Outlook Rules for Stackora — Auto-Forward the Right Mail

Before you create rules

Stackora processes mail that arrives at your forwarding address. Outlook inbox rules are how you decide which messages get routed there.

1. Copy your Stackora address from the Dashboard (it looks like u_<token>@mail2.stackora.ai).
2. Verify Outlook will allow forwarding to an external address. In Microsoft 365 environments, an administrator may need to enable outbound forwarding for your account — check with IT if rules silently fail.

Once that is confirmed, open Settings → Rules → Manage Rules & Alerts (desktop) or Settings → Rules (Outlook on the web) to create each rule below.

Rule 1 — School and district mail

School mail usually comes from a predictable set of domains.

Conditions:

• Sender's address contains @district.k12.state.us (adjust to your district)
• Or sender's address contains @schoolname.edu
• Or sender's address contains @parentsquare.com

Actions:

• Forward it to your Stackora address.
• Optionally Move it to a folder (e.g., "Archived — Stackora") so it stays out of your inbox without being deleted.

Add an exception for subjects containing payment, receipt, or order confirmed if financial mail should stay local.

Rule 2 — Finance and admin

Use subject keywords when the sending domain is too broad (banks and utilities often send from recognisable subjects rather than unique domains).

Conditions:

• Subject contains: invoice, statement, amount due, payment due, or autopay

Actions:

• Forward to Stackora, move to archive folder.

Review catches for two weeks. Retailers and loyalty programs love the words "statement" and "due," so tighten phrases if promos slip through.

Rule 3 — High-priority senders

When a handful of specific people always merit extraction, a sender list beats subject guessing.

Conditions:

• From coach@sports.org
• Or from nurse@pediatrics.com
• Or from lead@company.com

Actions:

• Forward to Stackora.
• Optionally also Flag the message if you still want a visual cue in Outlook.

Rule 4 — Newsletters and low-urgency lists

Conditions:

• Subject contains: unsubscribe, or body contains view in browser, or sender's address contains noreply@

Exceptions:

• Subject does not contain security alert, password, or verification

Actions:

• Forward to Stackora, move to archive folder, Mark as read so your unread count stays honest.

Rule ordering matters

Outlook runs rules top-to-bottom and stops on the first match by default unless you enable "Continue processing." Put sender-specific rules (Rule 3) above keyword rules (Rule 4) so important contacts are not swept into the newsletter bucket. In Manage Rules & Alerts, use the arrow buttons to reorder.

Verify end-to-end

Send yourself test messages that match each rule. In Sent Items, confirm forwarding fired. Then open Stackora → Dashboard and confirm new items appear once processing finishes.

Common mistakes

Forwarding blocked by your organization — Microsoft 365 tenants often restrict external forwarding at the policy level. If rules appear to work but nothing arrives in Stackora, ask your IT admin about the outbound forwarding policy.

"Stop processing more rules" left unchecked — If multiple rules should all fire on the same message (e.g., a school finance email), make sure each rule's Stop processing option is off, or consolidate conditions into one rule.

Over-broad keyword rules — Start narrow; broaden only when you notice consistent gaps in your digest.

Assuming read status syncs — Marking messages read in Outlook does not affect how Stackora processes them. Stackora works from the content it receives, not Gmail or Outlook labels.

Stale domains — Schools change notification vendors. A ten-minute quarterly review of your rules catches silent drift before you miss something important.