Microsoft Outlook Tips #6



*1.  SAY WHAT YOU WILL--PART 1 OF 2

Wish you could send someone a message without revealing who's 
sending it? We'll show you how, using anonymous remailers (a 
third party that strips the message of its return address). 
Just please don't use this technique to send hate mail 
(constructive criticism, maybe). It's bad karma. 

The first thing you need is a list of available remailers. 
Surf over to 

http://www.publius.net/rlist.html 

and skim through the information there. In our next tip, we'll 
show you how to actually use one.


*2.  SAY WHAT YOU WILL--PART 2 OF 2

In our last tip, we told you that you can use remailers to send 
anonymous e-mail messages. (We also asked that you don't use 
this technique to send hate mail.) For a list of remailers, 
point your Web browser to: 

http://www.publius.net/rlist.html 

Once you decide on a remailer, compose your message using this 
exact format:  

- Inside the new message dialog box, type the remailer's
  address on the To line. 
- For the first line of the message, type two colons in a row
  as follows: 

:: 

- For the second line, type

Request-Remailing-To: [address to which you want to send the 
message] 

* Leave the third line blank. 
* Start your message on the fourth line. 

When you're finished, just send your message, as you would any 
other. Rest assured--the recipient won't know who it's from! 
(Note: Depending on the remailer you select, the delay time 
will vary. To find out how long the delay is, try sending an 
anonymous message to yourself.)


*3. HOW TO BE A CALLIGRAPHER--OR JUST LOOK LIKE ONE

Two tips ago, we showed you how to change the font used to 
display incoming plain-text messages: Select Tools, Options; 
click the Mail Format tab; click Fonts; click the third Choose 
Font button; select a new font; then click OK three times. 

You can also change the font of outgoing messages (assuming you 
compose them in HTML). Follow the steps above, but when you get 
to the Fonts dialog box, select the FIRST Choose Font button 
(under "When composing a new message"). Select a new Font (and 
change any other options, if you want), then click OK. The next 
time you compose an HTML message, the text appears in the font 
you just selected. 

To change the font used for replying to or forwarding a 
message, follow the above steps, but select the SECOND Choose 
Font button, under "When replying and forwarding."


*43. CHECK YOUR MAIL--FAST               
      
Hey, want to see a neat trick? The next time you're about to 
click the Send And Receive button, try pressing the F5 key on 
your keyboard (or press Ctrl-M). It does exactly the same thing!


*5. DON'T FORGET THE RETURN ADDRESS

Do you have more than one account set up inside Outlook 98? In 
a past tip, we showed you how to check a single account for 
messages: Select Tools, Send And Receive, then select the 
account you want to check. But you may want to be selective 
about which mail account you use to SEND a message. After all, 
the message's return address reflects the account from which 
you sent the message. 

Click the New Mail Message button and complete your message as 
usual. Then, assuming the account you want to use is not 
already the default (the one Outlook 98 uses automatically when 
you click the Send button), select File, Send Using, [account 
name]. Now those contracts won't arrive in your client's Inbox 
with one of your kids listed as the sender! 


*6. MAY THE BEST ACCOUNT WIN

In our last tip, we showed you how to be choosy about which 
account you use to send a message: Compose the message as 
usual; then, assuming the desired account isn't the default, 
select File, Send Using, [account name]. 

If you find yourself constantly using this technique to select 
the same account, it's time to change the default account. 
Select Tools, Accounts, and on the Mail tab select the account 
you'd like to make the default. Click the Set As Default 
button. The selected account will now say "mail (default)" in 
the Type column. Click OK. From now on, you can send messages 
through that account by clicking Send (that is, unless someone 
else in the family makes THEIR account the default when you 
aren't looking).


*7. THIS JOHN HANCOCK DOESN'T EVEN REQUIRE A PEN

How many times a day do you receive messages with the 
recipient's name, e-mail address, contact information, and 
perhaps even a quote at the bottom of the message? Wow, they 
must spend a lot of extra time typing, right? Wrong. All of 
this text is called a "signature," and you can have one, too. 
Just type your signature once in the appropriate place, and 
Outlook 98 adds it to the end of all your outgoing messages. 

Select Tools, Options, and click the Mail Format tab. Under 
Signature, click the Signature Picker button, then click New. 
Type a name for the signature, click Next, and in the Signature 
text box, type all the text you want to include at the end of 
each message. Click Finish, click OK, and back on the Mail 
Format tab, you'll see the signature name next to "Use this 
signature by default." Click OK. Every time you compose a new 
message, you'll see this signature at the bottom of the message.


*8. WE ALL WEAR MANY HATS

In our last tip, we showed you how to add your signature--name, 
e-mail address, quote, whatever--to the bottom of every 
outgoing message: Select Tools, Options. Click the Mail Format 
tab; click Signature Picker; click New; type a name for the 
signature; click Next; type the signature; click Finish; and 
click OK twice.

Do you have a couple of different signatures in mind--for 
example, one for personal messages and one for work-related 
messages? Just follow the steps above to create as many 
different signatures as you want. Each one appears in the 
drop-down list next to "Use this signature by default" on the 
Mail Format tab of the Options dialog box.  

To change the default signature, just select a new one in the 
list mentioned above. Or if you can't remember which is which, 
click the Signature Picker button, select any signature in the 
list, and its preview appears. Select the signature you want to 
use, then click OK twice to make it the default. 


*9. IT'S YOUR SIGNATURE--PERSONALIZE IT

In our last tip, we showed you how to add your signature--name, 
e-mail address, quote, whatever--to the bottom of every 
outgoing message: Select Tools, Options. Then click the Mail 
Format tab; click Signature Picker; click New; type a name for 
the signature; click Next; type the signature; click Finish; 
and click OK twice. 

Outlook 98 provides you with a number of formatting options, so 
you can really personalize your signature. Select your favorite 
font, style, size, or color for the text; if you want, align 
the signature at the left, center, or right of your messages. 

Follow the steps above to create a new signature, up to typing 
the signature's text. (If you've already created a signature 
and want to apply some formatting to it, click the Signature 
Picker button on the Mail Format tab of the Tools, Options 
dialog box; select the signature you want to change; then click 
the Edit button.) Select the text you want to format, then 
click the Font button and take your pick of options.  

To align the signature, select all of it, click the Paragraph 
button, select an alignment option (select Bullets to add a 
bullet to each line of the signature), and click OK. Click OK 
three more times to keep the changes and make that signature 
the default.


*10. MY CARD

Want to include everything anyone could ever want to know about 
you inside every message? In the past, we've shown you how to 
attach your business card, or vCard, to the bottom of a single 
message; but if you want, Outlook 98 will add it to each and 
every one as part of your signature. 

First you need to create a new signature: Select Tools, 
Options. Then click the Mail Format tab; click Signature 
Picker; click New; type a name for the signature; click Next. 
At the bottom of the Edit Signature dialog box, under VCard 
options, click New VCard From Contact, select yourself in the 
list, click the Add button, then click OK. Click Finish, then 
click OK twice. 

The next time you compose a new message, you'll see your vCard 
attached. (To delete it, right-click the VCF file and select 
Remove.) 

To add your business card to an existing signature, click the 
Signature Picker button (on the Mail Format tab of the Tools, 
Options dialog box), select the signature, click Edit, then set 
your vCard options.


*11. STOP! IN THE NAME OF FORMATTING!

In a previous tip, we showed you how to change the default font 
and other options of outgoing HTML messages: Select Tools, 
Options; click the Mail Format tab; click Fonts; click the 
third Choose Font button; select a new font; then click OK 
three times. Then, as long as you have your message format set 
to HTML (on the Mail Format tab of the Tools, Options dialog 
box), any time you compose a new message, Outlook 98 uses these 
new formatting defaults.  

Now let's suppose you've set your message format to Plain Text 
(most likely because your recipients prefer this format). 
You're halfway through a plain-text message, and suddenly you 
remember this recipient can receive HTML messages without a 
problem. Do you start over? Absolutely not. Do you apply all 
your favorite formatting options--font, size, color, and so 
on--by hand, one at a time? No way. Just switch to HTML, and 
you can apply all of your defaults to the in-progress message 
in one easy step. 

-From inside the New Message dialog box, select Format, Rich 
Text [HTML]. Select all of the existing body text, then select 
Format, Style, Normal. Presto--the text now sports the default 
font, color, and so on. Complete your message (any new text you 
type displays the same defaults) and send it off as usual.
