Welcome to the Microsoft Outlook 2007 Bible. The goal of this book is to provide a complete guide to this popular and useful program and, modesty aside, we think that we have done a terrific job. The Outlook Bible covers Outlook from A to Z, from soup to nuts, so you can be confident that it includes the information you need. Whether you are an Outlook beginner or have experience with earlier versions of the program, this book is designed for you.
Whereas many other programs are devoted to a single task, Outlook is more like a Swiss Army knife. It provides, in a convenient integrated package, all of those tools that most everyone uses on a regular basis—email, a calendar and appointment book, a contacts list, and a to-do list, just to name the most popular components. These tools can be used independently but—and here's where the real power of Outlook comes into play—can also be integrated with each other to provide a sophisticated information and time management system.
There's no getting around it, however—such a powerful program is unavoidably complex. Although Microsoft has made every effort to make Outlook as intuitive and easy to use as possible, any user will benefit from a guide to the program's commands and features. That's where this book comes in.
Like all books in the Bible series, the Outlook Bible is designed to provide a complete guide to the program while remaining accessible to users at all levels of experience. It is neither a simplistic beginner's guide that covers only the basics, nor is it a dense technical tome that can be understood only by nerds and gurus. If you need to learn the fundamentals, you'll find them clearly laid out with plenty of illustrations and step-by-step instructions. When you are ready to dive deeper into Outlook's advanced features, you'll find that information at your fingertips. This book is appropriate for:
The complete beginner who needs to install Outlook and get her email working as soon as possible.
The person who has some experience with Outlook and now wants to explore the program's features in depth to use it to its full potential.
The advanced user who needs to make use of VBA programming, forms, rules, and other of Outlook's more sophisticated abilities.
This book has been structured to make it easy for you to find the information you want. You can read the book in order from start to finish, or you can jump around and read only those chapters of interest.
Part I starts at the beginning with an overview of Outlook's features. To get the most from any program, you have to know what's available! Then Outlook installation and the elements of the screen are explored.
Part II is devoted to what is probably the most popular part of Outlook—email. You'll learn how to set up your email account, create and send messages, use message attachments, and work with received messages. This part also shows you how to format email messages, how to insert tables and pictures in a message, set email options to work the way you want, and how to protect yourself against junk email.
Part III is all about managing information with Outlook. You'll learn how to use Outlook's sophisticated contacts manager and how to schedule appointments and meetings. This section also covers using notes to keep track of various kinds of information, maintaining a to-do list with the tasks feature, and using the journal to keep track of how you spend your time. Finally, you'll see how to use RSS feeds—a new feature in this version of Outlook—to create a customized view of information from a variety of sources.
Part IV shows you how to get the most out of Outlook. You'll learn how to use categories with all types of Outlook information, a great way to stay organized. You'll see how to use Outlook data files and folders to meet your needs, and how to customize the program and screen to suit the way you work. This section also covers security issues, a topic that no one should ignore. Finally, you'll see how Outlook can be integrated with other Office applications.
Part V delves into using Outlook to develop custom solutions for your messaging and information management needs. You'll learn how to write macros, using the VBA programming language and the Outlook Object Model to automate and customize many Outlook tasks. You'll also see how to design custom forms to provide data management capabilities that are precisely tailored to your needs.
Finally, Part VI explores using Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server and with SharePoint Services.
Many different organizational and typographical features throughout this book are designed to help you get the most of the information.
Whenever the author wants to bring something important to your attention the information will appear in a Caution, Note, Tip, or Warning.
Warning
This information is important and is set off in a separate paragraph with a special icon. Cautions provide information about things to watch out for, whether simply inconvenient or potentially hazardous to your data or systems.
Note
Notes provide additional, ancillary information that is helpful, but somewhat outside of the current presentation of information.
Tip
Tips generally are used to provide information that can make your work easier—special shortcuts or methods for doing something easier than the norm.
Warning
The information Warnings provide advise you about the serious consequences of performing the procedure or activity described—whether to you, to your data, or to your hardware or software.