Various Questions

[dcbpe]

My company recently updated to Outlook 2003, and I'm hopng someone up here
can help me do a few things with it....

1) Does anyone know of a method by which the "Navigation Pain" (note I
purposley didn't spell it "pane") can be reduced to icon's only, and possibly
relocated akin to a toolbar?

assuming #1 is not possible, as I've tried and tried to no avail, I would
rather just turn the damned thing off all together. Then I would simply use
the "Go" menu, but......

2) Is there a way to add a .PST shortcut to a menu? Specifically, I
maintain a quarterly .PST into which I move all of my sent/received email; I
keep the data file open at all times. I would like to place a "shortcut" to
this data file in the standard "Go" menu.

What I would really like would be an add-in to adjust the program so that
each folder could be viewed in a "tab", like Mozilla Firefox. Tabbing makes
the GUI so much more user-friendly that I just don't understand why MS hasn't
incorporated the technology throughout the Office product.

3) Is there a way to delete the "Search Folder". It is absolutley useless.

4) Is there a way to ADD label colors? In other words, 10 colors just
aren't enough and I'd like to be able to have a custom color dialog where I
could add as many labels as I'd like. Someone may answer that I could just
have multiple calendar's, but I wouldn't be able to syncronize multiple
calendars to my PDA, rendering it effectivley useless.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
DC Battaglia, PE

 

[Chuck Davis]

-----Original Message-----
My company recently updated to Outlook 2003, and I'm hopng someone up here
can help me do a few things with it....

1) Does anyone know of a method by which the "Navigation Pain" (note I
purposley didn't spell it "pane") can be reduced to icon's only, and possibly
relocated akin to a toolbar?

assuming #1 is not possible, as I've tried and tried to no avail, I would
rather just turn the damned thing off all together. Then I would simply use
the "Go" menu, but......

2) Is there a way to add a .PST shortcut to a menu? Specifically, I
maintain a quarterly .PST into which I move all of my sent/received email; I
keep the data file open at all times. I would like to place a "shortcut" to
this data file in the standard "Go" menu.

What I would really like would be an add-in to adjust the program so that
each folder could be viewed in a "tab", like Mozilla Firefox. Tabbing makes
the GUI so much more user-friendly that I just don't understand why MS hasn't
incorporated the technology throughout the Office product.

3) Is there a way to delete the "Search Folder". It is absolutley useless.

4) Is there a way to ADD label colors? In other words, 10 colors just
aren't enough and I'd like to be able to have a custom color dialog where I
could add as many labels as I'd like. Someone may answer that I could just
have multiple calendar's, but I wouldn't be able to syncronize multiple
calendars to my PDA, rendering it effectivley useless.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
DC Battaglia, PE





.

Talk about Pain. It's a lot easier to get answers if there
is only one question per post.

The answer to question #3, is directly from Outlook 2003 Help:
Delete a Search Folder

In Mail, in the Navigation Pane (Navigation Pane: The
column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes
panes such as Shortcuts or Mail and the shortcuts or
folders within each pane. Click a folder to show the items
in the folder.), right-click the Search Folder.
On the shortcut menu, click Delete Search Folder name.
Important When you delete a Search Folder, the e-mail
messages shown in it are not deleted, as the items are
never stored, only viewed, in a Search Folder. However,
opening or selecting one or more e-mail items shown in a
Search Folder, and then deleting the e-mail items will
delete them from the Microsoft Outlook folder where they
are stored.

As for your "suggestions," there are no Microsoft Employees
reading these posts. All of us are volunteers. Post your
suggestions here:
http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp

 

[dcbpe]

Sorry Chuck...I thought posting once with multiple questions would be easier
than posting 4 times and creating multiple threads.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Regarding Search Folders...I read
the help document before I posted. Unfortunatley, everytime I reload Outlook
(everyday) the 3 standard sub-folders re-appear. Company policy is to
log-off everyday, to allow overnight upgrades. Since I apperantly have no
choice but to see the Navigation Pain, I would like to at least clean it up a
bit....like removing folders I never ever use.

The root "Search Folders" and "Junk Mail" specifically.

The main point is that as time moves forward, programs should be more
customizable, not less. I simply cannot make the GUI look as I wish it,
hence disatisfaction with the product. Unfortunatley, I have no choice but
to use it, thanks to a corporate Enterprise agreement with Mr. Gates.

I know, you're a volunteer, and I'm venting in the wrong direction. I
appreciate your "ear" as it were. I have forwarded my suggestions to MS; as
I have always done in the past with previous versions of Office. So far,
they've fallen on deaf corporate ears. I guess my comments are not often
duplicated by others, so there's no push to make changes. All in all, I
won't spend the money to upgrade my home PC to 2003....

Thanks again...for your reply, and volunteering your time.
DC Battaglia, PE

 

[Brian Tillman]

Sorry Chuck...I thought posting once with multiple questions would be
easier than posting 4 times and creating multiple threads.

And I, for one, would agree.

The main point is that as time moves forward, programs should be more
customizable, not less. I simply cannot make the GUI look as I wish
it, hence disatisfaction with the product. Unfortunatley, I have no
choice but to use it, thanks to a corporate Enterprise agreement with
Mr. Gates.

Most GUIs are not able to be rearranged in any way the user pleases. I can
think of one that is very customizable, but only in those areas the vendor
chose to enable customizing. You certainly can't make FireFox appear any
way you choose.

As to the Navigation pane, Click View and uncheck Navigation Pane.

 

[dcbpe]

Most GUIs are not able to be rearranged in any way the user pleases. I can
think of one that is very customizable, but only in those areas the vendor
chose to enable customizing. You certainly can't make FireFox appear any
way you choose.

yes, I suppose "anyway" was an exageration on my part..though I obviously
think Outlook 2003 is less customizable than I would expect. Fortunatley, I
like the default view in Firefox.

As to the Navigation pane, Click View and uncheck Navigation Pane.

yes, but then I lose access to my open data files, currently shown in"Folder
List", which is what my "Navigation Pain" is set to. However, I can't seem
to create a shortcut in the "Go" menu for it. If there was a way, I'ld love
to turn off the "pain".

Nit-picky as I know it is, the "Nav Pain" bugs me because I can't move it,
can't reduce it to icons, and most of all (and most ridiculously) I can't
stop it from showing me those damn miniature calendars when I select
"Calendar".

I suppose I'm unlike most people, in that I dislike having things on the
screen that I don't use. The only icon on my desktop is "Recycle Bin", which
I have hidden. I removed the "Favorites" menu from OTLK '03 because I never
use it in that program. Maybe I'm slightly OCD.....

Thanks for the input Brian
At the very least, it's felt good to vent...I'm not nearly so aggravated by
this program as I was last week

 

[Brian Tillman]

Nit-picky as I know it is, the "Nav Pain" bugs me because I can't
move it, can't reduce it to icons, and most of all (and most
ridiculously) I can't stop it from showing me those damn miniature
calendars when I select "Calendar".

Where do those "miniature calendars" appear? If they're on the right, click
near their left side and drag them to the right until they disappear.

 

[dcbpe]

Where do those "miniature calendars" appear? If they're on the right, click
near their left side and drag them to the right until they disappear.

The calendars appear at the top of the Navigation Pane when you select
Calendar, moving everything else in the pane down. My Pane is currently set
to "Folder List"...it shows nothing else, ie no shortcut buttons. It's
fairly clean looking, until I select calendar, and then the folder list moves
down to allow the mini calendars.

It sounds to me like you are describing the Task Pane in the previous
version...which also showed the mini calanders, but on the right side of the
screen. At that time, I did select the window seperator and move it all the
way to the right...effectively closing the Task Pane, which I had no use for
anyway.

I could close the Nav Pane too...but still haven't firgured away to shortcut
my open data file to a menu.

Oh well...I'm just going to live with it as is; the time I can spend on
these relativley minor annoyances is limited. Unfortunatlye, I don't have
the time I'd like to to "play" with the PC settings like I used to.

Thanks again..
-DCB

 

[Brian Tillman]

The calendars appear at the top of the Navigation Pane when you select
Calendar, moving everything else in the pane down. My Pane is
currently set to "Folder List"...it shows nothing else, ie no
shortcut buttons. It's fairly clean looking, until I select
calendar, and then the folder list moves down to allow the mini
calendars.

When in Folder List, I can click Calendar and I get no "mini-calendars". My
Folder List (in the Navigation Pane) doesn't change. I have no buttons
enabled in the Navigation Pane, since I never want anything in that pane
other than the Folder List.

It sounds to me like you are describing the Task Pane in the previous
version...which also showed the mini calanders, but on the right side
of the screen.

That's where they appear in Outlook 2003 on my PC as well.

At that time, I did select the window seperator and
move it all the way to the right...effectively closing the Task Pane,
which I had no use for anyway.

I do that a in OUtlook 2003 as well.

 

[dcbpe]

Brian,

It sounds like you have both the Task and Nav Panes enabled, with the Nav
Pane set to "Folder List"? It sounds as if you like viewing the folder list
as I do..with nothing but the list. (Making Outlook appear somewhat like
Explorer...)

My "Task Pad View" is turned off...using only the "Nav Pane" in "Folder
List" mode.

True enough, when I turned the "Task Pane" on, the mini calendars jumped
from the "Nav Pane" on the left, to the "Task Pane" on the right. However,
as soon as I drag the seperator to the right, or simply close the "Task Pane"
via menu, the mini calendars jump back over to the "Nav Pane".

.....

 

[Brian Tillman]

It sounds like you have both the Task and Nav Panes enabled, with the
Nav Pane set to "Folder List"? It sounds as if you like viewing the
folder list as I do..with nothing but the list. (Making Outlook
appear somewhat like Explorer...)

I don't have the Taskpad enabled in general. I only unhid it to see if I
could reproduce what you're seeing and the only place I can find and
"mini-calendar" is above the Taskpad and when I've selected the Calendar
view of the Navigation pane and then selected the Folder List View. I thonk
I have now exactly duplicated, in the latter. To remove the minicalendar, I
clicked in my Junk E-mail folder, which made the minicalendar above the
folder lost disappear. I then his all buttons in the navigation pane again.
When I returned to my Inbox, the inicalendar did not return.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I wish I had taken typing in high school.

I don't have the Taskpad enabled in general. I only unhid it to see
if I could reproduce what you're seeing and the only place I can find
and "mini-calendar" is above the Taskpad and when I've selected the
Calendar view of the Navigation pane and then selected the Folder
List View. I thonk I have now exactly duplicated, in the latter.

I think I have now exactly duplicated what you describe by doing the latter.

To remove the minicalendar, I clicked in my Junk E-mail folder, which
made the minicalendar above the folder lost disappear.

That's Folder List.

I then his all buttons in the navigation pane again.

I hid the buttons again.

When I returned to my Inbox, the inicalendar did not return.

As opposed to the "outycalendar"? That should have read "minicalendar".