Plain Text vs. Rich-Text
RTF includes the fonts, bullets, colors, and other formatting available in the Outlook message editor or WordMail. If you know that the recipient also uses Outlook or Microsoft Exchange, then use RTF and set the properties for that recipient to send in RTF. You can do this either in the Contacts or Personal Address Book entry (see “Entering E-mail Addresses” and “Adding PAB Addresses” in Chapter 15).
To set RTF for a one-time recipient,
Press Ctrl+K to validate the address in the To box.
Once the address is underlined, double-click it.
In the Properties dialog box for the address, select “Always send to this recipient in Microsoft Exchange rich-text format” (Figure 10.7).
Click OK to save the rich-text setting for this recipient.
However, if a recipient complains of an indecipherable WINMAIL.DAT attachment (if you’re using UUencode) or an odd section with the MIME content type of application/ms-tnef, you should turn off RTF to that recipient.
The initial release of Outlook did not support sending or receiving in HTML format, which is supported by a growing number of Internet mail programs.
For Exchange Server 5.0 Users Only
If you connect to Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 and are using Outlook 8.01 or later, you can specify the message format for each recipient in your Personal Address Book. Right-click the underlined (validated by Check Names) address, then choose Send Options from the popup menu. On the “Send Options for this Recipient Properties” dialog box (Figure 10.8), choose the format you want to use for this recipient.
Don’t forget that not everyone can receive HTML mail yet.
Spell Checking
A spelling checker is included with the default options for Outlook. If you aren’t able to spell check, you may need to run the Outlook setup again to make sure that the spelling checker is added to your system.
To change the way the spelling checker works, choose Tools, Options from the main Outlook menu, then switch to the Spelling tab shown in Figure 10.9. Notice that you can have the spelling checker ignore text that you’re replying to or forwarding. As discussed under “Quoting Incoming Messages” in Chapter 11, it’s best to leave incoming text the way it is, warts and all. However, if you use “>” quoting prefixes, the quoted text will be checked for spelling, regardless of this setting.
You can check the spelling in a message at any time by choosing Tools, Spelling or pressing F7. Outlook also checks the spelling when you send a message, if you have enabled that option on the Spelling tab.
Adding a Signature
Outlook maintains a signature file for each profile you create on a system. You can add this signature to messages either automatically or on demand.
To set up your signature for use in Outlook’s normal editor,
Choose Tools, AutoSignature.
In the AutoSignature dialog box (Figure 10.10), enter the text, formatting it with the Font and Paragraph buttons as needed.
If you want the signature to be added automatically, check “Add this signature to the end of new messages.” You may also want to check “Don’t add this signature to replies or forwarded messages.”
Click OK to save the signature.
Even if you didn’t check “Add this signature to the end of new messages” in step 3 above, you can still add your signature to any message. Just choose Insert, AutoSignature before sending the message.
Each profile has a single signature, stored as an .rtf file in the Windows folder on your system. For example, if you have a profile named “Outlook Settings,” look in the Windows folder for “Outlook Settings.rtf.” That’s the signature file.
WordMail signatures use AutoText instead of this separate .rtf file. See “Configuring the WordMail AutoSignature” later in this chapter for details about how to set up the signature if you are using WordMail.
If you want to use more than one signature — perhaps for different types of messages — you can either create new message templates, each with its own signature, or use an add-on called AutoSign (available at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/gallery.htm#autosign), which stores signatures as Outlook Notes items and applies them based on Rules Wizard or Inbox Assistant rules.
Inserting Files, Items, and Objects
You can attach files anywhere in an Outlook message. You can also insert an object (such as an Excel spreadsheet) or even other Outlook messages, contacts, or other items.
To attach a file to a message, drag the file from a system folder or the desktop into the message, or follow these steps:
Position the cursor in the message text where you want the icon for the file to appear.
Choose Insert, File, or click the Insert File button. The dialog box shown in Figure 10.11 will appear.
Select the file (or files).
Select how you want to attach the file(s); here are the choices:
Text Only: The file is converted to text, which is pasted into the message.
An Attachment: The file itself is attached.
Link Attachment to Original File: A shortcut to the file, which must be on a drive the recipient can access, is attached.
Click the OK button to insert the file.
If you are sending to other Outlook users, another way to insert a link to a file is to type in the path to the file with the prefix file:, as in this example:
file:\\mailserver\public\howto.doc
which defines a link to the Howto.doc file in the folder shared as Public on the server Mailserver.
To insert a message or other Outlook item into another message, follow the same procedure, only choose Insert, Item instead of Insert, File. You’ll be able to browse all the Outlook folders and select multiple items to insert. This approach is a great way to bring something in a public folder to a colleague’s attention, especially if you choose Insert as Shortcut to send the attached item as a shortcut. See “Shortcuts to Public Folders” in Chapter 19 for yet another method.
When you insert an object, you are attaching a chunk of data that works inside a message just as it would inside its normal application. For example, a message about a meeting to discuss product logos could include the logos — not as attached files, but as the graphics themselves, which would jump out of the message with greater impact.
There are several ways to insert an object into a message you’re working on:
Choose Insert, Object at the point in the message where you want the object to appear. On the Insert Object dialog box, specify the type of object and choose either to use an existing file or to create a new object.
Select and drag data from an application into your message. (This doesn’t work with all applications.)
Select and copy data from the application. Then switch back to your message and choose Edit, Paste Special. You may be able to choose what type of object. For example, a bitmapped graphic can be pasted in an editable bitmap format or in a static Windows Metafile format.
Not all e-mail systems can handle embedded objects, so you may get an undeliverable notice back from some recipients. In that case, try sending an attached file instead. If you’re sending an embedded object via the Internet, make sure the recipient is using Outlook or Exchange and that you check the RTF option for the recipient.
Also note that a message with an embedded object is usually larger than a message with the same information inserted as an attached file. On the other hand, to view an embedded object, the recipient does not need to have a compatible application installed.
Adding Internet Links
If you enter an Internet address in a message, other Outlook users (and users of some other e-mail applications) can click on it to go to that Internet resource. For example, use an http link (such as “http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/outlook.htm”) to direct recipients to an interesting Web site. Or use an ftp link (such as “ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/index.txt”) to point directly to a file that can be downloaded.
For e-mail addresses, preface the address with “mailto:” — as in “mailto:webmaster@slipstick.com” — since Outlook and Microsoft Exchange usually won’t recognize the address as an Internet resource without the mailto prefix.
Setting Message Options
As part of the process of creating a message, you can set a number of options that control how it behaves and what information you can get back from people who receive the message. These options are set on the Options tab of the message window, shown in Figure 10.12.
You can also change the default options for all new messages by choosing Tools, Options from the main Outlook menu and selecting or changing the settings on the Sending tab (Figure 10.13).
Importance and Sensitivity
To draw more or less attention to your message, change the Importance from Normal (the default) to High or Low on the Options tab (Figure 10.12). If you want to change the default Importance for all messages, choose Tools, Options from the main Outlook menu, then switch to the Sending tab (Figure 10.13) and select from the “Set importance” list.
To prevent changes to your message when it’s read or forwarded by another user, change the Sensitivity from Normal to Private on the Options tab (Figure 10.12). You can also choose Personal or Confidential, but those choices are information-only; they don’t affect the way the message is handled. If you want to change the default Sensitivity for all messages, choose Tools, Options from the main Outlook menu, then switch to the Sending tab (Figure 10.13) and select from the “Set sensitivity” list.
You can use the Importance and Sensitivity in criteria for the Rules Wizard to process sent messages. (See Chapter 17 for more about the Rules Wizard.)
Voting Buttons
One of Outlook’s unique features is the ability to add buttons to a message to let other Outlook users vote on an issue and to automatically tally their responses.
To add voting buttons,
In the message window, switch to the Options tab (Figure 10.12).
Select “Use voting buttons.”
Pick standard buttons from the list, or type your own into the box provided, separating button names with semicolons. Figure 10.12 shows buttons that you might use to ask people what flavor of ice cream they’d like to have at the company picnic.
Don’t forget that voting buttons work with only other Outlook users. Also, you must send to recipients with RTF enabled (see “Plain Text vs. Rich-Text” earlier in the chapter).
Figure 10.14 shows how a message with voting buttons looks to the user. When you click a button to respond, you can either send just your vote or add a message.
Outlook doesn’t let you vote twice. You can send as many responses as you want, but only the first response is tallied. To see the tallied votes, switch to the Sent Items folder and open your message. On the Tracking tab (Figure 10.15), you can see both the totals and the individual responses.
Reply To Address
Sometimes you might want people to reply not to you, but to someone else — or perhaps to both you and your partner on a particular project. Outlook lets you set a “Reply To” address to handle this:
In the message window, switch to the Options tab (Figure 10.12).
Check the box for “Have replies sent to.”
Enter the recipient name or address you want replies to go to. Separate multiple names with semicolons. Include your own name if you want to receive responses, too. You can also use the Select Names button to pick from the Address Book.
Saving Sent Messages
By default, Outlook saves every message you send in the Sent Items folder. You can change the default in several ways:
To stop saving messages in Sent Items: Choose Tools, Options from the main Outlook menu, then switch to the Sending tab (Figure 10.13). Clear the box for “Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder.”
To save only messages that aren’t forwards of other messages: Choose Tools, Options from the main Outlook menu, then switch to the Sending tab (Figure 10.13). Clear the box for “Save forwarded messages,” but leave the “Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder” box selected.
To keep replies to messages from non-Inbox folders with the original messages, rather than in Sent Items (very handy if you use separate folders for different projects): Choose Tools, Options from the main Outlook menu, then switch to the Sending tab (Figure 10.13). Select “In folders other than the Inbox, save replies with original message,” and leave the “Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder” box selected.
To save an individual sent message in a folder other than Sent Items: On the Options tab (Figure 10.12) of message, select “Save sent message to,” click Browse to select a folder. The folder for saving items must be in your primary set of folders, either your Exchange Server mailbox or a set of Personal Folders.
To not save an individual message: On the Options tab (Figure 10.12) of the message, clear the “Save sent message to” check box.
Delivery Options
If you connect to Microsoft Exchange Server, you can control when messages are sent and how long they remain available.
For example, let’s say part of your job is to distribute the weekly company cafeteria menu. You get it from the dietician on Wednesday for the following week, but don’t want to send it out until Friday morning. You also don’t want the old menu to be hanging around once you send the new one.
To delay the sending of a message,
In the message window, switch to the Options tab (Figure 10.12).
Under Delivery Options, select “Do not deliver before.”
Type in the date and time you want the message delivered, or click the arrow button to pick a date from the calendar.
To make old messages unavailable after a particular date,
In the message window, switch to the Options tab (Figure 10.12).
Under Delivery Options, select “Expires after.”
Type in the date and time you want the message to expire, or click the arrow button to pick a date from the calendar.
Expired messages appear in the Information Viewer in gray or with a line through them. By default, Outlook deletes expired messages when it performs AutoArchive. To change this, choose Tools, Options, then switch to the AutoArchive tab and clear the check box for “Delete expired items when AutoArchiving.”
Tracking Options
Outlook helps keep track of the effectiveness of your messages with options that notify you when people receive and read them. Under “Tracking options” on the Options tab (Figure 10.12), choose “Tell me when this message has been delivered” or “Tell me when this message has been read.”
Read and delivery receipts are returned to you as e-mail messages in your Inbox, but Outlook also correlates them with the original message that you sent.
A few additional notes on tracking:
With Microsoft Exchange Server, if a recipient deletes your message without reading it, you get a “not read” receipt.
Not all mail servers support read and delivery receipts. Some produce only delivery receipts. Others provide no receipts at all.
Because Outlook updates the tracking status of a message as receipts arrive, you may not feel a need to keep the receipts themselves. You can have Outlook delete them automatically. Choose Tools, Options, then on the E-mail tab, select “Delete receipts and blank responses after processing.”
The Internet E-mail service does not support delivery receipts and supports read receipts only when you send to an Outlook or Exchange recipient in RTF format.
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