|
||
 |
||
|
| Microsoft Outlook |
 Email This
 Print ThisView My Personal Library |
|
Software Suites May 2000 • Vol.4 Issue 2 |
Microsoft Outlook Tips For Versions 97, 98 & 2000 | ||
Formatting E-mail1. Switch mail formats when replying. By default, Outlook replies to the sender in the same format the message arrived in, but you can configure whether Outlook replies in plain text, rich text, or HTML format. With the reply open, select the desired option from the Format menu.
3. Send and receive HTML e-mail. Attention Outlook 98/2000 users: E-mail doesn't have to be plain text. You can attach graphics, include sound clips, or even send entire Web pages with Outlook by using HTML as your message format. To change your message format, go to Tools, Options and click the Mail Format tab. Change the default message format value from Microsoft Outlook Rich Text to HTML. (Keep in mind, though, that only recipients with HTML-enabled e-mail programs will be able to "read" this material. Outlook 97 users and those with other programs might only see unintelligible characters instead.) 4. Store work in Drafts. Did your computer crash while you were composing that e-mail masterpiece? Not to worry; in Outlook 98, Microsoft introduced the Drafts folder, which automatically saves unsent messages. Just go to View, Folder List, and double-click the Drafts folder to locate, retrieve, and complete the message. 5. Track sent mail. When sending e-mail, novice Internet users often wonder if their messages were received. With Outlook's "read receipt" feature, you won't have to wonder; you'll know if the recipient has opened your message. When composing a new message, click the Options icon from the message's toolbar and check the third option under Tracking. (This feature exists in Outlook 98 and was enhanced in Outlook 2000.) 6. Change reply settings. When you reply to a message, Outlook 2000 automatically includes the original text. To change this default setting, select Options from the Tools menu, select the Preferences tab, click the E-mail Options button, and choose one of the five reply options from the pull-down menu. You can also change forwarding default values here. Outlook 97 has a similar option available under the Reading tab of the Options dialog box. 7. It's automatic.One of the easiest ways to receive new mail is to click Tools, Check For New Mail in Outlook 97 or click the Send/Receive icon in Outlook 98/2000. However, all versions can be set to check for new mail at regular intervals that you determine. To check the delivery settings, go to the Tools menu and click Options. Outlook 97 users will find this under the E-mail tab, Outlook 98 users will find this under the Mail Delivery tab, and Outlook 2000 users should use the Internet E-mail tab. 8. Quick print. Skip the File menu because the fastest way to print an e-mail message (or just about anything in Outlook) is to right-click it and then select Print from the pop-up menu. This works for all three versions of Outlook. 9. Off and on. Clicking the Send button doesn't guarantee that your e-mail will be sent on its merry way. When you compose mail while offline, your message is stored in an Outbox holding area. To really send a message, log online and then in Outlook 97, click Check For New Mail from the Tools menu. In Outlook 98/2000, click the Send/Receive icon. 10. Send to all. To easily send the same message to more than one person, open a new message and enter each e-mail address in the To field, separated by semicolons. The Bcc (blind carbon copy) field lets you send multiple messages without letting the addressees know about your mass mailing. To activate it, choose Bcc Field from the View menu or from one of the toolbars above. 11. Move over. When you're working in one module, such as e-mail, you can quickly open a separate window of any other module. Just right-click any icon in the Outlook bar and select Open In New Window from the pop-up menu. E-mail Extras12. Get colorful. You can color-code e-mail messages so that you're alerted when a VIP (such as your employer) sends you an e-mail message. Choose the Organize button from the standard toolbar, then select the Using Colors option. In the field next to Color Messages From, type in the desired name, select a color (red is the default), and click the Apply Color button.
14. Automatically filter messages.One special feature of the Organize tool deserves special recognition: You can filter messages, according to sender, directly into folders by creating a "rule" via the Organize tool. For instance, all e-mail messages from your relatives can go directly into a folder you've named Family. Click the Organize button and open the Using Folders tab. Under the Create A Rule section, type in the address of a sender and choose the appropriate folder from the drop-down menu. Click Create, and you're done. 15. Clean out the junk. Outlook 98 and 2000 make it easy to banish junk e-mail. Just highlight the message, right-click it, and select Junk E-mail, Add To Junk Senders list. 16. Capture the flag. Don't overlook an important e-mail message. In Outlook 98/2000, a feature called flagging lets you pin a virtual note to an e-mail message and reminds you to take a specific action later. To implement this feature, highlight the message listing, right-click it, and select Flag For Follow Up (or Flag Message in Outlook 97). 17. Flag those important incoming messages. Don't want to overlook that e-mail message from a prospective employer? You can create a rule that attaches a flag to any message from a particular sender, thanks to a built-in feature in Outlook 2000. Just go to Tools, Rules Wizard and select New. Highlight the option Notify Me When Important Messages Arrive and choose your notification method. 18. Create other rules. The Rules Wizard in Outlook can also be used to create scores of other rules. Explore your options (again, under Tools, Rules Wizard) for sending messages with certain words in the subject line to specific folders, for assigning categories to sent messages, for deleting messages that contain certain words, and more. 19. Reply automatically. When you're out of the office, don't make others wonder if you got their e-mail. Instead, set up automatic replies for incoming mail messages that let senders know you'll check your mail when you return. From the Tools menu, select Out Of Office Assistant, click the radio button next to I Am Currently Out Of The Office, and type a message in the field below: AutoReply Only Once To Each Sender With The Following Text. 20. Be two-faced. Outlook 98/2000 lets you create more than one signature file to attach to your e-mail messages. For instance, a work signature might contain your mailing address and phone number, while a personal signature might have a pithy quote. Create a signature file via the Tools menu, Options, Mail Format tab, and the Signature Picker. When you open a new message and choose Signature from the Insert menu, you can select the appropriate file.
22. Create messages in other programs. Microsoft Excel isn't the only Office program in which you can create messages; this also works for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Just choose the Actions menu, select New Mail Message Using, Microsoft Office, and the desired Office application. Making Contacts23. Create a personal distribution list. You might be familiar with creating mailing lists within Outlook's e-mail component, but did you realize you can create personal distribution lists consisting of contacts from within Outlook's contact component? Go to File, New, Distribution List and fill in the necessary data by creating a list name and using Select Members to add individuals. You can choose contacts or select entries from the Outlook Address Book.24. Track contact-related activity. For each individual in your contact database, you can easily track related e-mail, tasks, appointments, and documents by linking items to your contacts. To link items, first open the contact component and highlight the appropriate contact. Then, via the Actions menu, select Link, Items and browse through the listing of Outlook components and items. Highlight the item you want and click Apply. 25. And last shall be first. By default, Outlook stores contact information as "Lastname, Firstname." You can store this card by Firstname, Lastname, if you prefer, or a number of other settings, including a company name. With the contact card open, choose the desired setting from the File As drop-down menu (under the General tab). 26. Attach graphics and much more. Outlook is an integrated program and that extends to the contact features. You can attach text and graphics files into contact cards in all three versions. Just open the card, place the cursor in the text field, and select the paperclip icon from the Standard toolbar. Then, browse the hard drive, choose the desired file, and click Insert or OK. 27. Let Outlook keep you from duplicating work. As your contact database grows, it's inevitable that you'll eventually try to enter duplicate information. When a duplicate name is detected, the pop-up box will identify it and ask if you'd like to add this as a new contact or update new information from the current card to the existing one. Pick your preference and click OK. 28. Get directions. Another neat feature is the integration between Outlook 98/2000 and the Microsoft Expedia Web page, which lets you easily display a map for any contact's address. With the contact card open and your Internet connection established, click the yellow road map icon. This brings up the Expedia Web page with a map of the address displayed. Use Calendar To Stay On Schedule29. Publish calendars as Web pages. Thanks to the new Save As Web Page feature in Outlook 2000, you can share your calendar information with others, even when they don't have access to your network. Place calendar data on the Web by opening a personal or team calendar and clicking File, Save As Web Page. Here, type in a file name, adjust other features as desired, and click Save. The first time you do this, the publishing feature may not be installed; if you receive this message, click Yes to install the option.30. Automate meeting room scheduling. If you are a resource administrator using the Microsoft Exchange Server, or your IT staff has given you owner permission (and you're using Outlook 2000), you can set up meeting rooms to accept and decline meeting invitations automatically. With the calendar module open, click Tools, Options and select Calendar Options from the Preferences tab. Click Resource Scheduling and the checkbox next to: Automatically Accept Meeting Requests And Process Cancellations. 31. See schedules for more than one day. When you first launch the Calendar component, you're presented with the schedule for the current day. Look ahead a day, two days, or more by dragging the mouse pointer over the appropriate dates in the month-to-month calendar in the top right. This will display appointments for these days on the left.
33. Change your point of view. If you'd rather see, say, a list of recurring appointments instead of the standard Day/Week/Month view that Outlook presents you with, head to the View menu and its Current View option. Here, you can opt to see events, active appointments, recurring appointments and more, including your own customized views. 34. Add holidays. Do you do business in other countries? Then add holidays from dozens of countries to your calendar. Simply click Options from the Tools menu and select the Preferences tab. Then, after clicking the Calendar Options button, find the Add Holidays button, place check marks in the appropriate boxes, and click OK. Conversely, in Outlook 97, follow the same directions but select the Calendar tab to find the Add Holidays button and complete this change. Notes About Your Tasks & Journal35. It's worth noting. Just like many other Outlook components, you can display Notes in a variety of ways. Do you like the sticky note look? Well, then click the View menu, highlight Current View, and select Icons. Or, display the notes as a list, display them as smaller icons, or group them by color. (You can assign different colors to different notes by opening a note, clicking the Note icon in the left corner, and choosing Color from the pop-up menu.)36. Drag and drop to another space. Notes aren't confined to one area (or even to Outlook). By dragging and dropping, you can move them onto the Desktop, attach them to e-mail messages, and more. For example, suppose you've written a note about a meeting; simply drop it onto the Inbox icon in the Outlook bar, and you'll see that the content of the note now appears automatically in the body of a new e-mail message. 37. Create notes with familiar commands . Not surprisingly, you can create the text within notes using the same commands as you would with a familiar Microsoft program, Microsoft Word. Rather than learning new commands, use CTRL-X to delete text, CTRL-C to copy text, and CTRL-V to paste text. You can even use CTRL-Z to undo typing. 38. Change colors for certain tasks. If red and gray just aren't your colors, you can change the default colors for completed and overdue tasks. In Outlook 97, from the Tools menu, select Options and click the Tasks/Notes tab. In Outlook 98/2000, click the Tools menu, choose Options, select the Preference tab, and click the Task Options button. 39. Keep a journal. A bit hidden away in Outlook is the Journal, a virtual diary that can track projects; contacts; or categories, including e-mail messages, meetings, and task requests. Although the Journal icon appears right in the Outlook bar, it must be turned on and told what to do. To do this, open the Journal icon, click Tools, then Options. In Outlook 97, click the Journal tab; in Outlook 98, click the Preferences tab, followed by the Journal Options button. Outlook 2000 users will find the main Journal icon under the My Shortcuts area of the Outlook bar. In General
41. Add shortcuts to Web pages. Once you've visited a Web page in Outlook, you can easily revisit it by adding a shortcut icon to Outlook's Web toolbar. With the page open, go to the File menu and select New, Outlook Bar Shortcut To Web page. This places the icon under the My Shortcuts area of the Outlook bar. 42. Create more shortcuts. Web pages aren't the only places you can visit via shortcuts; Outlook lets you create shortcuts to folders, as well. On the Outlook bar, select Other Shortcuts and click the My Computer icon. Browse through the hard drive, and when you locate a folder that you want a shortcut to, right-click that item and select Add To Outlook Bar. 43. Start off with Outlook Today. Outlook 2000 and Outlook 98 both contain the Outlook Today module, a page that displays upcoming appointments, pending tasks, unread e-mail messages, and messages waiting to be completed and sent. You can access this information upon launching Outlook by making Outlook Today your start-up page. To do this, simply open Outlook Today, click the Customize Outlook Today button, and click the checkbox next to: When Starting, Go Directly To Outlook Today. 44. Customize your day. Do you want to see just the current day's calendar when you open Outlook Today rather than the default five days that the program shows you? Well, you can customize Outlook Today and determine which message folders appear on-screen, how many calendar days are shown, as well as display a variety of task features and several styles (such as one or two columns of information). To make these modifications, click the Customize button at the top, make the desired changes, and click the Save Changes button. 45. Use the enhanced Find tool. The Find tool, also introduced in Outlook 98, makes it easy to scour through any of the Outlook items and locate messages, appointments, tasks, and more. Click the Find icon on the Standard toolbar, select the Advanced Find option, choose whichever module you want from the Look For pull-down menu, type in the desired text, and click Find Now. 46. Just the fax, ma'am. With a little patience and elbow grease, Outlook 97/98 users can send faxes from within the software. We don't have room for all the details here, but we suggest you consult the Help file for details. Outlook 2000 users, on the other hand, need to download the Microsoft At Work fax program from the Microsoft Office Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/office). by Heidi V. Anderson |
|
Home Copyright & Legal Information Privacy Policy Site Map Contact Us