KB 293

Ok, Spamprobe is Trained. Now what?

Article:293
Created:2004-06-03 11:28:55
Categories:
  E-mail
  Spam

Question or Symptom

In the spam filter page, Spamprobe now says "Spamprobe is Trained and ready". But... a) I've lost some real, legitimate mail! b) I've still got some spam in my Inbox!

Resolution

Congratulations! Your learn_as_goodmail folder now has enough messages in it to complete initial training of the Spamprobe filter!

Spamprobe is now active on your account. Messages which are not caught by another filter (such as SpamAssassin, or a whitelist entry) will be passed through the Spamprobe filter for classification. Messages which are "good" will be delivered to your inbox. Messages which look like spam will be dropped in the "suspected_spam" folder, which you can access via the web-based email, Roundcube, or your own mail client if are using IMAP.

It is important at the early stages of using Spamprobe that you check the suspected_spam folder for any "good" messages. If you find any there, copy them to your Inbox, and to the learn_as_goodmail folder. This tells spamprobe that it made a mistake and forces it to learn from that mistake.

Also, move any spam messages which get into your Inbox to the learn_as_spam folder. Again, this tells spamprobe that it made a mistake.

IMPORTANT: Don't be discouraged if spamprobe doesn't seem very smart at first. Depending on how much email you get daily, it may take 1-2 weeks for spamprobe to learn exactly what your email likes and dislikes are. After a couple of weeks though, it will become very smart and the torrents of spam will be a thing of the past.

Here is a quick summary of how to deal with spamprobe from here on out. Save this message for furture reference.

1. Check the suspected_spam folder for "good" messages.  Copy them to your
   Inbox *and* to the learn_as_goodmail folder.
 
2. If a spam lands in your Inbox, move it to the learn_as_spam folder.
 

After a while you may decide that Spamprobe is so smart that you don't have to check the suspected_spam folder anymore. (After all, what good is a spam filter if you have to check its work every day?) This is a personal decision that only you can make, but most people stop checking it altogether within a month.

Related URLS

 https://kumo.swcp.com/spam/

Related KB articles

 KB 292 How do I get Spamprobe to be Trained?