Technical Support

General Usage Tips

Do you need to re-download your licensed copy of Ella?

Go to http://www.findmyorder.com If you have any issues just email us at the support address on the right side of this page.

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Training Ella for Spam Control

Take a look at the Simple Wizard Demo! It takes only three minutess to get started.

Unlike virtually all spam filters and Inbox organizers, Ella for Spam Control has no concept of rules, whitelists or blacklists. Instead, Ella for Spam Control's accuracy is based 100% on email training. To get the most accurate results with Ella for Spam Control, you should train on at least 10-15 emails for your Inbox folder, and 10 each for your Spam and Later. The Later folder is not mandatory.

The Inbox folder is the most important folder to train. Ella for Spam Control will not auto-scan your Inbox until all 3 folders have been trained. However, the amount of training is up to you. If your Inbox has hundreds of emails, and Ella for Spam Control is only trained on a handful, Ella for Spam Control may need additional training to improve its accuracy.

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Retraining Ella for Spam Control after the First Inbox Scan

If you have a large amount of email in your Inbox, you will most likely need to retrain Ella for Spam Control (re: make some corrections) after the initial Inbox scan. After the initial scan, click on the "Ella Review (Later)" folder and check for items that should have remained in your Inbox. Use the mouse to select the items to be retrained (hold down the ctrl key to select multiple items), and then click on the Ella for Spam Control Inbox button in the toolbar. This tells Ella for Spam Control to un-learn them as Later and re-learn them as Inbox items.

Similarly, check your "Ella Review (Spam)" folder and retrain as necessary. We advise checking the Ella review folders often during your first 2-3 days of use to improve the training, then weekly. If after a few days of training Ella for Spam Control is still not performing to your expectations, please email Technical Support at support@openfieldsoftware.com.

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Auto Deleting Spam in Outlook

(These instructions are specific to Microsoft Outlook - there is not a current method to do this in Outlook Express)
You can automatically empty your spam folder by using the Outlook archive feature.

1. Right-click on the "Ella Review (Spam)" folder, and select "Properties," then click on the "AutoArchive" tab.
2. Check the box labeled "Clean out items...," and set the occurrence to something you're comfortable with, say 5-7 days.
3. Select "Permanently delete old items," and click "Ok."
4. Now from the Outlook mainmenu,select"Tools"->"Options"->"Other"->"AutoArchive."
5. Make sure the "AutoAchive every..." box is checked.
6. If you leave your machine on overnight, uncheck "Prompt before AutoArchive," and click "Ok" twice.

To jump-start your first batch of auto-deletes, from the Outlook main menu, select"File"->"Archive," select the "Ella Review (Spam)" folder, select last week as the date, and click "Ok."

Everything more than a week old will be deleted from your Spam folder, and this will happen automatically each time you start Outlook (or shortly after midnight for machines left on overnight).

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Open Issues

Outlook exits right after launch - when Norton 2007 installed

With certain instances of Norton 2007, a key Windows file, the XML Parser is inadvertently deleted by the Symantec installer. Running the following file will replace it with the latest Microsoft instance and restore the use of Ella and Outlook, without harming Norton 2007.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3144b72b-b4f2-46da-b4b6-c5d7485f2b42&DisplayLang=en

Please download and save the .msi file and then run it (insure that Outlook is closed).

Outlook XP states an application is trying to access my Address Book

When using the FREE version of Ella with (and only with) Outlook XP, Service Pack 3, Outlook warns the user that an application is attempting to access the users Address Book. Be assured that Ella is NOT attempting to access the user's Address Book. This is caused by the two line promo signature that Ella places in the outbound messages when using the FREE version. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to prevent this warning from appearing. The licensed version of the Ella does not contain the promo signature, and does not exhibit this warning. The licensed version sells for a one time price ($29.95) and there are no annual fees.

Outlook Hangs When Getting Mail

The following instructions will help those users that have experienced an intermittent problem with respect to the autoscreening operation of Ella for Spam Control using POP3 with Outlook. The symptom was a "seize" of the user interface - requiring you to close Outlook.
It has been determined that this problem relates to McAfee's VirusScan product specific to the ExchangeScan setting - their default add-in for Outlook.
If your installation is POP3 only, ExchangeScan should be turned off.
What follows are some brief instructions that should assist you in getting things working again.

1. While in Outlook go to the Tools menu and select Options.
2. Select the Other Tab, press the Advanced Options button and then select the Add-In Manager button.
3. You should see an item in the list box titled "Exchange Scan" - please turn the checkbox off.
4. Select OK to all of the dialog boxes until they are all closed.
5. Close and re-launch Outlook.

Similar instructions may be found on the Mcafee web site:

http://ts.mcafeehelp.com/displaydoc.asp?docid=192783&CategoryId=61129
Be sure to check with McAffee's documentation on how best to insure that your email is protected from viruses; here are instructions that we have found to get you started.

1. Right click on the Vshield icon in the system tray, and choose Properties | E-mail Scan.
2. Check Enable Scanning of E-mail Attachments.
3. Clear the box for Microsoft Exchange (MAPI).
4. Check Internet Mail, which will enable Download Scanning.
5. Click Apply, then OK.

 

If the previous instructions fail to resolve your problem, please review the following - which was provided by McAfee technical support and applies to 
McAfee Virusscan 7.3.6000 

Please open the VirusScan Window.

Under Tasks please click on Configure Automatic Protection settings. There please click on Advanced Button. There under System Scan please click on Exclusion Tab. There please add your Ella software in the list. Apply the settings and press Ok. This will resolve the issue you are facing.

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Disappearing Ella Training Toolbar - Outlook 2000/2002/2003

There are a number of things that can cause Ella for Spam Control or other Outlook add-ins to be disabled, including security settings, switching profiles, net disconnects, cradled handheld computers, pop-up blockers, etc. If this happens to you, follow these steps, and Ella for Spam Control should reappear.

1. If you are using a handheld computer (i.e. IPAQ that uses ActiveSync) - be sure the device is NOT in the cradle whenever you launch Outlook. ActiveSync causes an instance of Outlook to run in the background, and when you launch Outlook, fails to call any COM Addins, such as Ella.
2. From the Outlook menu, navigate to the Tools->Options->Other Tab, click Advanced options, click Com Add-ins, and there you should see Ella Agent.
3. Select Ella Agent, and click the Remove button so that Ella disappears from the list.
4. Now click the Add button, and in the dialog that comes up, navigate to where Ella for Spam Control is installed. The default location is the subdirectory: c:\Program Files\Open Field Software\Ella for Microsoft Outlook.
5. Double click on the file named OFSOutlookPlugIn.dll, and the words "Ella Agent" should appear and be checked in the list (click the checkbox if it is not checked). Click the OK button, and the Ella for Spam Control buttons should reappear on your toolbar. Click OK two more times and you're done.

Disappearing Ella Training Toolbar - Outlook Express 6

If you close the main Outlook Express window (the inbox) before closing all of the open Message windows, Outlook Express will continue to run hidden in the background. This causes problems for Ella in that Outlook does not inform the system that it re-appears when the user launches Outlook Express again.

There are a couple of actions that you can take that will force Outlook Express to fully close and allow Ella integrate with it.

1. A fresh reboot will always close Outlook Express and then allow Ella to re-integrate. Rather than closing Outlook Express, minimize it, which will prevent Outlook Express from going into its "hidden" state
2. If you do not wish to reboot - you can use Task Manager to force a close of the "hidden" Outlook Express. Right click on the task bar along the bottom of the screen and select Task Manager from the list. Select the Processes Tab and locate the running process for Outlook Express (MSIMN.exe). Sort the User Name list makes this easier to locate the item as it will be in the user login name or "owner" process. Select MSIMN.exe and choose "End Process" at the bottom of Task Manager. This will close Outlook Express completely. When Outlook Express is launched again - Ella will be integrated.

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Other Email Clients

Ella for Spam Control works with Microsoft Outlook 2000/XP/2003 and Outlook Express 6. Ella for Spam Control does not work with Netscape Navigator, Eudora or any other email client.

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© 2003-2008, Open Field Software