Create a message filter like the one in the attached picture. Add extra rules such as Age in days, is less than, 30, by clicking the box with the +.

The List is a sub-list of Personal Address Book (see image). Unfortunately, the 'test' list does NOT show up in the filter selection criteria. The only options are Personal Address Book, Contacts, Search Results and Collected Addresses.

Your 'test' and SCARC are mailing lists, not address books. All of the contacts in those lists are in Personal Address Book, but if you create a new address book from File/New..., name it and close it, contacts can be copied from a mailing list or address book by drag and drop, while holding the Ctrl key; drag the contacts from the list or book and drop them onto the target book icon.

Terrific, that did the trick. Thanks a lot!

sfhowes said

Your 'test' and SCARC are mailing lists, not address books. All of the contacts in those lists are in Personal Address Book, but if you create a new address book from File/New..., name it and close it, contacts can be copied from a mailing list or address book by drag and drop, while holding the Ctrl key; drag the contacts from the list or book and drop them onto the target book icon.

Thanks sfhowes. I appreciate the solution offered and also the technique to make the process of conversion to a book easy. The problem is that I already have many addressbooks and don't to make more. I'd rather keep my mailing lists as sublists within those addressbooks. I was hoping there was maybe even an add-on I could use to make Lists an option in filter rules.

Ideally if/when a Mailing List is updated, the filter would reflect those updates. E.g., 3 different lists may have 5 names each. If one member drops from 1 team and the List is updated to reflect that, the filter should no longer include mail from that person into that folder. The filter could keep up with the change as long as the List was itself maintained.

I think you misunderstand the purpose of mailing lists: they are for repeated sending to a set of contacts, they are not intended to be address books within address books. Filters can be based on address books, and filter actions reflect the changes made to those books. When you receive a message from a new contact and wish to include it in the filter, click the star next to the address in the Header Pane, twice, and add the contact to the address book used by the filter. This only works with address books, not mailing lists.