PARTE IV. DISCUSIÓN YCONCLUSIONES
CAPÍTULO 6: DISCUSIÓN Y CONCLUSIONES
I
f your Inbox is like most, it’s probably chock-full of messages from hundreds of different people. And before long, it can start to resemble an overcrowded attic. Even if you do occasionally go in there to clean house, it won’t take long for the place to be disorganized again. Rather than let your Inbox fall into disarray, create some handy rules to automatically manage messages when they arrive. Here’s how:1. Click Tools➪Rules and Alerts, and then click the New Rule button at the top of the dialog box.
2. Make sure the Start Creating a Rule from a Template radio button is active, since you’ll use the wizard interface to create a rule that moves all e-mail from a specific person to a folder. Figure 16-1 shows the first portion of the wizard interface. Click the top item in the Step 1: Select a Template list box, under the Stay Organized area.
Figure 16-1:You can quickly create useful rules from the wizard interface. 3. Now click the People or Distribution List link in the Step 2: area to
go to your Contact list. Double-click one or more contacts to place them in the From: field, and then click OK to return to the wizard interface.
4. Click the Specified link in the Step 2: Edit the Rule Description win- dow of the Rules Wizard dialog box, and then click the folder to direct messages to, as shown in Figure 16-2. You can also create a new folder from here: Click the New... button, enter the name of the folder to create in the Name: box, and then select the folder (such as Inbox) for the new folder to appear under.
note
Rules can get very involved if you let them. Get started with relatively simple rules that do basic, but useful, housekeeping chores. A few good examples are rules that move old mes- sages to a subfolder or split up work and personal e-mail.
tip
You can create a rule quickly based on what’s in an existing message. Right-click the mes- sage, click Create Rule, and you’ll see a dialog box that offers up quick parameters based on what’s in the message.
tip
You can also type e-mail addresses directly into the From: text field. Just make sure to use a semicolon to separate each address you add.
cross-reference
Rules are a terrific way to move messages to multiple subfold- ers. Read Task 19 to learn how to create and manage e-mail folders in Outlook.
tip
Remember, the order your rules are arrayed in matters. If the top rule deletes any message with the word “free” in the sub- ject line, it could interfere with the next rule that moves all family e-mail to a certain folder. What if your brother sends a message that reads “When are you free?” That first rule will delete the message before the second rule can move it to the Family folder. Figure 16-2:Now all messages meeting your rule criteria will flow automatically
into this folder.
5. Click OK to return to the Rules Wizard dialog box, and then click the Next button to add conditions to your rule. For instance, you might only act on messages that have a specific word in the subject line, or messages that were sent directly to you (as opposed to being Cc’d to you). Click Next.
6. Under the What Do You Want to Do with the Message? area, check any boxes in the Step 1: Select Action(s) list box corresponding to additional actions you want to take beyond moving the message to a different folder. You might, for example, check the Print It item to have Outlook print each message meeting the criteria.
7. Now it’s time to handle exceptions. In the Step 1: Select Exception(s) (if Necessary) list box, check any box corresponding to an exception you might want to apply to your new rule. For example, you can click Except If the Subject Contains Specific Words in the list and define the word string that would prevent the rule from executing. 8. Click the new link that appears in the Step 2: Edit the Rule
Description window to go to the Search Text dialog box. Enter the word or phrases to filter against—flagging something like “Free Offer” might catch unwanted e-mail spam—and click the Add but- ton. Click OK to return to the wizard.
9. Click Next, and in the Step 1: Specify a Name for this Rule text box, enter a descriptive name for your rule. Make sure the Turn on This Rule check box is checked, and click Finish to save the rule. 10. The opening Rules and Alerts window appears, with the newly
crafted rule at the top of the list. Click this rule to select it. Then test it by clicking the Run Rules Now... button.