Outlook 2003 E-Mail Tips

E-mail Filtering - Rules Wizard

The e-mail rules wizard can be used to give special treatment to e-mail messages that are sent or received which meet certain criteria. Follow these steps in order to set up the criteria using the rules wizard:

1. Click on the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Rules and Alerts”
3. Select “New Rule”
4. Select the type of rule to create and click “Next”
5. Select the conditions that you want Outlook to look for and click “Next”
6. Select the actions for the messages that meet the conditions and click “Next”
7. Select any exceptions to the condition and click “Next”
8. Name the rule
9. Make sure the checkbox is enabled next to “Turn on This Rule”
10. Click “Finish”
11. Click “OK”

Examples of ways the Rules Wizard can be used:

• To automatically move messages received from specified senders to a specific folder
• To automatically flag messages from a specified sender
• To assign a category to a sent message
• To automatically notify yourself when an e-mail is received from a certain sender
• To notify yourself when a message marked “high importance” arrives
• To automatically move messages sent to certain users to a specified folder
• To move messages with certain words in the subject to a specified folder

Tips to Keep In Mind when Creating Rules

When you create a new rule that is going to affect others by sending, replying and/or forwarding information, it is a good idea to send messages to a folder. This way you can check the contents of the folder to make sure that the rule is behaving the way you expect. Once you are sure that the rule works correctly, you can modify the rule to no longer point to the folder, but to perform the desired actions

Many rules are able to work when you are not logged in and some require you to be logged in with Outlook running. Here are the rules that only run when you are logged into Outlook:

1. Notification Actions
2. Custom Actions
3. Replies
4. Rules that move or copy messages to a folder outside your mailbox
5. Rules that involve Outlook specific actions, such as setting flags or categories

If you set up a rule to delete junk mail, you may want to add a reply to that rule. In your reply, you should state that you have deleted the message because it appeared to be junk email to your filter. If the message was not junk, the sender will be notified. If the mail is junk, then the e-mail address in the reply most likely does not go to an actual mailbox and will just be disregarded.

If a rule moves a task request response, voting response or meeting request response to another folder, the information will not be tracked by Outlook because by moving the information, Outlook’s automatic processing mechanism is bypassed.

Expiring a Message

If a message is irrelevant after a certain point in time, and you do not want the recipients to receive it, the message can be set to expire. In order to set a message to expire:

• Create a new email message
• In the message window, click the “View” menu
• Select “Options…”
• Click the checkbox for “Expires after:”
• Select the date and time you want the message to expire
• Click “Close”
• Complete the message and click “Send”

If this message is received before the expiration time, it will be treated as usual until reaching the expiration date/time. Upon reaching the expiration date/time, the message will turn gray and there will be a line through it. However, if the recipient does not check his or her email until after the expiration time, the message will not be received.

Flagging a Message for Follow Up

Messages can be sent with a note above the message header that notifies the recipient of further actions that should be taken concerning the message. You can prompt the recipient to read, reply, or follow up on a message. You can also indicate that there is no response necessary. If you would like for a message to be sent with a flag and/or a due date:

1. Create a new mail message
2. In the message window click the flag icon
3. Select one of the options in the “Flag to:” dialog box
4. If necessary, select a due date for the “Due by:” dialog box
5. Click “OK”
6. Complete the message and click “Send”

If you want to be notified when a message has been read, request a read receipt. To do this:

1. Create a new mail message
2. In the message window, select the “Options…” button on the Standard toolbar
3. Click the checkbox for “Request a read receipt for this message”
4. Click “Close”
5. Complete the message and click “Send”

Sending a Message on Behalf of Another User

If you want to send a message on behalf of another user, you must already be designated as a delegate with either Author, Editor, Reviewer, or Owner permissions.

In order to send an email on someone’s behalf:

1. Create a new mail message
2. In the message window, click the “View” menu
3. Select “From Field”
4. Click the “From…” button
5. Choose the user on behalf of whom you would like to send this email message
6. Click “OK”
7. Complete the message and click “Send”

When the message is received, it will show that a user on behalf of another user sent it. Be aware: a copy of the message sent is not automatically sent to the user on whose behalf the message was sent.

Inserting a Distribution List into an E-mail

If you have created a distribution list, and you want to send it to another user:

• Create a new mail message
• Click the “Insert” menu
• Select “Item”
• Select the distribution list from the “Items:” box
• Choose whether to insert the distribution list as “Text only” or “Attachment” by clicking the radio button next to the option you want
• Click “OK”
• Complete the message and click “Send”

Spell Checking Your Email

In order to have Outlook automatically check the spelling of all of your messages before sending them:

1. Click the “Tools” menu
2. Select “Options…”
3. Select the “Spelling” tab
4. Click the checkbox for “Always check spelling before sending”
5. Click “OK”

After making this change, when you choose to send a message, Outlook will automatically run a spell-check before the message is sent.

Viewing full SMTP headers

When you receive e-mail, it is possible to view the full SMTP header (the path that the message took from the sender to the receiver). If the message has been forwarded to you, you can only see the header information pertaining to the path as far back as the person who forwarded the message to you.

To view the header information:

1. From the Inbox, right-click on the message
2. Select “Options”
3. In a box at the bottom you can view the full SMTP header
4. Click “Close”

Inserting the UNC (Universal Naming Convention) Path for Shared Files

Another option to link to a file on a shared network is to insert the UNC path. A UNC path references a specific location on a network drive. If you know the complete UNC path to the file, it can be typed into the e-mail message. When the e-mail is received, the UNC path will appear as a hyperlink.

Here is an example of what a UNC path might look like: \DATA-01\VOL1\ZONEDIRS\Documents\John\MyPresentation.doc

Note: The UNC path must begin with \ and if there are spaces, the path must enclosed in greater than/less than characters ie. .