categories to distribution

[BorisS]

I have categorized my contacts, and want to use the categories as a basis for
distributions. Is there a way to do this? One option I can think of is to
filter for the category I want, and then to simply drag all the contacts into
the "to" of a message I create. The other idea is to create a distribution
list, but I don't know how to do this from a filtered category list. Also,
not all of the contacts (which I categorized in the contacts view have emails
associated with them. So one question is what happens when I try to make a
distribution list (assuming I can do this from a category filter), and there
are contacts which do not have emails on them.

any help?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

There is a way. but one wonders why you would want to. Categories are a
better, more robust way to group recipients than any DL would be.

 

[BorisS]

Russ, as always the fountain of knowledge. thanks. Few questions:

1) am I correct that best way is just to filter contacts by categories, and
then drag them into the to/cc/bcc boxes as desired?
2) If I want to combine contacts in a shared folder, and get a group that I
want to import from Excel as a block, how do I write/structure the categories
field to get it to import as separated categories, as opposed to one block
name (i.e., if I want to have "Personal" and "Business" as two categories
assigned to the same person, in the one cell in Excel for "categories" field,
how would I write it..."personal; business", or "personal, business"?...what
is the separator that will avoid the category coming in as one word like
"Personal, Business", as opposed to two separate categories). Hope that
makes sense.

Thanks again.
--
Boris

There is a way. but one wonders why you would want to. Categories are a
better, more robust way to group recipients than any DL would be.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have categorized my contacts, and want to use the categories as a basis
for
distributions. Is there a way to do this? One option I can think of is
to
filter for the category I want, and then to simply drag all the contacts
into
the "to" of a message I create. The other idea is to create a
distribution
list, but I don't know how to do this from a filtered category list.
Also,
not all of the contacts (which I categorized in the contacts view have
emails
associated with them. So one question is what happens when I try to make
a
distribution list (assuming I can do this from a category filter), and
there
are contacts which do not have emails on them.

any help?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I have categorized my contacts, and want to use the categories as a
basis for distributions. Is there a way to do this? One option I
can think of is to filter for the category I want, and then to simply
drag all the contacts into the "to" of a message I create.

This is one way. Another is to select the category and then click
Actions>New Message to Contact.

The other idea is to create a distribution list, but I don't know how to
do this from a filtered category list.

This isn't possible. Adding entries to a DL doesn't obey filters.

Also, not all of the contacts
(which I categorized in the contacts view have emails associated with
them. So one question is what happens when I try to make a
distribution list (assuming I can do this from a category filter),
and there are contacts which do not have emails on them.

If you create a new message either the way you suggested or the way I
suggested, you'll have to weed out the unresolvable entries. Another
approach you can take is to have two contacts folders: ione containing
contacts that have addresses and one containing contacts that don't.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

1) The easiest way to use Categories in lieu of a DL is simply to select the
Category, then use Actions > New Message to Contact
2) You cannot export a Category. You can only export a folder. So would have
to drag the Contacts you want to a separate folder for export. Depending on
your needs, you might want to compare whether Categories or separate Contact
subfolders will be a better way to group your Contacts:
http://www.slipstick.com/contacts/oloabcat.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ, as always the fountain of knowledge. thanks. Few questions:

1) am I correct that best way is just to filter contacts by categories,
and
then drag them into the to/cc/bcc boxes as desired?
2) If I want to combine contacts in a shared folder, and get a group that
I
want to import from Excel as a block, how do I write/structure the
categories
field to get it to import as separated categories, as opposed to one block
name (i.e., if I want to have "Personal" and "Business" as two categories
assigned to the same person, in the one cell in Excel for "categories"
field,
how would I write it..."personal; business", or "personal,
business"?...what
is the separator that will avoid the category coming in as one word like
"Personal, Business", as opposed to two separate categories). Hope that
makes sense.

Thanks again.
--
Boris

There is a way. but one wonders why you would want to. Categories are a
better, more robust way to group recipients than any DL would be.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have categorized my contacts, and want to use the categories as a
basis
for
distributions. Is there a way to do this? One option I can think of
is
to
filter for the category I want, and then to simply drag all the
contacts
into
the "to" of a message I create. The other idea is to create a
distribution
list, but I don't know how to do this from a filtered category list.
Also,
not all of the contacts (which I categorized in the contacts view have
emails
associated with them. So one question is what happens when I try to
make
a
distribution list (assuming I can do this from a category filter), and
there
are contacts which do not have emails on them.

any help?