Protecting forms within (.oft) email template

[Guest]

Hi there
I have an email message template (.oft), which currently requires limited
data that I (and others) complete several times a day.
I have now created a simple form including a drop down list and general text
and date fields to speed the process up.
However, because I have had to to disable 'Use MS Word to edit email
messages' in order to save it as an Outlook Template, I am unable to save it
with the form protected, which means the drop down lists don't drop down and
the rest of the fields are just ordinary text to overwrite.

Is there a way of protecting the form before I save it as a template?

(Once I re-enable 'Use MS Word...', after saving it as a .oft file, I can
create a new email as usual from the template and *then* protect the form,
but don't really want to have to explain to each new user that they need to
enable the protection each time they create a new message! I also don't want
to put a note on the message requesting they do this each time as the message
will then be emailed on to external recipients).

I am using Outlook 2003 as part of the full Office suite.

Many thanks for any help

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Sounds like you created a Word form, not an Outlook form. Word forms don't translate into email messages. FYI, there is a newsgroup specifically for Outlook forms issues "down the hall" at microsoft.public.outlook.program_forms or, via web interface, at http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...spx?dg=microsoft.public.outlook.program_forms. Maybe you should head over there and start from the beginning with an explanation of what you're trying to do. Your Outlook version, mail account configuration, and the audience for this "template" are important factors.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers