View conversation thread in Outlook?

  • Thread starter Thread starter R. Choate
  • Start date Start date
R

R. Choate

I am wondering if I can set up my Outlook to give me a feature which is standard with Goldmine email. I realize that GM is a
database first and email client 2nd (or later), but I have been able in GM to call up all of an email conversation with a given
contact with one or two clicks. Also, with Goldmine the emails are automatically numbered as the replies continue. The numbers,
which I'm sure you are all familiar with, are within brackets at the beginning of the subject. This allows the user to keep track of
which email came in what order without studying the date and time fields very carefully. I'm willing to use VBA and/or make special
forms as allowed by Outlook, but I need to know if this can be done and how I might get started on this. I work in Excel/Access/VBA
often but I've not really been called on to work in Outlook much. Your help and advice are much appreciated in advance !

Richard
 
You could change the Subject line by prefixing it with the ordinal number for
the conversation. To do this on each incoming e-mail, you'd have to trap the
Item_Add event and use the AdvancedSearch or Restrict methods to look for
e-mails with the same Subject line. Then loop through the collection to find
the latest one (or compare the ordinal in the Subject line) and alter the
Subject line of the incoming message appropriately.

However, the Item_Add event is not guaranteed to fire if large numbers of
messages are downloaded at the same time. If you use Exchange, you can use
the NewMailEx event to get a definitive list of incoming messages. However,
if you want this processing to be 24/7 without needing Outlook to be loaded,
this should be written as an Exchange Event Sink.

This article will at least give you the basics on using VBA to hook into
incoming e-mails:

Beyond the Rules Wizard (Microsoft Office and VBA Developer 2001):
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnovba01/html/RulesWizard.asp?frame=true

For further info, peruse http://www.outlookcode.com.
 
Thank you for your suggestions. I will work to absorb this and determine if this will work as part of my overall solution. I will be
using Exchange Server for the firm's email. I'm hoping I can configure this all to work as a database for all of the threads and
also allow me to set up folders for each contact, allowing for easy filing of messages to and from contacts for quick and painless
retrieval.

Thanks again,

Richard
--
RMC,CPA


You could change the Subject line by prefixing it with the ordinal number for
the conversation. To do this on each incoming e-mail, you'd have to trap the
Item_Add event and use the AdvancedSearch or Restrict methods to look for
e-mails with the same Subject line. Then loop through the collection to find
the latest one (or compare the ordinal in the Subject line) and alter the
Subject line of the incoming message appropriately.

However, the Item_Add event is not guaranteed to fire if large numbers of
messages are downloaded at the same time. If you use Exchange, you can use
the NewMailEx event to get a definitive list of incoming messages. However,
if you want this processing to be 24/7 without needing Outlook to be loaded,
this should be written as an Exchange Event Sink.

This article will at least give you the basics on using VBA to hook into
incoming e-mails:

Beyond the Rules Wizard (Microsoft Office and VBA Developer 2001):
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnovba01/html/RulesWizard.asp?frame=true

For further info, peruse http://www.outlookcode.com.
 
Based on your last sentence, you may be able to manage this info better
without using code:

- use the Contacts button to associate e-mails and other items with Contact
items; then use the Activities tab in the Contact form to quickly view all
related info
- create and use Search Folders in Outlook 2003 to only show e-mails from
specific Contacts (easier than setting up a View for each Contact)
 
Thanks,

I've been looking at all of the things I'm going to need to try to emulate (from Goldmine) and to find out which items I can't
reproduce or "mimic" in Outlook 2003. Hopefully I will be able to do most if not all of this without code, as you noted. I just
don't know how much of a full function relational database Outlook is capable of being. One issue on my plate is the ability of any
employee of the firm to see all of the email history (to and from) for a client, regardless of who was communicating with the
contact. This lets John Employee see the emails between Joe Contact and Sarah Employee, unless Sarah has marked specific items as
private. There is much more, but I do need to find out about this history business to see how I can duplicate that. The history part
is perhaps the most important element of my project.

I will tinker with this some more as you suggested. Is the link below to your website?

Richard
--
RMC,CPA


Based on your last sentence, you may be able to manage this info better
without using code:

- use the Contacts button to associate e-mails and other items with Contact
items; then use the Activities tab in the Contact form to quickly view all
related info
- create and use Search Folders in Outlook 2003 to only show e-mails from
specific Contacts (easier than setting up a View for each Contact)
 
I just noticed how many groups you were posting too - try to keep cross
posting to a bare-minimum, absolutely-must-do-so basis; people tend to be
pretty sensitive about such etiquette - not that I'm demonstrating that very
behaviour right now! :-)

If employees need access to other user's mailboxes, this can be setup with
Delegation (Tools -> Options -> Delegates), or by opening additional
mailboxes in your profile (given that you have full rights).

Otherwise, public discussions should be Cc:'ed to mail-enabled Public
Folders, or manually copied to Public Folders.

Yes, the links in my sig are to my web sites.
 
Hi Eric,

Some of what you are saying about accessing other people's mailboxes is a real concern. The model I need is where the contacts and
the data are the centerpiece, and the users' mailboxes are not really part of the equation. I need to pull up a contact and then be
able to click on a "History" tab that will show me all of the email involving that client, regardless of who was communicating with
them. I don't want copies of the email going here and there, I just want to be able to see and access the history of email, etc.
from the contact. Also, these are business contacts. Everybody in the firm will have access to these contacts unless they are marked
as private by the user. I don't want each user to have to add or import the same contacts into their mailbox so that there are a
hundred copies of the same contact and the ability of each user to change a contact's details for just that user, effectively making
it where there are a hundred different versions of the same contact. If Outlook can't handle this, then I need to use a different
application for my contact management.

As to the etiquette, I always understood that if I send one post to multiple groups that it is OK since every group will see the
same responses and it will be a clean thread. I thought the no-no was to separately post to multiple NGs. That was what I understood
cross-posting to mean, and that does rightly upset people because they can't see that an OP has been answered in a different NG. In
my case, I posted to multiple groups at once because I am interested in this project from a programming angle, a user configuration
angle, and an Outlook-setup angle. Also, since I haven't spent time in Outlook groups before, I didn't know if some groups don't get
much action or have as many good participants as others. I won't do this every time, but I am trying to be considerate and only post
once so everybody can see the single thread I started, regardless of which group they see it in.

Thanks again, you've given me a lot to study and think about.

Richard
--
RMC,CPA


I just noticed how many groups you were posting too - try to keep cross
posting to a bare-minimum, absolutely-must-do-so basis; people tend to be
pretty sensitive about such etiquette - not that I'm demonstrating that very
behaviour right now! :-)

If employees need access to other user's mailboxes, this can be setup with
Delegation (Tools -> Options -> Delegates), or by opening additional
mailboxes in your profile (given that you have full rights).

Otherwise, public discussions should be Cc:'ed to mail-enabled Public
Folders, or manually copied to Public Folders.

Yes, the links in my sig are to my web sites.
 
R. Choate said:
Some of what you are saying about accessing other people's mailboxes
is a real concern. The model I need is where the contacts and the
data are the centerpiece, and the users' mailboxes are not really
part of the equation. I need to pull up a contact and then be able to
click on a "History" tab that will show me all of the email involving
that client, regardless of who was communicating with them.
Click to expand...

I just don't see how you'll do this with Outlook/Exchange. Mailboxes are
private unless the owners allows others to see into them.
Also, these are business contacts. Everybody in the firm will have access
to these contacts unless they are marked as private by the user.
Click to expand...

Public Contacts folders can do this.
I don't want each user to have to add or import the same contacts into
their mailbox so that there are a hundred copies of the same contact
and the ability of each user to change a contact's details for just
that user, effectively making it where there are a hundred different
versions of the same contact. If Outlook can't handle this, then I
need to use a different application for my contact management.
Click to expand...

Better start looking.
As to the etiquette, I always understood that if I send one post to
multiple groups that it is OK since every group will see the same
responses and it will be a clean thread. I thought the no-no was to
separately post to multiple NGs. That was what I understood
cross-posting to mean, and that does rightly upset people because
they can't see that an OP has been answered in a different NG.
Click to expand...

You understand the concept, and I don't think five groups for a cross-post
is all that out-of-bounds.
 
Thanks for your reply. Do you think I could accomplish this if everybody used public folders for contacts, sending and receiving
email, and so forth?

Richard
--
RMC,CPA


R. Choate said:
Some of what you are saying about accessing other people's mailboxes
is a real concern. The model I need is where the contacts and the
data are the centerpiece, and the users' mailboxes are not really
part of the equation. I need to pull up a contact and then be able to
click on a "History" tab that will show me all of the email involving
that client, regardless of who was communicating with them.
Click to expand...

I just don't see how you'll do this with Outlook/Exchange. Mailboxes are
private unless the owners allows others to see into them.
Also, these are business contacts. Everybody in the firm will have access
to these contacts unless they are marked as private by the user.
Click to expand...

Public Contacts folders can do this.
I don't want each user to have to add or import the same contacts into
their mailbox so that there are a hundred copies of the same contact
and the ability of each user to change a contact's details for just
that user, effectively making it where there are a hundred different
versions of the same contact. If Outlook can't handle this, then I
need to use a different application for my contact management.
Click to expand...

Better start looking.
As to the etiquette, I always understood that if I send one post to
multiple groups that it is OK since every group will see the same
responses and it will be a clean thread. I thought the no-no was to
separately post to multiple NGs. That was what I understood
cross-posting to mean, and that does rightly upset people because
they can't see that an OP has been answered in a different NG.
Click to expand...

You understand the concept, and I don't think five groups for a cross-post
is all that out-of-bounds.
 
Can public folders be used directly instead of copying stuff to them? Perhaps set up one big public folder where most activity takes
place so that all of the contacts of the firm can be centrally located?

--
RMC,CPA


I just noticed how many groups you were posting too - try to keep cross
posting to a bare-minimum, absolutely-must-do-so basis; people tend to be
pretty sensitive about such etiquette - not that I'm demonstrating that very
behaviour right now! :-)

If employees need access to other user's mailboxes, this can be setup with
Delegation (Tools -> Options -> Delegates), or by opening additional
mailboxes in your profile (given that you have full rights).

Otherwise, public discussions should be Cc:'ed to mail-enabled Public
Folders, or manually copied to Public Folders.

Yes, the links in my sig are to my web sites.
 
R. Choate said:
Thanks for your reply. Do you think I could accomplish this if
everybody used public folders for contacts, sending and receiving
email, and so forth?
Click to expand...

Sending and receiving happens only through the user mailboxes, although
rules can move messages to public folders.
 
What you could do is this:

- use Contacts in Public Folders
- when creating e-mails to those Contacts, use the 'New Message To Contact'
method in the Actions menu to auto-populate the Contacts field in the new
message with a link to the physical Contact record
- save a copy of the sent item from these outgoing e-mails to another Public
Folder
- create a Rule to catch incoming e-mails from people in that public
Contacts folder; this rule would then either move/copy the e-mail somewhere,
or add it to a Category - the whole point being to manually (or with code)
tag the Contact field in those e-mails to the physical record in the Public
Contacts Folder
- configure the Activities tab in the Public Contacts Folder's properties
dialog to search on whatever public folder you are using to store
outgoing/incoming e-mails related to those Contacts

This process can of course be refined, customized or automated with code in
the appropriate locations. The main intent is to use the Activities tab on
the Contacts form to see all related correspondence with a Contact, which I
think would give you the closest approximation of what you can do in Goldmine.

BTW, my apologies on my 'warning' about cross-posting. In restrospect you
did post to all the appropriate groups given the multi-dimensional aspect of
the issue.
 
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