Creating Templates: Outlook 2003

Ever get tired of sending out the same old e-mail to everyone in your department every month? Well do I have a cool tip for you!

In Outlook 2003 you can create an e-mail message and save it as a template so that you can use it over and over again.

If you use Word as your e-mail editor, you will have to disable that option. To do this, select Tools | Options and select the Mail Format tab. De-select the Use Microsoft Word to edit email messages, then click apply and OK.

From the Outlook menu, select File | New, Mail Message.

Complete the Subject portion of the message and type any desired text in the body of the message. If you will be sending the e-mail to the same individuals on a regular basis, you might also want to complete the "To" portion of the e-mail. From the e-mail message menu, select File | Save As.

In the Save As dialog box, select Outlook Template in the Save As File Type box. Name the template whatever you like and select Save. )If you do not see Outlook Template as an option, it's because you didn't de-select the option to use Word as your e-mail editor.)

Close the template. Respond Yes if you are asked to save changes.

If you turned off the option to use Word as your e-mail editor in order to create the template, you should now turn it back on. From the Outlook menu, select Tools | Options, and on the Mail Format tab, select Use Microsoft Office Word to edit email messages. Then click Apply and OK. Using the Template

• From the Outlook Inbox menu, select Tools | Forms.
   
• Select Choose Form.
   
• From the Look In drop down box, select User Templates in File System.
   
• Select the template, and click Open.
   
• Add or revise text in the e-mail as needed.
   
• Send the e-mail.

Assigning the Template to a Toolbar Button

If you wish, you can assign the template to a button on your Outlook toolbar.

1. Select Tools | Customize from the Outlook Inbox menu. .
    
2. Select the Commands tab.
    
3. Select any button in the Commands section of the dialog box and drag and drop it on your Outlook toolbar. When you release the mouse button, right-click on the toolbar button you have added.
    
4. Select Change Button Image from the drop down menu and select a new image for the button.
    
5. Right-click on the button and select Assign Hyperlink from the drop down menu that displays. Click Open. Browse to the e-mail template.
    
6. Select the template and click OK and close all dialog boxes.

From now on, you simply click the button that you just created to access your template!

Visit Carol's web site to learn more tips like this one!