---
title: "Global ignore lists"
description: "Cut noise from your BackTalk inbox with two workspace-wide ignore lists: exclude terms matched on a post's text, and ignore URLs matched on its link. Add a whole or partial domain like github.com/eddiejaoude to mute your own repo while forks are still included."
source: https://backtalk.sh/docs/global-ignore
---
# Global ignore lists

Some mentions are just noise — a job board that keeps tripping a keyword, or your own repository, which you already hear about through GitHub notifications. BackTalk gives you two **workspace-wide** ignore lists on the **Keywords** page that apply to *every* keyword at sync time, so you set them once instead of repeating an exclude on each keyword.

A match is filed to **Spam**, never dropped. Nothing is lost: everything stays in the Spam folder and can be rescued back to the inbox at any time.

## The two lists

- **Global ignore** — matched on a post's **text** (title and snippet). Add a term like `hiring` or `sponsored` and any mention containing it is filed to Spam.
- **Global URL ignore** — matched on a post's **link**. Add a URL and any mention whose URL contains it is filed to Spam.

Both sit at the top of the Keywords page. Add entries as chips (Enter to add, or paste a comma-separated list); remove one with its ✕.

## Ignoring by URL

The URL list matches **anywhere in the link**, so you can be as broad or as narrow as you like:

- A **whole domain** — `news.ycombinator.com` — hushes everything from that site.
- A **partial domain or path** — `github.com/eddiejaoude` — hushes everything under it. Because it's a substring of the URL, a repo path such as `github.com/eddiejaoude/backtalk` also hushes that repo's **issues and pull requests** (`.../backtalk/issues/42`), since their links all start the same way.

### Forks are still included

This is the useful part. The list matches the **exact URL path**, so ignoring `github.com/eddiejaoude` only silences *your* account. A fork lives at a different owner's URL — `github.com/someone-else/backtalk` — which doesn't contain your path, so it **still lands in your inbox**. You mute the firehose from your own project without going blind to what everyone else is doing with it.

## Apply to existing signals

Adding an entry filters *future* syncs. To also sweep mentions already in your inbox, use **Apply to existing signals**: it previews an exact count first, then files the matches to Spam. Triage is respected — **starred, replied and ignored** mentions are left alone, so only untriaged items move.

Removing an entry stops future matching but does **not** automatically pull previously-filed mentions back out of Spam; move any you want back from the Spam folder.