Microsoft Outlook 2003

This document is for users with moderate computer literacy. It is assumed the user knows how to navigate around Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP. This document is best used while viewing Microsoft Outlook 2003 on the computer display. All items mentioned in this document may not appear depending on the installation of the software for each Division. Additional help can be found by pressing <F1> or selecting the Help button (Figure 5). Next select Microsoft Outlook Help and follow the directions from the Office Assistant.

Outlook 2003 Notes

The first thing you’ll notice, if you have used previous versions of Outlook, is the new, more colorful look. It incorporates several features designed to make Outlook easier to use such as the Navigation Pane. This feature replaces the Outlook Bar from earlier versions of Outlook and provides centralized navigation. For a full list of changes from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2003, press <F1> and type “What’s new in Outlook 2003” in the search box.

Different Features and Views in Outlook

Figure 1 – Outlook Mail

When Microsoft Outlook is opened, you will see your Inbox. It is where your received mail is located. There are several different ways to customize your view depending on your preferences. The screen is divided into three frames as shown in Figure 1 and are described below.

Figure 2 – Navigation Pane

1. Navigation Pane – This new feature to Outlook 2003 is at the far left of the screen and allows you to switch between folders (Figure 2). Notice at the top it reads Mail and under Mail are two areas named Favorite Folders and All Mail Folders which organize your email. The large buttons at the bottom allow you to easily switch between Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes, Folder List, Shortcuts, and Journal. Notice that when one of the buttons is selected it turns orange and the corresponding window appears in the frame to the right. Not all of these large buttons show by default. To show fewer or more buttons click on Configure button at the bottom, right-hand corner of Figure 2 and choose the appropriate option from the menu to suit your preferences. When you move your mouse over this button it will turn orange .

Figure 3 – Navigation Pane Options

Other ways to change the look of your Navigation Pane is by selecting Navigation Pane Options from the Configure buttons menu. Figure 3 will appear. You can check as many or as few of the boxes corresponding to the buttons you’d like to appear in the Navigation Pane. Another way to do this is to select Add or Remove Buttons from the Configure buttons menu and turn the options on or off by simply clicking on them.

Here is a brief description of some of the features listed in the Navigation Pane.

· Mailbox – “your name”- Outlook Today will display a summary of tasks and appointments you have pending for today, as well as the number of unread messages in your Inbox folder.

· Calendar is where appointments and meetings are entered. You may configure an appointment to display a dialog box (a reminder) when it is almost time for your appointment. By default the Calendar is only accessible to you. However, it can be set up to allow other users to view or edit your calendar. Refer to “How To Use Calendars” for more information.

· Contacts allows you to record general information about a person. The Contacts folder is stored on the Exchange server where it can be accessed from Outlook Web Access. Refer to “How to Use Your Address Books” for more information.

· Deleted Items is where messages from your Inbox go when you delete them. However, they are not actually deleted from Outlook when placed in this folder. To fully delete an item it must be deleted from this folder.

· Inbox is the default folder when Outlook is opened. This is the folder where all incoming mail is deposited, unless otherwise redirected by mail filters. See “Mail Filters” in the “How To Use E-Mail” section for more information.

· Journal keeps a record of which Microsoft Office documents you have accessed. This feature is unused by most users and should be disabled so as to not waste space on the mail server.

· Notes allows you to leave notes to yourself, ala a Post-It-Note. Most users prefer to use the Task list to send themselves notes as well as take advantage of the “reminder” feature.

· Tasks is where you store your “To Do” list. As each task item is completed, the item is grayed out and crossed out but still appears on the list. Refer to “How To Use Tasks” for more information.

2. Inbox - This is the default folder when Outlook is opened. This is the folder where all incoming mail is deposited, unless otherwise redirected by mail filters. See “Mail Filters” in the “How To Use E-Mail” section for more information. This section of the screen is also referred to as the Preview Pane.

3. Reading Pane - Located to the right of the Inbox, the Reading Pane is opened by default when Outlook opens. It shows the contents of the mail message currently selected in the Inbox. By default, all messages viewed in the Reading Pane will be marked as read. This can be confusing to those used to double-clicking, or pressing <Enter>, on a message to open and read the message.

If you wish to keep the Reading Pane but don’t want to have messages marked as read until you open the message, from the main menu select Tools à Options à Other à Reading Pane. Remove the checkmark for p Mark messages as read in preview window and p Mark item as read when selection changes.

To change the position of the Reading Pane, from the main menu select View à Reading Pane and click on the appropriate option.

If you would like to see the first few lines of new mail in the Inbox or Preview Pane, select View à AutoPreview from the main menu. Unread mail will display the first three to four lines of the message below the listed item.

You may also arrange your e-mail messages based on several categories. On the menu bar select ViewàArrange By. Next select the appropriate option that corresponds to the way you would like to sort your e-mail. The Show in Groups option will separate your messages into groups according to your sort criteria.

NOTE: These are just a few of the ways you can customize the look of your screen. Play around with it and find a display that suits you best.

How to Use E-mail

Reading messages in your Inbox

To open and read a message, select the Inbox folder from the Navigation Pane. Double‑click the entry in the Inbox of the message you want to read. You may also select the message and press <Enter> to open the message. A new window will appear containing the message. Mailbox icons visually describe the status of your mail. See Figure 4 below.

Figure 4 – Mailbox Icons

New, unopened mail

Read, opened mail

Replied mail

Forwarded mail

Replying to a message

Once you have reviewed an e-mail message you may want to send a reply. From the Inbox toolbar (Figure 5) click on the Reply or Reply to All button. Selecting one of these options allows you to automatically reply to the person who sent the original message. In the case of Reply to All this will include everyone in the To: and Cc: fields. Outlook 2003 will automatically complete the To: and/or Cc: in your outgoing message and fills in the Subject field with the subject from the original message.

Figure 5 – Inbox Toolbar

Click in the message area below, and supplement the original message with any additional comments you would like to make regarding the message to which you are replying. Finally, click the Send button.

Forwarding a message

To forward a message, select the Forward button on the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5). Input the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s) in the To: and Cc: fields. If you have more than one address, separate them with a semi-colon (;). Outlook 2003 will fill in the Subject field with the same subject from the original message. Finally, click the Send button.

Deleting unwanted messages

To delete a message, select the message item in the Inbox (or other mail folder), and select the Delete button (û button) from the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5). If the message is open, select the Delete button on the message toolbar.

Deleted messages will be stored in the Deleted Items folder. Messages deleted from the Deleted Items folder will disappear forever. You can automatically delete all messages in the Deleted Items folder when you close Outlook by going to the main menu and selecting Tools à Options. Select the Other tab and select þ Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting.

Creating and sending new emails

Figure 6 – New Mail Message

To create a new e-mail message from the Inbox folder, select the leftmost button on the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5) that reads New. Or you may click File in the Menu Bar, then click New, and finally click on Mail Message. In either case a blank message form will appear (Figure 6). In the To: field, input the recipients of your message. Ways this can be accomplished:

1. Input the person’s e-mail address manually,

2. If the person is on the Finance and Administration mail server, type their name. Outlook will check the address book(s) and the recipient’s name will be displayed with an underline if the name was found. Multiple recipients are separated with a semicolon (“;”).

3. Add recipients by clicking the To: button, or selecting the Address Book (Figure 6, the & button), which brings up the Select Names dialog box (Figure 7). Depending on how Outlook was configured either the Recipients, Global Address List or Contacts list will appear first. To change the address list view, select the drop-down box on the upper right corner of the dialog box and select the address book appropriate for your application.

Browse through the lists and select the recipients of your message. Click OK. Next, fill in the Cc:, Subject and Message fields if desired before clicking the Send button in the upper left hand corner of the screen.

Figure 7 – Select Names

Note: When you send an e-mail, a copy of the message is also sent to your Sent Items folder. You can access, edit, forward, etc. your sent message (from the Navigation Pane) until you decide to delete it. If you want to keep the e-mail you can move it to another folder if you desire.

Quick Tip: You can change which address list appears as the default in Figure 7 to the list that you use most frequently. To do this click on the Address Book button from the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5 the & button) then click on ToolsàOptions. Figure 8 will appear. Select which address list to show first from the drop down box labeled Show this address list first. Click ApplyàOK. Your chosen list will now appear first in your Address Books list.

Figure 8 – Addressing Options

File Enclosures/Attachments

When creating a new mail message (Figure 6), to attach a file to the message, select the Insert File button (the one that looks like a paper clip), or from the Menu Bar select Insert à File. Navigate through the directory tree and select the file to be attached. Select Insert.

Spell Checking

To manually spell check a message, press <F7> or select Tools à Check Spelling.

To automatically spell check all outgoing messages, from the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5), select Tools à Options. Select the Spelling tab and select þ Always check spelling before sending.

Mail Filters

Outlook has built-in junk e-mail (aka spam) and adult junk e-mail filters. You should review suspected junk e‑mail before deleting it in case you receive a legitimate e-mail with the keyword(s) the spam filter is looking for. To change your junk e-mail settings select the ToolsàOptions from the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5). Under the Preferences tab select Junk E‑Mail from the E-mail section. Finally, choose your level of protection and click Apply.

If you receive mail on a variety of topics and would like to organize them into separate folders instead of them all appearing in the Inbox folder, Outlook also has user-defined filters to move incoming mail into mail folders you created. See “How to Create and Use Folders” for information. To create a mail filter for a message in the Inbox, select the message. Select ToolsàOrganize on the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5). In the Using Folders section, you can move just the current message to another folder or create a rule (a filter) to move new incoming messages from a particular sender to another folder.

Creating Signatures

A signature allows you to automatically add text to the emails you send. To create signatures follow these steps.

1. On the Menu Bar click Toolsà Options and then click the Mail Format tab.

2. From the Message Format section use the Send in this message format box, to select the message format you want to use the signature with.

3. Click Signatures, and then click New.

4. In the Enter a name for your new Signature box, type a name for this signature. You may also edit or remove previously created signatures from here.

5. Under Choose how to create your Signature, select whether to start from scratch with a blank signature or to use an existing signature as a template.

You may also select a file to base your signature on by selecting Use this file as a template. Next type the path and file name in the box, or click Browse to select from a list.

6. Click Next.

7. In the Signature text box, type the text you want to appear in the signature.

8. To change the paragraph or font format, select the text, click Font or Paragraph, and select the options you want followed by OK.

9. These options are not available if you selected plain text as the message format in step 2.

Note: Selecting Clear will erase all the text in the Signature text box.

Including a business card with your signature

If you would like to include a business card (vCard) in your signature continue with the following steps.

1. Under the vCard options select a vCard from the drop down box or click New vCard from Contact.

2. If New vCard from Contact was chosen you may either select your entry in the Global Address List or an entry you make for yourself in your Contacts folder.

Note: Instructions for importing a vCard file to your Contacts follow below.

3. Finally click Finish à OK à Apply à OK.

Note: Your Signature is not available through Outlook Web Access.

Importing a vCard file to Contacts

On the Menu Bar click FileàImport and Export. Click Import a vCard file (.vcf) followed by Next. In the Look in box, click the drive that contains the vCard file you want. In the folder list, double-click folders until you can click the vCard file you want to import. Click Open.

How to Use your Address Books

Contacts

The Contacts folder is used to create a personal address book. There are many ways to add names to your Contacts folder. Described below are three of the more popular procedures.

1. Creating a Contact - Go to the Contacts folder by selecting it from the Navigation Pane. Select the New Contact button on the toolbar, i.e., the first button on the left, same location as the New Message button on the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5). The Contact Properties dialog box will be displayed (Figure 9). Input as much data as needed or available, or at least the name and the e-mail fields. Select the Save and Close button in the top left hand corner when completed.

2. Creating a Contact from an E-Mail Message - When you receive an e-mail message from someone and you wish to add him or her to your Contacts list to make sending him or her mail easier, open the message. Right-click the From: address of the message. Select Add to Outlook Contacts. Figure 9 will appear where you can complete or modify the information automatically selected. Click the Save and Close button when you are finished.

3. Creating a Contact as you enter the e-mail addresses in the To: or Cc: fields - If someone’s e-mail address is not currently in your Contacts, you can add it while you are sending them a message. Enter the recipients e-mail addresses in the To: or Cc: fields. Click away from the address you entered, such as in the Subject or Message field. Notice that the addresses become underlined. To add the address to your Contacts, right click on the address and select Add to Outlook Contacts. Figure 9 will be displayed where you can input as much data as needed. When finished select Save and Close.

NOTE: Using a Contact through Address Book - When you select the Address Book button (&) from the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5) or the To: button on an e‑mail message, the Select Names dialog box (Figure 7) will appear. Select the pull down list on the upper left corner and scroll down to the bottom and select Contact List. Select the name of the recipient of the message.

Figure 9 – Contact Properties

Global Address Lists

The Global Address List is created, and updated, when a person at the institution/business selects to use Outlook mail. The Information Technology Staff places the new user in the Global Address List. Thus, this address list is a current list of all Outlook mail users.

To use this list, click on the recipient of the e-mail or type their name in the area below Type name or Select from list in Figure 6. Notice that the list of names below where you typed the name moves to all of the persons with that name. Next, click on the To, Cc or Bcc buttons and this will add the address to those already in the e-mail (it will appear in the area to the right). You can do this for as many addresses as you desire. When you have finished, click OK, and you return to your message.

Personal Distribution Lists

The Personal Distribution List allows you to create a group of addresses to which you frequently send e-mail. To create a Distribution List select the Address Book button (&) from the Inbox Toolbar (Figure 5) and the Address Book screen will appear as seen in Figure 10. Click on the New Entry button in the far left hand corner at the top.

Figure 10 – Address Book

A New Entry screen will appear. Select New Distribution List in the top area and check that Put this entry is set to Contacts. Select OK.

Figure 11 will then appear in which you will type a Name for your Distribution List and then click Select Members.

Figure 11 – Distribution Lists

Figure 12 – Select Members

On the next screen select which group to Show Names from with the drop down menu. Choose which members you would like to add to the list by clicking on their names from the menu then click the Members button. You may also manually add an address, which is not included in any of the lists, by typing a semi-colon (;) at the end of the last e-mail address in the text box followed by the new e-mail address. After all addresses have been added click OK.

To remove members from the list simply click once on the member from Figure 11 and click on the Remove button (which is grayed out in Figure 11). Finally click Save and Close.

How to Create and Use Folders

Inbox Folders

To create a folder, from the main menu, select File à New à Folder. Input the name of the folder. Next, select what kind of folder from the Folder contains drop down menu. Next, select where to put the folder in the list of folders. It is recommended to put all mail folders in the Inbox folder. Finally, click OK.

To move mail to a folder, right-click the mail item in the Inbox and select Move to Folder. Select which folder to move the message to. Click OK. Or you may click on the e-mail message you want to move, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the message to the folder you want it in.

Personal Folders Files (.pst files)

Managing your mail becomes necessary as the size of your Inbox gets too large. You can permanently store and organize e-mail messages and clean up your Inbox by creating Personal Folders Files (.pst files). This will save space on the server.

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Outlook Data File.

2. To create a Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders file (.pst) that offers greater storage capacity for items and folders click Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) and then click OK.

For compatibility with earlier versions of Outlook, under Types of storage, click Microsoft Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst), and then click OK.

3. From the Save in drop down menu find and click on your home drive. Your home drive stores your information on the server and is usually the H: drive.

4. Create a new folder by right-clicking in the white space of your home drive. Click NewàFolder. Right-click this new folder and select Rename. Type the new name of the folder which should be Outlook.

5. Double click on the Outlook folder.

6. In the File name box, type your username for the name of the file, and then click OK.

7. In the Name box, type a display name for the .pst folder. This is the name that you will see in your Mail Folders list.

8. Click OK.

9. Notice that your new folder now appears under All Mail Folders and is stored as H:\Outlook\yourUserName.pst.

How to Use Calendars

Figure 13 – Calendar Item

Appointments, Meetings, and Events

All Calendar items are more or less the same. With a couple exceptions, they look similar to Figure 13 above. An Appointment has, essentially, Subject, Location, Label, Start/End Date/Time fields, and a comment text box at the bottom. An Event is similar to an appointment except that the All day event flag is selected by default so that there is only a Start/End Date but no Time fields. A Meeting is similar to an Appointment except it has a To: field. The To: field allows you to send invitations to the meeting to others. You can also invite or include others in any appointments and events by selecting the Scheduling tab and inputting their names in the All Attendees column or selecting the Add Others button.

The Subject field is to input a brief description of the appointment or meeting or event. The Location field is to describe where the appointment will take place. The Start/End Date/Time fields mark when the appointment begins and ends on your calendar. The Reminder field allows you to have Outlook remind you with a pop-up box to remind you of the appointment. The comment text box on the bottom of the window is for comments and long description of the Appointment.

Scheduling an Appointment

Go to the Calendar by selecting the button in the Navigation Pane. Select the New Appointment button on the toolbar – it will appear similar to Figure 5 except the first button on the left will look like a calendar. Input the Subject of the appointment. The Label indicates what kind of appointment it is. The Location is optional, although for a meeting it would be helpful to indicate in which room the meeting will take place. Modify the Start/End Date/Time to when the appointment/meeting begins and ends. The Reminder allows you to have a reminder pop up on the screen to remind you of an upcoming appointment or meeting. Select þ Reminder and then select the amount of time before the appointment to send the reminder. If it is an all day event, select þ All day event. If you would like to invite others to the meeting/appointment, select the Scheduling button and enter the names of the recipients of the meeting invitation. Click the Add Others button to Add from Address Book. Select Send when you are finished.

Scheduling a Recurring Appointment

This is the same procedure as scheduling an individual appointment, except you also select the Recurrence button. The Appointment Recurrence dialog box will then be displayed (Figure 14). Here, you configure the start and end times. The Recurrence pattern section determines how often and which days the appointment will occur. The Range of recurrence section determines how many times the recurring appointment will appear. Select OK when finished and then Send to add the appointment to your calendar.

Figure 14 – Appointment Recurrence

Inviting Others to a Meeting

Outlook 2003 allows you to invite others, who are on the Finance and Administration mail server, to a meeting. When a meeting is posted, the invitees receive a message inviting them to the meeting. They can either accept or reject the meeting request. If they accept the meeting request, the appointment is automatically placed on their calendar.

Although individuals can be invited to the meeting by entering their names on the To: line of the Calendar item , a better way would be to use the Scheduling feature. Select the Scheduling tab (Figure 15). On the left-hand column, under the All Attendees header, enter each person’s name in the Click here to add a name box. Outlook will refer to the calendar of each person and mark the days and times they have an item in their calendar. The composite schedule is reflected on the All Attendees line. In the example below, Steven King has an item on his calendar on Wednesday from 3:30pm-4:00pm. Theron McLeod has an item on her calendar from 9:00am-9:30am. Elwood Aust has a meeting on his calendar from 10:00am-12:00pm. As a result, the composite schedule on the All Attendees row at the top indicates blocks of time when none of the invitees may be able to attend.

Figure 15 – Scheduling Availability

Accessing Another User’s Calendar

If you have been given permission to view or edit another user’s calendar, select from the main menu File à Open à Other User’s Folder. Input the user’s name and select Calendar from the Folders list. Select OK when finished. Depending on what kind of permissions you have on their calendar, you can view or edit the other user’s calendar.

Providing Another User Access to your Calendar

To give another user permission to view your Calendar, right-click the Calendar folder. Next, select the Properties option at the bottom of the pop-up menu. The Calendar Properties (Figure 16) will be displayed. Select the Permissions tab and select the Add button. Select the user(s) you wish to allow to have access to your calendar, selecting the Add button to include each user. Double-click the users you would like to add and click OK when finished. For each name on the list, their default permission role is “None”, i.e., no permission. Select a name and change the Permission Level from the drop down box.