Creating Custom Journal Entry Types

The journal comes with a predefined list of entry types that's limited and might not meet your specific needs. The list isn't editable on the form, and you're restricted to selecting an entry type from the list. Fortunately, because the Entry Type list is stored in the Registry, you can change what you see in the Entry Type drop-down list.

CAUTION

Although the thought of editing the Registry scares many people, it isn't difficult to do. You should always export the section of the Registry you're working on before you begin, just in case you make a mistake.


If you're up to the challenge, open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run and typing regedit in the box. Click OK.

For more information on editing your registry, see "Working with the Windows Registry," p. 935.


Once you have the Registry Editor open, navigate to this key:

 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Outlook\Journaling 

If this is your first time using the Registry Editor, press the plus sign (+) beside HKEY_CURRENT_USER to expand the list. Find and expand Software, Microsoft, Shared Tools, then Outlook, and finally, Journaling. After you expand the Journaling key, your Registry Editor should look like the screen in Figure 15.11.

Figure 15.11. Create new journal entry types by adding Registry keys. If you want to remove some entry types, you can delete them from the Registry.

graphics/15fig11.gif

Now you're ready to add your new entry type:

  1. As a precaution, export the keys by right-clicking on Journaling and selecting Export. The Export Registry dialog should open to your My Documents folder. If not, select it in the Places Bar. Enter a filename and save. If you make a mistake and want to restore the original entry types, find the .reg file you created and double-click it.

  2. Right-click on Journaling again and choose New, Key. Type a name for your new key.

  3. Now you need to add values to your new key. You'll need a minimum of two values: Description and Large Icon. Right-click in the right side of the Registry Editor and choose New, String Value. Type Description to replace New Value #1. Double-click on Description and type the text you want to show in the Entry Type field. This doesn't have to match the name of the key, but it should be similar.

  4. Repeat step 3, naming the new string value Large Icon and entering a value inside square brackets so that the value data looks like [12]. This entry controls the icon that displays in the Journal folder. If you look through the other keys, you'll see what numbers represent other icons.

  5. Open a new journal form. Your new entry type should be listed in the Entry Type drop-down list.

  6. Close the Registry Editor.

You probably noticed the other keys under Journaling. You can delete the keys for the entries you don't want listed in the Entry Type drop-down list. If you delete all the keys, you'll discover Phone Call is hard-coded in the journal form. If you don't want the Phone call key listed, you'll have to rename it to something you do want listed instead. Add a Description string value with whatever text you like, such as Incoming Phone Call. You'll also need to delete or rename the DescriptionID key.

TIP

After creating your new journal entry keys, right-click on Journaling and export the keys. You can use the .reg file to change the entry types on other computers.


You might have noticed that there are entries for the other values, such as AutoJournal and Enabled. These values have no affect on your custom journal entries.

AutoJournal is a DWORD value that controls whether the entry displays in the Tools, Options, Journal Options dialog in the Automatically Record These Items and Also Record File From lists. If AutoJournal is present, a value of 0 means that it's hidden from the lists, whereas a value of 1 means that it's displayed in one of the lists. Enabled with a value 1 means that the box beside the entry is checked; 0 indicates unchecked. Because your custom entry types won't automatically journal, you don't need to create these keys.



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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