rules & filters - disable notification popup for certain messages

[Brandon]

I like the mail notification popup. Also, I like the little envelope icon in
the system tray when there's a new unread message. These are very helpful
features.

So how do I turn them off for certain messages? I have rules set up to
automatically move certain messages into folders and mark them as "read", but
the notifier still comes up, and the little envelope still shows up. How do I
avoid these, without turning them off altogether?

 

[VanguardLH]

I like the mail notification popup. Also, I like the little envelope icon in
the system tray when there's a new unread message. These are very helpful
features.

So how do I turn them off for certain messages? I have rules set up to
automatically move certain messages into folders and mark them as "read", but
the notifier still comes up, and the little envelope still shows up. How do I
avoid these, without turning them off altogether?

The notification is triggered upon the arrival of new e-mail items and
BEFORE any rules are applied. So by the time your rules are executed, the
notification event has already been triggered.

I do it the other way around. Instead of having the notification appear for
all e-mails, I turn it off and then add the "display <message> in the New
Item Alert window". I have a bunch of blacklist rules. I don't use the
clause in them. I have a bunch of whitelist rules. The clause is used in
those. I then have a battery of rules to check for "bad" e-mails (spam,
bulk, junk, blank subject, non-English charset, and so on) where they get
deleted or moved to the Junk folder (where auto-archive permanently expires
the junked items after 3 days). I do NOT use the clause in those rules.
All my rules use the stop-clause (for those that I don't want to OR
together). Lastly I have a catch-all rule (for e-mails that survived the
barrage of tests) that uses the clause.

This does mean having to give up the fade-in/fade-out gimmicky notification
balloon and instead using the popup alert window to tell you when you have
new e-mail. I find a tray icon worthless to let me know that I have new
e-mail. My eyes are not drawn to a static icon in the tray area. The
transparent notification balloon is only helpful if you are at your
computer. It won't be there when you return. Moving the timer slider all
the way up still doesn't afford a "always show" option (to keep the balloon
continually displayed until you return to see it and then close it
yourself). While I may not be able to immediately read a new e-mail, having
the alert window popup and remain on screen provides a very good reminder
for me to go read the new e-mail when I'm done with whatever I'm currently
busy with, and it'll still be there when I return to my host.

So instead of using the notification balloon to tell you about the arrival
of EVERY newly received e-mail which disappears after a max of 30 seconds,
instead use the alert popup in the clause of those rules for which you do
want to notified of just those e-mails along with the alert remaining on
your screen until you decide on what to do.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

The notification is triggered upon the arrival of new e-mail items and
BEFORE any rules are applied. So by the time your rules are executed, the
notification event has already been triggered.

Not entirely true. It is true of the new message icon display process, but
not of the new message alert (the blue toast) process. That's why rules that
move messages must supply their own alert action if the recipient wants to see
the new message alert.

 

[VanguardLH]

VanguardLH wrote ...


Not entirely true. It is true of the new message icon display process, but
not of the new message alert (the blue toast) process. That's why rules that
move messages must supply their own alert action if the recipient wants to see
the new message alert.

Your saying the Desktop Alert (blue bubble) won't appear if a rule moves or
[permanently] deletes a newly received e-mail - unless the rule includes the
"display a Desktop Alert" clause? If true, it's a pity that the Desktop
Alert settings don't let you configure a "never auto-hide" to keep the alert
bubble displayed on the screen so you could see it upon returning to your
host. 30 seconds is the max display time for the desktop alert bubble. The
bubble will be gone by the time you get back to your host, or when you
aren't so busy that you can bother with the alert. It would make for a
better solution than the envelope tray icon if the desktop alert stuck there
on the screen until the user closed it. That's why I got used to adding the
"display <message> in the New Item Alert window" clause as it only shows up
in the rules where I tell it to show and it stays open until I return or
have the time to look at it.

Thanks for the update on how the desktop alert functions.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Your saying the Desktop Alert (blue bubble) won't appear if a rule moves or
[permanently] deletes a newly received e-mail - unless the rule includes the
"display a Desktop Alert" clause?
Correct.

If true, it's a pity that the Desktop
Alert settings don't let you configure a "never auto-hide" to keep the alert
bubble displayed on the screen so you could see it upon returning to your
host. 30 seconds is the max display time for the desktop alert bubble.

Whlile the GUI won't let you set it longer than that, the key that controls it
is kept in the registry and will accept a value that's years long. See this:
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/mailalert2003.htm