rules by category in outlook 2003

[Henok Girma]

Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when new
mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a category text
box, if I assign the email to a Business category and run the rule, it
works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the category if I cannot run
a rule to it? do I have to assign a category for every e-mail that comes,
then run the rule on it? if so, why bother assigning a category, I could
simply move the message during the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed) e-mails, move
to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I figured using a category
based rule would eliminate a lot of headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business category
or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t work, the
second will.

 

[Henok Girma]

I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks the
sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the rule I
set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I assign
the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating 100
rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business category
or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t work, the
second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when new
mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a category
text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and run the rule,
it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the category if I
cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category for every e-mail
that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why bother assigning a
category, I could simply move the message during the category
assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed) e-mails,
move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I figured using a
category based rule would eliminate a lot of headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but

anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact information
when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail in a very simple
fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail in a
more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several that offer
better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I assign
the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating 100
rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when new
mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a category
text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and run the rule,
it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the category if I
cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category for every e-mail
that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why bother assigning a
category, I could simply move the message during the category
assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed) e-mails,
move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I figured using a
category based rule would eliminate a lot of headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Henok Girma]

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns the
arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender belongs
to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z.. now the only
problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late, the rule works
only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's possible..
otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself.. which will add
a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but doable.. any
suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact information
when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail in a very
simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail in a
more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several that
offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating 100
rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when new
mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a category
text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and run the
rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the category if
I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category for every
e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why bother assigning
a category, I could simply move the message during the category
assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed) e-mails,
move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I figured using a
category based rule would eliminate a lot of headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Unless you use a custom action, addins run after rules. You'll need to do it
from the addin - or get an addin that runs rules later. (I use auto-mate.)
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/auto.htm#special

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns the
arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender belongs
to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z.. now the
only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late, the rule
works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's possible..
otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself.. which will
add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but doable.. any
suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact information
when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail in a very
simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail in
a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several that
offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating
100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when
new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and
run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the
category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category
for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why
bother assigning a category, I could simply move the message during
the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Mark R Penn]

Just for the record, I think what you've missed in thinking that OL should
automatically work like that, is that not everyone runs the same set of
categories for mail as they do for contacts. For example, I may receive an
e-mail from a "Business" contact, but want it categorized as "for
information", or "XYZ Project". If OL behaved as you describe (and I can see
that for you it would be totally logical and very helpful), I would not only
have to add the correct category to each mail, but also remove the incorrect
one!

Mark

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns the
arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender belongs
to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z.. now the
only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late, the rule
works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's possible..
otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself.. which will
add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but doable.. any
suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact information
when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail in a very
simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail in
a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several that
offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook checks
the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and apply the
rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating
100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when
new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and
run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the
category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category
for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why
bother assigning a category, I could simply move the message during
the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I'm not missing anything - but it doesn't work like that in currently
shipping versions and until a future version is released with this feature,
other solutions are required.

I have no idea if it will be in the next version (which won't be released
for about a year) - it depends on what features were requested, how
'expensive' they are to add, and how many users are estimated to use the
feature. They have all kinds of usage data from those people who participate
in CEIP - they know if users typically assign categories to mail and/or to
contacts and if they filter by category and they would look at such data
when reviewing feature requests. But - even if it made the cut (outlook was
mostly feature set months ago) - it's a year off and will require an
upgrade. Anyone using an older version of Outlook needs a 3rd party
solution.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

Just for the record, I think what you've missed in thinking that OL should
automatically work like that, is that not everyone runs the same set of
categories for mail as they do for contacts. For example, I may receive an
e-mail from a "Business" contact, but want it categorized as "for
information", or "XYZ Project". If OL behaved as you describe (and I can
see that for you it would be totally logical and very helpful), I would
not only have to add the correct category to each mail, but also remove
the incorrect one!

Mark

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns the
arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender belongs
to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z.. now the
only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late, the rule
works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's
possible.. otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself..
which will add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but
doable.. any suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact
information when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail
in a very simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail in
a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several that
offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/







I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating
100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when
new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and
run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the
category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category
for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why
bother assigning a category, I could simply move the message during
the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Mark R Penn]

Diane,

Take a closer look at who I was replying to - it wasn't you

Mark

I'm not missing anything - but it doesn't work like that in currently
shipping versions and until a future version is released with this
feature, other solutions are required.

I have no idea if it will be in the next version (which won't be released
for about a year) - it depends on what features were requested, how
'expensive' they are to add, and how many users are estimated to use the
feature. They have all kinds of usage data from those people who
participate in CEIP - they know if users typically assign categories to
mail and/or to contacts and if they filter by category and they would look
at such data when reviewing feature requests. But - even if it made the
cut (outlook was mostly feature set months ago) - it's a year off and will
require an upgrade. Anyone using an older version of Outlook needs a 3rd
party solution.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

Just for the record, I think what you've missed in thinking that OL
should automatically work like that, is that not everyone runs the same
set of categories for mail as they do for contacts. For example, I may
receive an e-mail from a "Business" contact, but want it categorized as
"for information", or "XYZ Project". If OL behaved as you describe (and I
can see that for you it would be totally logical and very helpful), I
would not only have to add the correct category to each mail, but also
remove the incorrect one!

Mark

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns the
arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender
belongs to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z..
now the only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late,
the rule works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's
possible.. otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself..
which will add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but
doable.. any suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact
information when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail
in a very simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail
in a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several
that offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/







I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the
rule should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this
is Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating
100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business,
Personal etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when
new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and
run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the
category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a
category for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if
so, why bother assigning a category, I could simply move the message
during the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I don't agree his idea isn't a good one - it is. I don't recall seeing it
requested often, but it should be at least as useful as any other options in
rules that not everyone has a need for.

One reason it may not be requested often is that Contacts have activities -
you can look on the Activities tab and see all of the messages a contact has
sent, which tends to reduce the need to put mail into a category with the
contact - just open the contact, and you'll see all the mail associated with
their address (the view is configurable, just like it is for any folder).
This wouldn't help much when a lot of people are involved in a project
though.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

Diane,

Take a closer look at who I was replying to - it wasn't you

Mark

I'm not missing anything - but it doesn't work like that in currently
shipping versions and until a future version is released with this
feature, other solutions are required.

I have no idea if it will be in the next version (which won't be released
for about a year) - it depends on what features were requested, how
'expensive' they are to add, and how many users are estimated to use the
feature. They have all kinds of usage data from those people who
participate in CEIP - they know if users typically assign categories to
mail and/or to contacts and if they filter by category and they would
look at such data when reviewing feature requests. But - even if it made
the cut (outlook was mostly feature set months ago) - it's a year off and
will require an upgrade. Anyone using an older version of Outlook needs a
3rd party solution.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

Just for the record, I think what you've missed in thinking that OL
should automatically work like that, is that not everyone runs the same
set of categories for mail as they do for contacts. For example, I may
receive an e-mail from a "Business" contact, but want it categorized as
"for information", or "XYZ Project". If OL behaved as you describe (and
I can see that for you it would be totally logical and very helpful), I
would not only have to add the correct category to each mail, but also
remove the incorrect one!

Mark

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns
the arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender
belongs to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z..
now the only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late,
the rule works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's
possible.. otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself..
which will add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but
doable.. any suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact
information when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail
in a very simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail
in a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several
that offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/







I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category.
it makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the
rule should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this
is Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating
100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one
won;t work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business,
Personal etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when
new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and
run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the
category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a
category for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if
so, why bother assigning a category, I could simply move the
message during the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Mark R Penn]

Ah well, I didn't say it wasn't a good idea (as an option) - just explained
why not everyone would want it See, he was amazed that Outlook didn't
behave that way by default, so I just offered an explanation. If it did
behave like that by default (and he wasn't asking for a rule option - he
expected OL to automatically give e-mails the same category as the sender
out of the box), it would be good for some, but mess the whole thing up for
others - that was my point.

Basically, when I can't understand why a programme does something my way, it
makes it far easier to live with the frustration if someone points out
another perspective, so that's what I was trying to do for the OP

Mark

I don't agree his idea isn't a good one - it is. I don't recall seeing it
requested often, but it should be at least as useful as any other options
in rules that not everyone has a need for.

One reason it may not be requested often is that Contacts have
activities - you can look on the Activities tab and see all of the
messages a contact has sent, which tends to reduce the need to put mail
into a category with the contact - just open the contact, and you'll see
all the mail associated with their address (the view is configurable, just
like it is for any folder). This wouldn't help much when a lot of people
are involved in a project though.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

Diane,

Take a closer look at who I was replying to - it wasn't you

Mark

I'm not missing anything - but it doesn't work like that in currently
shipping versions and until a future version is released with this
feature, other solutions are required.

I have no idea if it will be in the next version (which won't be
released for about a year) - it depends on what features were requested,
how 'expensive' they are to add, and how many users are estimated to use
the feature. They have all kinds of usage data from those people who
participate in CEIP - they know if users typically assign categories to
mail and/or to contacts and if they filter by category and they would
look at such data when reviewing feature requests. But - even if it made
the cut (outlook was mostly feature set months ago) - it's a year off
and will require an upgrade. Anyone using an older version of Outlook
needs a 3rd party solution.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/






Just for the record, I think what you've missed in thinking that OL
should automatically work like that, is that not everyone runs the same
set of categories for mail as they do for contacts. For example, I may
receive an e-mail from a "Business" contact, but want it categorized as
"for information", or "XYZ Project". If OL behaved as you describe (and
I can see that for you it would be totally logical and very helpful), I
would not only have to add the correct category to each mail, but also
remove the incorrect one!

Mark

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns
the arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender
belongs to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z..
now the only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit
late, the rule works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's
possible.. otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin
itself.. which will add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the
wheel.. but doable.. any suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is..
but anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to,
and apply the rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact
information when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the
mail in a very simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail
in a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several
that offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/







I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category.
it makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how
the rule should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way..
this is Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!!
I am disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is..
but anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to,
and apply the rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me
creating 100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can
grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one
won;t work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business,
Personal etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or
when new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category
and run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point
of the category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign
a category for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it?
if so, why bother assigning a category, I could simply move the
message during the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Henok Girma]

Huh? your confusing me.. ok ok, i get it.. but i am selfish and i want it to
work that way

Just for the record, I think what you've missed in thinking that OL should
automatically work like that, is that not everyone runs the same set of
categories for mail as they do for contacts. For example, I may receive an
e-mail from a "Business" contact, but want it categorized as "for
information", or "XYZ Project". If OL behaved as you describe (and I can
see that for you it would be totally logical and very helpful), I would
not only have to add the correct category to each mail, but also remove
the incorrect one!

Mark

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns the
arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender belongs
to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z.. now the
only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late, the rule
works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's
possible.. otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself..
which will add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but
doable.. any suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact
information when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail
in a very simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail in
a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several that
offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/







I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating
100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when
new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and
run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the
category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category
for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why
bother assigning a category, I could simply move the message during
the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?

 

[Henok Girma]

thank you for the hint, like you said in posts below, i doubt this will be
incorporated in future releases.. Auto-mate seems like a good solution for
what i need, but i am close to solving this problem with my addin, since
it's a personal adding, i can get away by naming the categories and folders
the same and moving the e-mail as they arrive.. yes, there are limitation
for multiple categories, but i can get by for now..

thank you,

Unless you use a custom action, addins run after rules. You'll need to do
it from the addin - or get an addin that runs rules later. (I use
auto-mate.)
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/auto.htm#special

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I agree, now that I was enlightened I wrote my own addin that assigns the
arriving mails to categories based on the sender. so if the sender belongs
to category X,Y,Z.. the email will be assigned category X,Y,Z.. now the
only problem is that it seems my addin gets executed a bit late, the rule
works only if I ran it afterwards..

I am looking into ways of running rules automatically.. if it's
possible.. otherwise, I will have to do the rule from my addin itself..
which will add a lot more work, it's like re-invention the wheel.. but
doable.. any suggestions?

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

The confusion is in thinking Outlook cross references contact
information when new mail arrives. It doesn't - it just files the mail
in a very simple fashion.

Have you tried any of the addins or utilities that sort and file mail in
a more complicated manner? NEO and clearcontext are two of several that
offer better categorizing features.

http://www.emailorganizer.com/support/faq.php
http://www.clearcontext.com/

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/







I am looking at the contacts that are assigned to business category. it
makes perfect sense in paper, or when explaining to someone how the rule
should work.. I don't get it why it's not working that way.. this is
Microsoft, they should make things like this happen easily!! I am
disappointed..

Let me rephrase my question, I don't see where the confusion is.. but
anyway..
I have contacts, they are categories.
I create a rule for a category, so when an e-mail comes.. outlook
checks the sender, identifies the category the sender belongs to, and
apply the rule I set..

but it seems the only way this will work is when an e-mail comes, I
assign the e-mail a category, then I only rule will apply!

my question is, how is this going to solve the problem of me creating
100 rules for my 100 contacts.. not really 100, but it can grow big..

Are you looking for messages assigned to contacts in the business
category or assigning categories to the messages? The first one won;t
work, the second will.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)






Hello,
I have my contacts organized by Categories such as Business, Personal
etc..

I have the following rule:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
assigned to Business category
move it to the Business folder

However, this rule has no effect, I click on run rules now, or when
new mails arrive from my contacts in the Business category..

I found out the following..
if I right click on the message then Click on options, I see a
category text box, if I assign the email to a Business category and
run the rule, it works.. I don't get it... what is the point of the
category if I cannot run a rule to it? do I have to assign a category
for every e-mail that comes, then run the rule on it? if so, why
bother assigning a category, I could simply move the message during
the category assignment..

Earlier, I had rules setup based on e-mails, so if (e-mail address removed)
e-mails, move to folder Bla.. but this creates a lot of rules, I
figured using a category based rule would eliminate a lot of
headache..

Am I the only one finding this odd?