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MS Office Forum / Outlook / Contacts / September 2005E-mail to group using categories vs. distribution list
I've seen the recommendation that I should use categories vs. a distribution list and am doing so - but, I need to send an e-mail to a group of about 50 members, then cc the same message to their support staff, which I have assigned a custom category titled "group-support." The only way I know how to send an e-mail to a group of categorized contacts is to do so from the contact list using the "by category" view, but I cannot figure out an easy way to then cc the other category members on the same e-mail. I've done a workaround by going back to the contact list and creating a new e-mail to the second group, then cutting/pasting those addresses from the "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? That's as easy as it gets. Probably takes less time than it would to maintain a distribution list.  SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > I've seen the recommendation that I should use categories vs. a distribution > list and am doing so - but, I need to send an e-mail to a group of about 50 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Are there any plans to make the process easier in future releases? Michael Henderson midahe(removethis)@gmail.com > That's as easy as it gets. Probably takes less time than it would to maintain a distribution list. > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. > > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Microsoft does not publicize its plans for features in future releases. If you have an idea on how it could be made easier, you can post that in the newsgroup web interface as a suggestion. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Are there any plans to make the process easier in future releases? > > Michael Henderson > midahe(removethis)@gmail.com > >> That's as easy as it gets. Probably takes less time than it would to maintain a distribution list. >> > I've seen the recommendation that I should use categories vs. a distribution >> > list and am doing so - but, I need to send an e-mail to a group of about 50 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. >> > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Thanks. I do have a follow up question...is there an easy way to then "share" the categorized list with someone within my network who wants to send an e-mail to the group, using the most up-to-date contact information? I have given her permission to view my entire contact folder and instructions on how to send/cc to the group using categories, but that's extreme overkill, as she really only needs this specific list. I initially made subfolders within my contact folder for the various groups (I could then have given permission to view only that subfolder), but that was problematic, since many contacts are members of more than one group/category, so it was difficult to locate an individual without everyone appearing in one master list. This is definitely not the easiest way there is to maintain group lists.... As a former GroupWise user, I have to say that they seem to have developed a much more intuitive way of storing contact information in a format that can be used as well as selectively shared with other users. > That's as easy as it gets. Probably takes less time than it would to maintain a distribution list. > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. > > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? The easiest way to maintain contacts for multiple people to use is in a public folder, IMO. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Thanks. I do have a follow up question...is there an easy way to then > "share" the categorized list with someone within my network who wants to send [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >> That's as easy as it gets. Probably takes less time than it would to maintain a distribution list. >> > I've seen the recommendation that I should use categories vs. a distribution >> > list and am doing so - but, I need to send an e-mail to a group of about 50 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. >> > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? > The easiest way to maintain contacts for multiple people to use is in a public folder, IMO. > [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > >> > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. > >> > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Hi Sue, Can you set up categories in a public folder for multiple users or do you need use distribution lists? It sounds like categories are the way to go, but I'm not clear about how to do this in a multiple user environment. Thanks so much, Karen > The easiest way to maintain contacts for multiple people to use is in a public folder, IMO. > [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > >> > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. > >> > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Any item in any folder can have any category. Whether one or 100 users looks at the item makes no difference. The category is part of the item's properties. If you want to restrict items in a folder so they required one of a limited set of categories to be applied, you can do that with a custom form. See http://www.outlookcode.com/d/forms/reqcat.htm SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Hi Sue, > [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] >> >> > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. >> >> > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Thanks for your answer. One more question: Is it possible to set up contacts in categories and then when you select the category for receipt of an e-mail that these recipients are sent with a bcc: rather than just a direct receipt? I want to hide the list besides the fact that it's very long... Thanks, Karen You can cut and paste from the To field to the Bcc field. My preference (and recommendation) would be to do a mail merge instead. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Thanks for your answer. One more question: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Karen Ok, Sue. I'm not sure what you mean. I've used mail merges for labels and letters, but not for an e-mail. I'm intrigued; would you please explain? It sounds like you can set up basically an e-mail "template" for each category. Then just call it up when you want to create a new message? If so, please tell me how. Thanks so much, Karen When you perform a mail merge, Word gives you a choice of three different outputs -- direct to printer, to a new document, or to individual email messages. The body of the email message is what you write in the Word merge document. For best results, start the merge from Outlook's Tools | Mail Merge command. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Ok, Sue. I'm not sure what you mean. I've used mail merges for labels and > letters, but not for an e-mail. I'm intrigued; would you please explain? It [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Karen If I don't have a selection in my Outlook 2003 under Tools for Mail Merge, would I find it somewhere else or is there some add-in that I need to install? Thanks again, Karen It appears only when you are viewing a contacts folder. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > If I don't have a selection in my Outlook 2003 under Tools for Mail Merge, > would I find it somewhere else or is there some add-in that I need to install? > > Thanks again, > > Karen HI Sue, I've gotten deeper into switching to categories rather than distribution lists. I set up all the master categories and printed out the our distribution lists for another employee to enter, and when she opens the master file she can see the categories in the master file that I created, but when she goes into an individual record to update specific reports and clicks on the category in the bottom right, she doesn’t see the new master category list, she sees all the Microsoft default nonsense. So will I have to create a master category list at every desk in the office? Or can I do it on the administrator? Or copy it somehow? Thanks again. Your help is invaluable. Karen The master category list is specific to each user. If you and she use different Windows logins, you won't see the same master category list. Registry export/import and various tools can help you copy the list to different users. See http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/olcat.htm SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > HI Sue, > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Karen I've just entered the PC world from the Mac world (by job requirement, not choice). If you were using a Mac and Microsoft's Mac email program Entourage (Outlook equivalent supposedly) you would simply have a group for the To: and a group for the CC:. I'm sorry, but it shouldn't be more difficult than that. Distribution lists(DL), mail merges, DL recipient limitations, etc. are all work arounds to doing the obvious. > I've seen the recommendation that I should use categories vs. a distribution > list and am doing so - but, I need to send an e-mail to a group of about 50 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > "to" field into the "cc" field of my original e-mail, but that seems clunky. > Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? |
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