Working with Templates

A template is a building block upon which you can create other Outlook items with similar properties. Creating an Outlook template can dramatically reduce the amount of redundant information you need to enter over and over again. You probably use templates every day outside of Outlook. A blank expense report is a template, so is a bank deposit slip. Instead of creating a new expense report every month, you can create a report with some standard information pre-filled, such as your name, department, and address. Then, each month when you need to submit a new expense report, you just open the template and fill in the new information.

You can create templates for Outlook items as well. Templates you create are stored on your hard drive or on a network share. Templates have a file extension of .oft, and can be based on any type of Outlook item. Setting up templates for common emails, particularly those that require graphics, formatting, and more than a line or two of text, can save you quite a bit of time when created and used properly.

Forms Versus Templates

As you read through this chapter, you'll see a number of similarities between email templates and Outlook forms. The two technologies are very similar, but this book recognizes two key differences. To use a custom form, you must publish it. You can do this in one of Outlook's built-in forms libraries. Every Outlook installation has a personal forms library, as well as a forms library associated with each individual folder. Publishing an Outlook form in the Inbox stores the form in the Inbox Forms Library. If you use Outlook as a client for Exchange Server, you might also have an organizational forms library. That library serves as the central repository for all organizational forms. A published form is not accessible through the file system.

If you want to use a custom form to send information to another Outlook user, both of you must have access to the forms library in which the form is published. If the other user does not have access to the forms library or does not have the published form in her own personal forms library, she will only see a standard Outlook item.

NOTE

You can transfer a custom form to another user and he can publish it in his personal forms library. To do this, you actually save your form as a file with an .oft extension. Although this might make you think you're sending a template, you're really sending a custom form that hasn't been published yet.


Outlook templates, on the other hand, are saved in the Windows file system. You can launch a template by double-clicking on a file with the extension of .oft. When creating a template, you usually don't change the layout or fields on the form. However, you might enter information in the template for later use. When you send a template to another user, she sees all the information you've entered in the template without needing a copy of the template published in her personal forms library.

As a general rule, when you need to pre-fill some information in an existing Outlook item, use a template. When you need to transmit detailed, formatted information to other Outlook users in your organization, consider using a custom form.



Special Edition Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
ISBN: 0789729563
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 426

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