Save a Distribution List as Contacts

Over the last few months I've had a lot of questions from people who wanted to create individual contacts from a distribution list. It easy if you need just one or two, create a new message addressed to the distribution list and expand it, then right click on the names and choose Save as contact. But it gets tedious if you need to do this for a large list. That doesn't mean its not easy to do - you need to save the distribution list as a text file and import it to create individual contacts.

Since I'm lazy and would rather not hunt around on my hard drive for the file to edit it before I import, I forward the list. Choose Forward, in Internet format, to create a new message with the distribution list attached as a txt file. Edit the list then save a copy on your hard drive and close the message form. Or you can open the distribution list and go to File (or Office orb in Outlook 2007), Save as. Select *.txt file type and save it.

Either way, the list is saved with the names and addresses as a tab separated file and you'll need to tidy it up before importing. Open the text file and remove extraneous information Outlook adds to the beginning of the file and add field names at the top - Name and E-mail (use tab between Name and E-mail).

During the import process, choose Tab separated (Windows) file type in the Import file type screen (its at the end of the list; you can press T T to jump to it). If you used "Name" and "E-mail" field names they'll map correctly to Outlook's fields, otherwise you'll need to map your field names to the correct Outlook fields. Click Map Custom fields button - your name field should be mapped to Name and the address field maps to E-mail.

Click Ok and you're done. The distribution list is imported as individual contacts.

If you need to review the import or add categories, sort by the Modified date field and the newly imported contacts will be grouped together. You can add them to a category by selecting all, right clicking then choosing Categories.

Using Public Folder Contacts in OWA

I recently received a question from a user who set up a shared contact list with a few distribution lists in the Public Folder store and wants to use it as an address book when he's using OWA.

Unfortunately, this is not possible with any version of Exchange server. Although public folders can't be used as an address book in any version of OWA, Exchange 2007 adds a New message to contact button so you can easily address messages to individual contacts stored in public folders. Open the contact in the folder and click the New message to contact button to address a new message.

On a related note, previous versions of Exchange server limited users to choosing names from the GAL or their default Contacts folder. Exchange 2007 expands the address book to include any Contacts folders in the mailbox.

See XCLN: Outlook Web Access Cannot Use Contacts in Public Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192775 

Exchange Quick Tip: Blackberries and Spam

As if spam is not annoying enough, its really annoying when its delivered to your Blackberry. This happens because new messages are forwarded to the blackberry before the anti-spam filter processes the message. Fortunately, administrators can configure BES to delay mail processing to allow time for anti-virus or anti-spam software to scan messages.

See http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/KB00139 for details.

Outlook Quick Tip: Signatures Shortcut

Do you need to get to the Signatures folder? Hold CTRL when clicking on the Signatures button in Tools, Options, Mail format and it will open to your Signatures folder. Ctrl+click opens the Stationery folder for custom stationery when used on the Stationery and Fonts button.

Appointments and Message Attachments

An Outlook user wanted to know how to drag and drop a message to an appointment and keep the attachment.

Unfortunately, this is how Outlook works when you do a simple drag and drop. This is because including attachments can bulk up the size of your mailbox or personal folders. If you really need the attachment with the appointment, you can add it to the appointment: Once the new appointment form is created, drag the attachment from the message to the new appointment form.

If you haven't done the initial drag and drop yet, right click and drag the message to the calendar icon. This pops up a context menu with four options: move or copy the message as an attachment, link to the message, or copy as text. When you move or copy the message as an attachment, any attachments inside the message envelope remain with it, but linking to the message may be best option if your mailbox space is tight.

If you prefer a more automated method, you can create a macro that adds the message text and attachment. Outlookcode.com has a code sample that create tasks from a messages and it could be adapted to create appointments. Look for it at http://www.outlookcode.com/codedetail.aspx?id=959.

Outlookcode.com: Changing of the Guard

Speaking of Outlookcode.com, its under new ownership. Sue Mosher, the founder of this newsletter, slipstick.com, and outlookcode.com recently sold outlookcode.com to Eric Legault, a fellow Outlook MVP, developer of Picture Attachments Wizard, and owner of Collaborative Innovations.

Best wishes to Eric and Sue on their new endeavors.