Search Folders

graphics/new_icon.jpg

Outlook 2003 introduced a new feature to help you quickly find the information you need: Search Folders. A Search Folder is a virtual folder. It doesn't actually exist like the other folders in your message store, but it can display items from multiple folders in a typical folder view. A Search Folder is very much like an Advanced Find search. In fact, you can create a Search Folder directly from an Advanced Find search. When you view a Search Folder, you're viewing items in a variety of folders in one virtual folder. Items don't actually exist within a Search Folder; they're merely displayed there. Outlook 2003 ships with three default Search Folders: For Follow Up, Large Messages, and Unread Mail.

You can access Outlook's Search Folders by scrolling to the bottom of the folder list and expanding the Search Folders heading. Because Search Folders are virtual folders and don't actually exist in your folder tree, they consume a small amount of resources on your computer. For this reason, they deactivate themselves if not used for three weeks. If a Search Folder has been deactivated, its name will appear in italics. It's easy to reactivate your Search Folders. Simply click on the Search Folder's name and it will reactivate itself. It might take a few extra seconds for the Search Folder to populate with Outlook items.

Creating Search Folders

You can create your own Search Folders to supplement the three default Search Folders. You can create Search Folders by right-clicking on an existing Search Folder or on the folder called Search Folders and selecting New Search Folder to display Figure 22.23.

Figure 22.23. Use this wizard to create a new Search Folder.

graphics/22fig23.gif

Much like the Outlook Rules Wizard, the New Search Folder Wizard contains a number of built-in Search Folder criteria for you to choose from. You can select one of the existing criteria or choose to create a custom Search Folder.

To create a Search Folder for all messages received from your boss using the built-in criteria, use the following steps:

  1. Launch the New Search Folder Wizard.

  2. Select from one of the predefined Search Folder criteria. Depending on the criteria you choose, you might have the option to further customize your Search Folder. In this case, select Mail from and to Specific People under the Mail from People and Lists section.

  3. In the Customize Search Folder section, use the Choose button to launch the Select Names dialog box and choose the contact or global address recipient you need. You can also type in an address in the "From or Sent to" box. Your New Search Folder Wizard will now resemble Figure 22.24.

    Figure 22.24. The New Search Folder Wizard can be used to find mail to or from a person.

    graphics/22fig24.gif

  4. Click OK to create and display your Search Folder (see Figure 22.25).

    Figure 22.25. Your Search Folder displays all mail sent from or to the recipient.

    graphics/22fig25.jpg

NOTE

Your Search Folder doesn't actually contain any items. A Search Folder is a virtual folder more like a view of items across your entire mailbox. The items that appear in your Search Folder are still located in their original location.


CAUTION

Although a Search Folder doesn't actually contain any items, deleting an item from a Search Folder actually does delete the item from its original location. When viewing a Search Folder, you're looking at the original item it's simply displayed in a virtual folder. Any operation you perform on the item (adding a Quick Flag, marking it as read, or deleting it), acts on the item in its original location.


By default, your search folder is grouped by conversation. You can customize the views of search folders in much the same way as customizing the views for any other Outlook folder. Your search folder is named for the recipient you selected. You can rename your Search Folder by right-clicking on the folder and selecting Rename <folder name>.

To create a new search folder based on custom criteria, use the following steps:

  1. Right-click on an existing Search Folder and select New Search Folder to display the New Search Folder Wizard.

  2. Scroll down the criteria list and select Create a Custom Search Folder.

  3. Click the Choose button to display Figure 22.26.

    Figure 22.26. Enter your search folder criteria here.

    graphics/22fig26.gif

  4. Give your Search Folder a name.

  5. Click the Criteria button to display Figure 22.27.

    Figure 22.27. Use this dialog box to specify your search folder criteria.

    graphics/22fig27.gif

  6. Use any or all of the three tabs to specify criteria for your new Search Folder.

  7. Click OK to save your search criteria.

  8. Click the Browse button to select which folders you want your search folder to include in its search. Select the top-level folder to search across your default message store. Click OK.

  9. Click OK again to save your custom search criteria and search scope.

  10. Click OK one last time to create and display your search folder.

If your Search Folder doesn't return any data and you want to edit the Search Folder criteria, right-click on the Search Folder and select Customize This Search Folder. You can then edit the name, criteria, and search scope of your Search Folder.

Creating a Search Folder from the Advanced Find Dialog

You can create a Search Folder directly from the Advanced Find dialog. Simply create your Advanced Find search as described in the previous section on Advanced Find. You need to click the Find Now button to complete your search. Then choose Save Search as Search Folder from the File menu. Give your Search Folder a name and click OK. Outlook will create a Search Folder with the same criteria as your Advanced Find search.

Using Search Folders

Search folders were designed to help you keep the information you need at your fingertips. If you use the Quick Flag feature, the For Follow Up search folder will display all flagged items grouped by flag color, as shown in Figure 22.28.

Figure 22.28. The For Follow Up search folder.

graphics/22fig28.jpg

The first thing you probably do if you've been away from your desk for a while is look for unread mail. If you have multiple rules to move new items to various folders, you might have to look through seven or eight folders to find all of your unread mail. So, Microsoft designed an Unread Mail Search Folder that displays all unread mail in one folder. For ease of use, the Unread Mail Search Folder is grouped by folder. This way, you can easily tell where all of your unread items are located.



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

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net