Utilizing Mailchannels spam headers
Many of my clients use email provided by a web hosting company which utilizes Mailchannels for email filtering. Mailchannels is a well-respected and widely used filtering service. ( https://www.mailchannels.com ) All incoming messages coming through the provider's servers are given Mailchannels spam-related headers. When setting up Thunderbird, there is an option to "Choose an external filter service in the drop-down menu" and "Trust junk mail headers set by:" - but Mailchannels does not seem to be one of the options.
Is there currently any way to set up Thunderbird to trust and utilize junk mail headers from Mailchannels?
If there is no preconfigured or standard way, can a user set up their own filter? Can any of the options in the "Apply filter when" {property} look at headers?
If Mailchannels is not currently one of the "Trust junk mail headers set by:" options, what would be the steps involved in trying to get Mailchannels officially added to the list?
Thanks for your help!
All Replies (4)
To answer the last question first, you would probably be best served to file an enhancement bug request. Even better if you could get the company to make the request.
Now to back up a bit. Any mail header can be used in a filter. It is just a matter of using the "customize" entry on the bottom of the filter criteria to add the header name and then compose appropriate criteria against the header values to define the action. Just be aware that where multiple headers of the same name are present only the first encountered will be used.
To combine the two issues, this link to the spamassassin source for Thunderbird shows the hidden filter enabling the trust header for that service that is used when the option is enabled. ie it is just a hidden filter.
spampal uses the following hidden filter https://searchfox.org/comm-central/source/mailnews/search/src/
Modified by Matt
Thanks Matt. I found this documentation, in line with your recommendation, which should be helpful: https://kb.mozillazine.org/Junk_Mail_Controls#Use_custom_headers_added_by_your_email_provider
I've been trying to communicate with MailChannels about this, but so far they do not even understand what I'm talking about, and seem to have little interest in discussing this at the end-user, mail client level. :-(
I've also asked a web hosting provider I often use (DreamHost, which utilizes MailChannels) about this. I've suggested that they write a MailChannels Addon for Thunderbird; let's see where that goes.
Any suggestion which I could pass along to them on what might be a good model for them in creating such a plugin?
Heck, if it's not too hard, I could even take a crack at it myself. Any links about how to create a Thunderbird addon would be appreciated. I've written some simple WordPress plugins, but not any Mozilla addons.
Any other suggestions?
Modified by hommealone
Thanks Matt. I found this documentation, in line with your recommendation, which should be helpful: https://kb.mozillazine.org/Junk_Mail_Controls#Use_custom_headers_added_by_your_email_provider
I've been trying to communicate with MailChannels about this, but so far they do not even understand what I'm talking about, and seem to have little interest in discussing this at the end-user, mail client level. :-(
I've also asked a web hosting provider I often use (DreamHost, which utilizes MailChannels) about this. I've suggested that they write a MailChannels Addon for Thunderbird; let's see where that goes.
Any suggestion which I could pass along to them on what might be a good model for them in creating such a plugin?
Heck, if it's not too hard, I could even take a crack at it myself. Any links about how to create a Thunderbird addon would be appreciated. I've written some simple WordPress plugins, but not any Mozilla addons.
Any other suggestions?
Please post an example mail header from this mailchannels It will be messy appearing in the forum, just post and let it be and I will have a look at possible filters you can use without add-ons.