Automatic categories for meeting requests?

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  • Start date Start date
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Guest

Is there a way to set up Outlook to automatically assign a category to a
calendar item? I would like to set up my calendar so that if I get a meeting
request from someone in my company and I accept it, the meeting gets added to
my calendar like normal and it is automatically assigned to the Business
category.

Thanks!
 
Most people don’t realize that you can set up separate rules just for meeting requests. The secret is to use the “uses the form name form†condition, along with any other conditions. Start with a blank rule to check messages when they arrive. For the first condition, select “from people or distribution list,†click the underlined text in the Rule Description box, and then select the person to whose meeting requests you want this rule to apply. Next, select the “uses the form name form†condition, and click the underlined text. The Choose Forms dialog will appear. Click the drop-down list (which will probably be displaying Organization Forms) and choose Application Forms. Select Meeting Request, click Add, then Close. Now, click Next to move on to the actions. Select “assign it to the category category,†click the underlined text, and select Business from the Categories list. Finally, select “stop processing more rules,†so that no other rules will operate on these meeting requests, and then click Next twice. Give the rule a name and then click Finish. Outlook will warn you that this is a client-only rule that will only process messages when you are running Outlook.

When a meeting request from the person designated in your rule arrives while you are running Outlook, Outlook will automatically create an appointment in your calendar with the Business category. Note that if you accept the meeting using Outlook Web Access, the category will not be applied because the client-side rule will not have an opportunity to operate on the meeting request.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
Thanks so much! I'll try it out.

Sharon

Sue Mosher said:
Most people don’t realize that you can set up separate rules just for meeting requests. The secret is to use the “uses the form name form†condition, along with any other conditions. Start with a blank rule to check messages when they arrive. For the first condition, select “from people or distribution list,†click the underlined text in the Rule Description box, and then select the person to whose meeting requests you want this rule to apply. Next, select the “uses the form name form†condition, and click the underlined text. The Choose Forms dialog will appear. Click the drop-down list (which will probably be displaying Organization Forms) and choose Application Forms. Select Meeting Request, click Add, then Close. Now, click Next to move on to the actions. Select “assign it to the category category,†click the underlined text, and select Business from the Categories list. Finally, select “stop processing more rules,†so that no other rules will operate on these meeting
Click to expand...
requests, and then click Next twice. Give the rule a name and then click Finish. Outlook will warn you that this is a client-only rule that will only process messages when you are running Outlook.
 
Actually, that's not quite what I want it to do...I don't need it to assign a
category to the meeting request that's in my inbox. I would like to
automatically assign a category to the meeting itself in my calendar when I
accept it.

Sue Mosher said:
Most people don’t realize that you can set up separate rules just for meeting requests. The secret is to use the “uses the form name form†condition, along with any other conditions. Start with a blank rule to check messages when they arrive. For the first condition, select “from people or distribution list,†click the underlined text in the Rule Description box, and then select the person to whose meeting requests you want this rule to apply. Next, select the “uses the form name form†condition, and click the underlined text. The Choose Forms dialog will appear. Click the drop-down list (which will probably be displaying Organization Forms) and choose Application Forms. Select Meeting Request, click Add, then Close. Now, click Next to move on to the actions. Select “assign it to the category category,†click the underlined text, and select Business from the Categories list. Finally, select “stop processing more rules,†so that no other rules will operate on these meeting
Click to expand...
requests, and then click Next twice. Give the rule a name and then click Finish. Outlook will warn you that this is a client-only rule that will only process messages when you are running Outlook.
 
And that's exactly what the method that I described will do by assigning the category to the meeting request. Did you try it?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
I tried it, but I inadvertantly choose a distribution list instead of an
individual. It works now; sorry for the confusion!
 
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