Please remove color categories - get back to text ones

[Bert_Bert]

Hi,
no, I do not mean it exactly as the subject tells.
In fact I wish you keep the old+good way that the items can be
re-categorized easy by single right click - "Categories" and then
!!textually enter any categories and uncheck the ones that you want to remove.

This feature is really revolutionary and extremely useful and you did remove
it from Outlook 2007 and replaced it by some "stupid" color labels.

Yes, I know, if I do a little mouse excercise, I can still do the above
described effect, but I must create new color labels and it takes really long
time. Please do not cancel good and used features.

I understand text categories are still used under hood, but the most
excellent about items was not to maintain Master category list - it is time
consuming and useless.

On contrary - please try to make it work such that in a View "grouped by
category" it is possible to type from keyboard and it jumps to the given
category as it is in case of in cell editing is disabled whioch is another
great feature.

thank you

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...a2e2aa63e&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.general

 

[Michael Bauer [MVP - Outlook]]

Nobody forces you to use the colors. And for most people it is useful to
have the categories in a Master Category List; without that every typo would
create a new category, and it wouldn't take long to make all the category
system completely useless.

--
Best regards
Michael Bauer - MVP Outlook

: VBOffice Reporter for Data Analysis & Reporting
: Outlook Categories? Category Manager Is Your Tool
: <http://www.vboffice.net/product.html?pub=6&lang=en>


Am Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:04:01 -0700 schrieb Bert_Bert:

Hi,
no, I do not mean it exactly as the subject tells.
In fact I wish you keep the old+good way that the items can be
re-categorized easy by single right click - "Categories" and then
!!textually enter any categories and uncheck the ones that you want to remove.

This feature is really revolutionary and extremely useful and you did remove
it from Outlook 2007 and replaced it by some "stupid" color labels.

Yes, I know, if I do a little mouse excercise, I can still do the above
described effect, but I must create new color labels and it takes really long
time. Please do not cancel good and used features.

I understand text categories are still used under hood, but the most
excellent about items was not to maintain Master category list - it is time
consuming and useless.

On contrary - please try to make it work such that in a View "grouped by
category" it is possible to type from keyboard and it jumps to the given
category as it is in case of in cell editing is disabled whioch is another
great feature.

thank you

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...a2e2aa63e&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.general

 

[Judy Gleeson \(MVP Outlook\)]

I'm with you on the loss of typing first letter when you have in-line
editing on.

Regards

Judy Gleeson
MVP Outlook

www.judygleeson.com

Outlook 2003 user? Read "7 settings all Outlook 2003 users should change"
at www.pragmatix.com.au

SOON!
launching in August 2008:
www.thedeskdoctors.com
www.executiveassistantsonline.com

..

 

[Bert_Bert]

no, indeed, I AM suddenly forced to use them and I AM forced to use Master
Category List.
I admit for many people it is convenient and good they can use it.
But try in older version of Outlook to right click some randomly choosed
items and quickly add them to: "first; second; third" and remove them from
the "fourth" category.

It is very nice and very easy. The possibility to shoot categories from
keyboard and not to search them in long long long master categ list really
makes life very very easy and you get used to it very quickly.

Then, if you make a typo, it is again very very easy once in a month, or a
year to display "grouped by categories" and you immediately see the typos as
doubled or tripled categories. Again, with single right-click, you can remove
all "my_ccateg" and add them to "my_categ" just from typing from the keyboard.

Please keep in mind that also categories develop with time, you maintain in
Outlook a data that are characterized by that it slowly develoips in time. So
you might precise some categories, or generalize some others and you need a
kind of flexibility to do that. Maintaining "master category list" does not
proviode you quick overview of which of them are obsolete, are excessively
used etc... You do not have such a flexibility and you cannot prepare all
future categories that might arise.

This is also the reason why categories are niot su much used and known. Not
because of colors, it will make no help. If you work under stress you need to
be able to categorize quickly and shoot them right now before leaving the
office.


Vice versa - if you search, you have usually more time, and when you once a
year making "order", cleanup and sorting, you have most of the time. So you
can correct your typos in categories easily.

It is really something great and I do not understand whay did they cripple
this functionality in Outlook 2007.

Not being able to type textual categories in the open item I can workaround
by using my own customized form.
But workaround of right-click categories unification was disabled for no
good reason.

Of course if someone needs color in categories, let him have it.

Please reconsider to return the TEXTUAL categories feature POSSIBILITY back.
You can keep colors, you can keep master category list (if someone ever uses
.

 

[Bert_Bert]

To be more clear:
if you have 100 categories in 1000 of items in one folder and switch to
"by categories" view, it would be nice if when you type "abc" on the keyboard
the selector(cursor) jumps to the respective group named "abc" so that you do
not have to scroll down and search the category manually.

To be more specific, I would welcome if this would happen to ANY property
in the view grouped by that property, not only category.

My wish is just similar behaviout to the now working in "sorted by" view if
you uncheck the "in cell editing" option. Then the selector jumps to the
name/field that is sorted according to.

I am not complaining, I am just wishing that it also works in "grouped by"
not only in "sorted by" as now.

 

[Michael Bauer [MVP - Outlook]]

This might be a workaround: If you have grouped the view, right click onany
group header and select collapse. Then it's possible to scroll very quickly
through the list.

--
Best regards
Michael Bauer - MVP Outlook

: VBOffice Reporter for Data Analysis & Reporting
: Outlook Categories? Category Manager Is Your Tool
: <http://www.vboffice.net/product.html?pub=6&lang=en>


Am Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:26:00 -0700 schrieb Bert_Bert:

 

[Bert_Bert]

This might be a workaround: If you have grouped the view, right click onany

group header and select collapse. Then it's possible to scroll very quickly
through the list.

no, believe me, it is not
maybe you lack of imagination - perhaps if you do not use the categories in
100 of items shooting from keyboard you can hardly imagine how difficult it
is to scroll through

Currently I have in my most used folder (task based) with personal
"knowledge base" approx 1000 categories lines and it is still very good view
to search because I can combine with fulltext and thus find e.g. something
related to Windows in category "remote" or some more complicated kb item that
I do not remember precisely how did I categorize or called in subject.

Of course, very often I just use "by subject" and the I can type from
keyborad. But then I have one and only criteria in the situation I know very
exactly what I serch for.


of course I am able to switch (and I do) on "all collapsed" - you do not
need to do it manually

but I was requesting politely new feature hoping that somenone from Ol team
will be able to read it and to introduce a real improvement, not just
re-making colors of user interface and selling it as a new version

I think this usage of categories is fully in scope of what Outlook can do
without any problems - in the framework of proper use

the pain not being able to jump with keyboard goes long long to the history,
as I can remember Outlook 97 had this problem also

majority of so called "improvements" mean for me to turn off various "good"
settings like shade group headings, "automatic grouping" etc... in all views
manually since developpers decided it is good that everyone with new version
will immediately want to have it on by default.

But any real improvements to "undercover" are rare with newer versions.

So please, please, introduce keyboard typing in "grouped by" view.

I hope the mentioned example helped you to understand why

 

[Michael Bauer [MVP - Outlook]]

There's no imagination necessary, just follow the link in my signature, and
you know I live in categories.

Scrolling through the collapsed list is very fast. But I agree, if MS
decides to take action and adds your suggestion that would be nice to have.

--
Best regards
Michael Bauer - MVP Outlook

: VBOffice Reporter for Data Analysis & Reporting
: Outlook Categories? Category Manager Is Your Tool
: <http://www.vboffice.net/product.html?pub=6&lang=en>


Am Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:24:01 -0700 schrieb Bert_Bert:

 

[Michael Bauer [MVP - Outlook]]

Bert, categories are still the same. Colors are just an added feature but
you don't need to use it. The same applies to the new shortcuts. What has
changed indeed is the way you assign a category, and for most
people/organizations that's good.

Of course, it's possible to identify typos and correct that. But as you say
in the other thread, sometimes you can hardly find some items because you
don't remember the category, and your list of categories is so large.

I assume, you could work much more efficiently with categories and the way
Outlook handles it if you take the time to think about a category system
that works for your needs/business.

Maybe this article gives you a few new ideas about categories:

http://www.vboffice.net/workshop.html?pub=6&lang=en&smp=1&cmd=showitem

If you're interested in seeing which of your categories are actually in use
and how often one category is assigned, you might try Category Manager. For
details and the download please see the link in my signature.

--
Best regards
Michael Bauer - MVP Outlook

: VBOffice Reporter for Data Analysis & Reporting
: Outlook Categories? Category Manager Is Your Tool
: <http://www.vboffice.net/product.html?pub=6&lang=en>


Am Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:21:01 -0700 schrieb Bert_Bert:

 

[Bert_Bert]

Well the problem with Color categories and right-click was annoying me so
much that I programmed and successfully debugged .NET Visual basic program
that would keep this feature even in Outlook 2007 but as it came to
deplayment, it is real pain in the a**.
I came through pages and pages MS official steps that must be fulfilled but
did not manage to make installation package that woul be easy to use.
You have to include many different VSTO, .NET many megabytes of libraries,
so for this small add-in you would need bulky install package and finally I
gave up.

The golden old DLL in Visual Basic 6 !!
I think I will re-write nic object-oriented app to the old rigid visual
basic

However I am not able to imagine how to add keyboard search to grouped view
at all.