most thoughtful and helpful reply. I understand what you have described. I think I will run without creating a whitelist for now, as I begin to understand more about this guerilla warfare against spammers. If you have a moment, can you tell me more about using IMAP. I know nothing about this, but am willing to jump in and figure it out.

I really feel like I have finally stumbled upon something that is going to work having gotten onboard with SpamCop. I would also like to learn more about how I can contribute to reporting and stopping this spam invasion of my personal privacy. I have a legacy email address (15+ years) which I can not easily change, so I must find a way of protecting it. Once again, many thanks to you and to all who can help.

[Jeff G.]

If you have a moment, can you tell me more about using IMAP.  I know nothing about this, but am willing to jump in and figure it out.

29241[/snapback]

Please see Jeff G.'s Guide to accessing SpamCop email using OE and IMAP. Thanks!

[swingspacers]

OK, here are a few words about IMAP.

Advantages:

1. While POP normally removes your mail from the server when you check it, IMAP leaves copies of your messages on the server. That means that you will be able to access your mail even when you are away from your normal computer, for example, when travelling or if your normal computer is not accessible for whatever reason.

2. While POP only downloads mail from your "Inbox" folder, IMAP gives you access to all your folders on the SpamCop server. As you see in webmail, you have several folders in your SpamCop account, including "Inbox," where your new non-spam mail should be, "Held Mail," where SpamCop puts the suspected spam, and "Trash," where SpamCop normally puts messages deleted from within webmail. With IMAP you can access all these folders from within Outlook Express. You can even create your own folders to sort and organize your mail on the server. Because these folders are stored on the SpamCop server, you can access them from webmail or any other IMAP client.

3. If SpamCop has accidentally put spam in your Inbox, you can easily move it to the Held Mail folder using IMAP. Then you can use the VER screen or webmail to submit the spam to the SpamCop Reporting System. Similarly, if SpamCop has mistakenly put a non-spam message into your Held Mail folder, you can use IMAP to drag and drop it to your Inbox or any other folder where you want it to go.

Disadvantages:

1. IMAP requires a faster connection than POP. If you have only modem dial-up, you should probably stick with POP. If you have DSL, cable modem, or other fast connection, I suggest you give IMAP a try.

2. Since IMAP leaves copies of your messages on the server, your folders on the SpamCop server tend to grow in size over time. If your folders get very full (hundreds of messages in one folder), IMAP tends to get slow even over a fast connection. In that case, it is usually a good idea to move some older messages over to your local folders.

If you want to try IMAP, I suggest you start by following Jeff G.'s guide about using IMAP in OE or search Google for an IMAP tutorial. If you don't like it, you can always go back to POP.

[danmax]

Once again, many thanks for all the generous help. I will now begin to learn more about IMAP. At home and at work I have high speed broadband, but because I travel overseas quite a bit and am often stuck with low speed dial up, it sounds like I would need to bounce back to POP before travelling. I'm going to dig in now and see if I can come up to speed.

And always thanks!