# Rule criteria broken down Understanding each rule section will help you design and implement better rule functionality. So let's understand each section: [When](#h_01fwdzh28nnd59jtkrb4spfg65) [IF](#h_01fwdzhdmym08g7k5wpaz3a6bc) [Then](#h_01fwdzhreayr42t5bzpq4yvb8m) ### When - The trigger Inbound email - rule will apply to all emails coming in to the inbox Inbound (Thread reply only) - rule will apply to email replies only\* Inbound (New thread only) - rule will apply to new emails only *\*If your end client replies to your email but changes the title or previous recipients, then Loop will assume this is a new email* Outbound - rule will apply to all emails going out of the inbox Outbound (thread reply only) - rule will apply to email replies only\* Outbound (new thread only) - rule will apply to new emails only *\*If you reply to an email but change the title, edit recipients or forward the email, then Loop will assume this is a new email* Tag Update - rule will apply only when a tag is updated and is not triggered by the age of the email ### IF - The condition Sender domain - rule looks at the domain of the sender only Sender email - rule looks at the whole email address of the sender Recipient email - rule looks at the whole email address of the recipient Subject - rule looks at the subject of the email only Email body - rule looks at the content in the body of the email only \*\* All of these has contains, does not contain, equals, does not equal, starts with, ends with Day of the week - Rule will read what day the email was received Email import time - Rule will read what time of day the email was received\* \* You can choose different time zones here Assigned to (any) - rule will look at who is assigned the email True - rule doesn't look for any other criteria except the WHEN above Additional IF criteria will appear when you choose WHEN - TAG UPDATE Tag - rule will look for any changes to the system tags - resolve, assign, unassign, archive and delete Custom tag removed - rule will look for any #tags you have removed Customer tag added - rule will look for any #tags you have added ### THEN - The outcome Assign - rule will assign to a single person selected Assign using round robin - rule will distribute assignments between a group of people equally in order Assign using workload management - rule will distribute assignments between a group of people depending on their workload Follow - rule will subscribe you to email updates in your Loop Inbox Unfollow - rule will mute you from email updates in your Loop inbox Archive - rule will archive the thread Delete - rule will delete the thread Resolve - rule will mark the thread as resolved Post chat to team - Rule will post your custom chat to the side chat of the email thread Mention someone - rule will mention someone in the thread Forward to - rule will forward thread to your chosen destination Reply with canned response - rule will auto respond using a canned response Add tag - rule will add a #tag Remove tag - rule will remove a #tag Force archive - rule with archive (regardless of peoples private triage settings) Do nothing As you can see, there are loads of ways to automate your workflows. [We have some examples here.](https://help.intheloop.io/workflow-automation/examples-of-popular-rules) You can have multiple rules which follow each other - make sure they are ordered in the order you want them to be applied. There is an option to "stop processing other rules" which means any rule following this one - even if the criteria is matched, wont be applied to this email thread. If you are unsure, please do reach out to [support@intheloop.io ](mailto:support@intheloop.io)and we will be happy to help.