Lost custom fields in Outlook

[Guest]

- I created user-defined fields and a form for contacts in Outlook 2002.
When I upgraded to Office 2003, my form was gone.
- Although I was able to rebuild most of the form, I can't find a way to
select some of my custom fields when I am designing the form. These fields
still exist in Outlook, because I can select them (from the list of
"user-defined fields in folder") when I am customizing a view.
- The field in question is a text field
- How do I add one of these fields to a form?
Thanks.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

You should be able to drag the fields from the Field Chooser's User-Defined Fields in Folder list to the custom form.

Maybe you did more than an in-place upgrade? Nothing about upgrading is likely to make a form disappear.

 

[Guest]

Sue,
- Thanks, but that's my problem; the fields don't appear on the Field
Chooser...and I've looked in all of the selections including User-Defined...
- And to correct my earlier statement, the form was still there, at least in
name, but when I opened it many of my custom fields were gone.
- After playing with this some more, when I open some contact records they
use my old custom form with all of the user-defined fields, and some other
contacts (in the same folder) use my rebuilt form...w/out some custom fields.
- My upgrade process consisted of loading the Office 2003 disk in the PC,
and following the step-by-step instructions. I always do a custom install to
keep from loading useless items; is it possible that I de-selected an option
needed for user-defined fields?
Thanks, Dave

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

There is no such option. If you did an in-place upgrade and are using the same mail profile and information store as before, the only scenario I know in which you would appear to lose fields is if the custom form was just too complex or had too many fields.

I don't think you ever said where the form is published?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers