Creating Distribution Lists in Outlook 2007 from Contact List

[parkmp1]

I need to create some large distribution lists in Outlook from imported
contacts. I've categorized all of the contacts, but when I try to create a
distribution list and then choose "select contacts", the categorization is
not visible so I can't tell who to add. Is there any way to select directly
from the contact list and then create a distribution list from the selected
contacts? Thanks.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Might want to rethink your strategy. Creating categories is a far better,
more reliable and more robust way to group Contacts than are DL's, which
rarely work well especially if they contain a lot of members.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2003/20030730.htm

 

[Diane Poremsky {MVP}]

copy and paste...
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2004/20041105.htm

but why can't just just use the category? It's much easier to manage.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)
Subscribe to Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)

 

[parkmp1]

Thanks, Russ. I'm happy to try that, but having no luck. Here's what I'm
doing: I select a category with about 60 names, go to the Actions Menu, and
select Create: New Message to Contact. I get a warning box that some of my
contacts don't have emails and so will appear with names (that's fine - I
know there's one like that). Then a new message boxes opens, but the To:
line is empty. No contacts! What am i doing wrong?

Might want to rethink your strategy. Creating categories is a far better,
more reliable and more robust way to group Contacts than are DL's, which
rarely work well especially if they contain a lot of members.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2003/20030730.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I need to create some large distribution lists in Outlook from imported
contacts. I've categorized all of the contacts, but when I try to create
a
distribution list and then choose "select contacts", the categorization is
not visible so I can't tell who to add. Is there any way to select
directly
from the contact list and then create a distribution list from the
selected
contacts? Thanks.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

If you want to use Categories in lieu of DL's, then you must create those
Categories accordingly. It would make no sense to include a Contact that has
no electronic address in a category to which you want to send electronic
messages.

The electronic addresses in the category will appear in the To: field only
if they are valid and resolved. Since you imported these Contacts, you most
likely corrupted them and their electronic addresses are no longer valid or
resolved. Why did you import them instead of transferring them correctly?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks, Russ. I'm happy to try that, but having no luck. Here's what I'm
doing: I select a category with about 60 names, go to the Actions Menu,
and
select Create: New Message to Contact. I get a warning box that some of
my
contacts don't have emails and so will appear with names (that's fine - I
know there's one like that). Then a new message boxes opens, but the To:
line is empty. No contacts! What am i doing wrong?

Might want to rethink your strategy. Creating categories is a far better,
more reliable and more robust way to group Contacts than are DL's, which
rarely work well especially if they contain a lot of members.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2003/20030730.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I need to create some large distribution lists in Outlook from imported
contacts. I've categorized all of the contacts, but when I try to
create
a
distribution list and then choose "select contacts", the categorization
is
not visible so I can't tell who to add. Is there any way to select
directly
from the contact list and then create a distribution list from the
selected
contacts? Thanks.

 

[parkmp1]

What would be the correct way to transfer contacts from an access database?
I assumed that importing them and mapping the fields was the correct way.
they show up properly in the contact list and their email addresses are there
on their individual listings (if I view them as business cards, for example).
The couple that don't have email addresses are there as placeholders for
unfilled positions - I could easily remove them from the categories until
they're filled if that's what I need to do. Thanks!

If you want to use Categories in lieu of DL's, then you must create those
Categories accordingly. It would make no sense to include a Contact that has
no electronic address in a category to which you want to send electronic
messages.

The electronic addresses in the category will appear in the To: field only
if they are valid and resolved. Since you imported these Contacts, you most
likely corrupted them and their electronic addresses are no longer valid or
resolved. Why did you import them instead of transferring them correctly?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks, Russ. I'm happy to try that, but having no luck. Here's what I'm
doing: I select a category with about 60 names, go to the Actions Menu,
and
select Create: New Message to Contact. I get a warning box that some of
my
contacts don't have emails and so will appear with names (that's fine - I
know there's one like that). Then a new message boxes opens, but the To:
line is empty. No contacts! What am i doing wrong?

Might want to rethink your strategy. Creating categories is a far better,
more reliable and more robust way to group Contacts than are DL's, which
rarely work well especially if they contain a lot of members.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2003/20030730.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I need to create some large distribution lists in Outlook from imported
contacts. I've categorized all of the contacts, but when I try to
create
a
distribution list and then choose "select contacts", the categorization
is
not visible so I can't tell who to add. Is there any way to select
directly
from the contact list and then create a distribution list from the
selected
contacts? Thanks.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

If the information is stored in another format, you have no choice but to
import. But you must understand that Outlook's import function does not work
as it should. If your addresses are not appearing, they are not resolved.
You must open and save each of these Contacts before Outlook can use them or
use a third party application for the import that can compensate for
Outlook's incompetence. The one that works best is here:
http://www.contactgenie.com/
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

What would be the correct way to transfer contacts from an access
database?
I assumed that importing them and mapping the fields was the correct way.
they show up properly in the contact list and their email addresses are
there
on their individual listings (if I view them as business cards, for
example).
The couple that don't have email addresses are there as placeholders for
unfilled positions - I could easily remove them from the categories until
they're filled if that's what I need to do. Thanks!

If you want to use Categories in lieu of DL's, then you must create those
Categories accordingly. It would make no sense to include a Contact that
has
no electronic address in a category to which you want to send electronic
messages.

The electronic addresses in the category will appear in the To: field
only
if they are valid and resolved. Since you imported these Contacts, you
most
likely corrupted them and their electronic addresses are no longer valid
or
resolved. Why did you import them instead of transferring them correctly?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks, Russ. I'm happy to try that, but having no luck. Here's what
I'm
doing: I select a category with about 60 names, go to the Actions Menu,
and
select Create: New Message to Contact. I get a warning box that some
of
my
contacts don't have emails and so will appear with names (that's fine -
I
know there's one like that). Then a new message boxes opens, but the
To:
line is empty. No contacts! What am i doing wrong?

:

Might want to rethink your strategy. Creating categories is a far
better,
more reliable and more robust way to group Contacts than are DL's,
which
rarely work well especially if they contain a lot of members.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2003/20030730.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I need to create some large distribution lists in Outlook from
imported
contacts. I've categorized all of the contacts, but when I try to
create
a
distribution list and then choose "select contacts", the
categorization
is
not visible so I can't tell who to add. Is there any way to select
directly
from the contact list and then create a distribution list from the
selected
contacts? Thanks.

 

[parkmp1]

Thanks, Russ. That's really helpful. I checked and as I open each contact,
there's an email address there, but unless I click on the email address and
then save, it doesn't seem to acknowledge it. Now I know what to do!

What would be the correct way to transfer contacts from an access database?
I assumed that importing them and mapping the fields was the correct way.
they show up properly in the contact list and their email addresses are there
on their individual listings (if I view them as business cards, for example).
The couple that don't have email addresses are there as placeholders for
unfilled positions - I could easily remove them from the categories until
they're filled if that's what I need to do. Thanks!

If you want to use Categories in lieu of DL's, then you must create those
Categories accordingly. It would make no sense to include a Contact that has
no electronic address in a category to which you want to send electronic
messages.

The electronic addresses in the category will appear in the To: field only
if they are valid and resolved. Since you imported these Contacts, you most
likely corrupted them and their electronic addresses are no longer valid or
resolved. Why did you import them instead of transferring them correctly?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks, Russ. I'm happy to try that, but having no luck. Here's what I'm
doing: I select a category with about 60 names, go to the Actions Menu,
and
select Create: New Message to Contact. I get a warning box that some of
my
contacts don't have emails and so will appear with names (that's fine - I
know there's one like that). Then a new message boxes opens, but the To:
line is empty. No contacts! What am i doing wrong?

:

Might want to rethink your strategy. Creating categories is a far better,
more reliable and more robust way to group Contacts than are DL's, which
rarely work well especially if they contain a lot of members.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2003/20030730.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I need to create some large distribution lists in Outlook from imported
contacts. I've categorized all of the contacts, but when I try to
create
a
distribution list and then choose "select contacts", the categorization
is
not visible so I can't tell who to add. Is there any way to select
directly
from the contact list and then create a distribution list from the
selected
contacts? Thanks.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

That's what you do. You must now resolve each address by opening and saving
each Contact, or use a better utility to do the import.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks, Russ. That's really helpful. I checked and as I open each
contact,
there's an email address there, but unless I click on the email address
and
then save, it doesn't seem to acknowledge it. Now I know what to do!

What would be the correct way to transfer contacts from an access
database?
I assumed that importing them and mapping the fields was the correct way.
they show up properly in the contact list and their email addresses are
there
on their individual listings (if I view them as business cards, for
example).
The couple that don't have email addresses are there as placeholders for
unfilled positions - I could easily remove them from the categories until
they're filled if that's what I need to do. Thanks!

If you want to use Categories in lieu of DL's, then you must create
those
Categories accordingly. It would make no sense to include a Contact
that has
no electronic address in a category to which you want to send
electronic
messages.

The electronic addresses in the category will appear in the To: field
only
if they are valid and resolved. Since you imported these Contacts, you
most
likely corrupted them and their electronic addresses are no longer
valid or
resolved. Why did you import them instead of transferring them
correctly?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Thanks, Russ. I'm happy to try that, but having no luck. Here's
what I'm
doing: I select a category with about 60 names, go to the Actions
Menu,
and
select Create: New Message to Contact. I get a warning box that some
of
my
contacts don't have emails and so will appear with names (that's
fine - I
know there's one like that). Then a new message boxes opens, but the
To:
line is empty. No contacts! What am i doing wrong?

:

Might want to rethink your strategy. Creating categories is a far
better,
more reliable and more robust way to group Contacts than are DL's,
which
rarely work well especially if they contain a lot of members.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2003/20030730.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I need to create some large distribution lists in Outlook from
imported
contacts. I've categorized all of the contacts, but when I try to
create
a
distribution list and then choose "select contacts", the
categorization
is
not visible so I can't tell who to add. Is there any way to
select
directly
from the contact list and then create a distribution list from the
selected
contacts? Thanks.