I use SpamPal with the Bayesian filter plugin as my client-side spam filter on Win2K. It works well enough but I’m always looking to improve things, so this article (and the subsequent /. discussion) gave me the impetus to see if SpamPal could be made to use Trustic’s DNSBL in addition to its preconfigured lists.

The answer, at least for SpamPal Beta 1.295, is yes–using the “Extra DNSBL Definitions” section of the Options dialog. Here are the steps I used to add Trustic to the DNSBLs used by SpamPal:

1. Create a Trustic account.
2. Once you’ve verified your registration, go to Trustic’s DNS Query Information page for your account and note the second DNS query address.
3. In SpamPal, open the Options dialog and drill down to the “Extra DNSBL Definitions” section. Click the “Extra DNSBL Instructions” button for information on adding a DNSBL to SpamPal. Read this text and then close the file.
4. Click the “Extra DNSBL Definitions” button. This opens “extra_dnsbl.txt”. Add a new DNSBL entry as follows:
   
   

   LIST Trustic

   NAME Trustic DNSBL

   TYPE STANDARD

   WEBSITE http://www.trustic.com/

   ZONE queryaddress

   DESCRIPTION Trustic is a community-based block list that prevents untrusted servers from sending spam. It is a new approach to the spam problem, and it is better than existing solutions.

   Substitute the personalized query address you saw in step 2 above for queryaddress.

5. Save and close “extra_dnsbl.txt”, then exit SpamPal and relaunch it.
6. Open SpamPal’s Options dialog and drill down to Spam-Detection, Blacklists, Public Blacklists. Trustic should now appear on the list. Select it and click Apply, OK.

That’s it–SpamPal should now be checking Trustic’s DNSBL for your incoming mail. Trustic may require additional RESULT_CODE settings–I’m waiting for a response from Trustic and will follow up if needed.