Public Folders - Use and set-up

[John]

I have read all the forum posts regarding Public Folders. Prior to reading
them I was not aware of the existence of Public Folders.

I have now tested some of the Public Foders info provided via various posts
on the formum and have a few questions.

My office is using Outlook 2003 with Exchange Server. We would like to use
the Public Folders for a companywide contact (address and e-mail) listing
instead of sharing our individual Contact List.

Here are my questions:

I attempted to put the Public Folder in the "Favorites" navagation pane via
the Public Folder "favorites" method. I could not get the Public Folder to
appear in the Favorites Navagation Pane. It did appear in the Public Folder
Favorites folder.
I also noticed that if I updated the Public Folder Contacts list that the
same list in the Public Folder "Favorites" file did not auto update with that
info. However, the reverse of that did update on both files. Is that normal
or is there a permission involved on some menu?

So how do I get my Publid Folder to appear in the "Favorites Navagation Pane.

In playing with different choices I linked a contact from the main contacts
list to the public folder contacts list. How do I unlink that? I cannot
find that option and neither list will allow me to delete that entry.

My office also has several merge related form files set up in (Office 2000)
Word 2000 that access Excel 2000 database. How do we use the addresses in
the Public Folders contact listing to quickly insert into our Word form files
or final document without the million steps required via the "letter wizard"
etc.?

When I search the Public Foldercontact list it does not bring up the entry I
am asking for. What am I doing wrong or is this a permission option. And if
a permission option, could you point me to the step by step to accomplish
this.

Thank you. Sorry to have so many questions.

John

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I attempted to put the Public Folder in the "Favorites" navagation pane via

the Public Folder "favorites" method. I could not get the Public Folder to
appear in the Favorites Navagation Pane. It did appear in the Public Folder
Favorites folder.

This is normal, expected behavior. There is no Favorites navigation pane. What you're no doubt referring to is the Favorites section of the Mail navigation pane. It shows only mail folders, not contact folders

So how do I get my Publid Folder to appear in the "Favorites Navagation Pane.

You don't. See above. And then look on the Contacts navigation pane, where you should see the PF Fav replica of this contact folder.

I also noticed that if I updated the Public Folder Contacts list that the
same list in the Public Folder "Favorites" file did not auto update with that
info. However, the reverse of that did update on both files. Is that normal
or is there a permission involved on some menu?

That's not normal, unless you're working offline, in which case the Favorites replica won't be updated until your synchronize. Otherwise, both should be the same and are subject to the permissions on the original folder.

When I search the Public Foldercontact list it does not bring up the entry I
am asking for.

In which of the four different possible Outlook search tools were you searching? For what?

My office also has several merge related form files set up in (Office 2000)
Word 2000 that access Excel 2000 database. How do we use the addresses in
the Public Folders contact listing to quickly insert into our Word form files
or final document without the million steps required via the "letter wizard"
etc.?

Start the merge from the public folder using the Tools | Mail Merge command in Outlook.

In playing with different choices I linked a contact from the main contacts
list to the public folder contacts list. How do I unlink that? I cannot
find that option and neither list will allow me to delete that entry.

Open the contact where you added the link. Delete the link. Save the contact.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[John]

Thank you Sue. That clears up several things.

The "search" question....while in Public Folders contact list the task bar
above had a search boxs labeled "look for" and "search in" the public folder
contact list I was currently using was already listed in the "search in" box.
I used the "look for" box to type in my search criteria.

The contact entry was inputed with First Name then Last name and "filed as"
last name, first name. However, that item/contact entry will only come up if
I search using above by typing in the first name. It will not locate any
entries by the last name

I would like to be able to search by last name and I thought designating the
entry "file as" last name, first name would accomplish that.

On the Link/unlink subject. After checking that linked entry I, it appears
that possibly I deleted the original entry before unlinking. But in my
defense, I looked for an unlink choice on the action menu prior to deleting
and never found one. I was however able to change the problem entry to list
as a useable contact entry so everything is right with the world once again.

Thank you again for your help.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I can't duplicate the search problem here in Outlook 2003 SP2.

As you found, there is no Unlink command. To delete links, you must open the item and delete from the Contacts box.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[John]

In looking at my entry, it has M.D after the last name and I think that is
causing a problem.

I need to revamp the form to allow for last name and first name as separate
line items instead of full name.

Thank you,
John