Why create a template v/s a message?

[JustCurious]

Why would I save a message as a template (.oft) file? I was very excited to
see that as an option and suggested that my colleagues and I use "templates"
instead of how we just copy/paste from existing emails (or just change the
"to" and a couple thing thoughout like, "Hello Martha!" becomes "Hello Dan!"
and "it will cost 60 dollars", it will cost "one trillion", etc.)

So, the question is, what's the ADVANTAGE of using templates over saving
drafts and/or re-using commonly sent emails (besides the small annoyance of
modifying the font to be black instead of blue).

Signed,

-Just Curious

 

[Roady [MVP]]

It will completely depend on your situation and what you find more
convenient to you.
Several other methods of working with templates are discussed here;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/messagetemplates.htm

If you were to use the action "Resend this message" on a sent item instead
of forwarding it, then you would not have to change the font color either
;-)

 

[JustCurious]

Awesome Roady. Thanks. I have a follow-up question after looking at it a while:

how do I create a "script" to execute as a rule? I want to auto-answer to
clients when then send an email support request (the requests always come in
to the same mailbox BUT, they will be assigned diff IDs depending on a value
that we have in a DB. So, I need a script (I think) to pull this value into
the email. Like, "Dear <name>, thanks for your question. We have assigned it
an ID of <ID_#>. Please use that number in future correspondence..." where
ID_# is pulled from a database not tied to outlook - so I'll worry about that
but where is/are the "script" files stored and how are they used? Thanks,

-JC

 

[Roady [MVP]]

You are talking about the Email Templates add-in then;
http://addins.howto-outlook.com/agave_emailtemplates
or Bells & Whistles;
http://addins.howto-outlook.com/dsd_bellsandwhistles

For E-mail Templates the templates are stored within a folder in your own
mailbox but can also be configured to store it in a Public Folder. I believe
Bells & Whistles did the same but did not support Public Folder.

As for the script part; the add-ins support their own set of variables which
get automatically replaced by the add-in when you use a template. So there
is not need to code any actual script yourself. I know Email Templates
supports prompting for a value as well. So, unless you really want to
automate adding the Support ID as well, there would not be a need to code
that yourself via VBA to get it into the right place of the document.

 

[Andritoiu]

Why would I save a message as a template (.oft) file? I was very excited to
see that as an option and suggested that my colleagues and I use "templates"
instead of how we just copy/paste from existing emails (or just change the
"to" and a couple thing thoughout like, "Hello Martha!" becomes "Hello Dan!"
and "it will cost 60 dollars", it will cost "one trillion", etc.)

So, the question is, what's the ADVANTAGE of using templates over saving
drafts and/or re-using commonly sent emails (besides the small annoyance of
modifying the font to be black instead of blue).

Signed,

-Just Curious

Hi,

I have been using an add-in for Outlook called Bells&Whistles which
can be used to create Templates and then insert them into the emails
you wish to send.
Also it has a feature to automatically insert greetings and signature
to the people you reply to and many other interesting things.
You can find it at www.emailaddressmanager.com

Regards,
Andrei