Getting Your Gmail Inbox Under Control

I don't know  about you but I got a bit tired of having my inbox full of linky party invites.  But because I have participated in those parties I didn't want to ask to be taken off the list or to mark them as spam (which has nasty consequences).

So to manage the invites more efficiently I found out that gmail lets you apply a filter that will send those invites directly to a special folder without going through your inbox.  They are still there so you can check what parties are running.

To apply a filter just click on the email and go to the More tab at the top.  When you click it, you get a number of options.  The second to last one is "Filter messages like this"

Then copy into the has the words box the name of the linky party.  Then click "create filter with this search" (in blue at the bottom right).

You need to click "skip the inbox" and "apply the label" – the first time you do this you will also need to give a name to the folder such as "Linky Party Invites".

Then click create filter – and every future linky party invite from that party will bypass your inbox and go straight to your special folder.

This might seem like a lot of work – but once you have done it your inbox will be just beautifully uncluttered again!

PS  I know that I do send out invites for Food on Friday and Books You Loved to people who follow my blog and/or have linked up before.  I have worried about doing that but most people seem to appreciate it.  If you do want a rest from it, either just let me know and I'll sort it for you or you could filter the reminders!