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Outlook Express [Graphical Version]

Adding to the address book/contacts list.

  1. Single-Left-Click the new message to highlight it.

    view sample screen shot

  2. Single-Right-Click the new message to open a list of actions that can be performed on the message. Single-Left-click the action titled "Add Sender to Address Book".

    view sample screen shot

    In the Contacts list in the bottom left of Outlook Express the sender of the new message will be added. From now on, you can easily send an e-mail to this person by Double-Left-Clicking their name in this list.

    view sample screen shot

Adding a "Friends" folder, and then adding a new folder for each friend.

You should have something similar to the image below on your screen.

view sample screen shot

Adding the "Friends" folder.
  1. Single-Left-Click the "Inbox" folder in the Folders list. This highlights the Inbox. Now, Single-Right-Click the Inbox, and a list of actions appears. Single-Left-Click "New Folder..."

    view sample screen shot

    A new dialogue box appears. In the "Folder name" section, enter the word "Friends" (without the double quotes) and click "OK".

    view sample screen shot

    The Folders list should now look like this:

    view sample screen shot

Adding sub-folders for each friend.
  1. If the Friends folder is not highlighted (ie. it does not have a bright blue background or similar) then highlight it (Single-Left-Click it).

  2. Now, Single-Right-Click the Friends folder, and a list of actions appears. Single-Left-Click "New Folder...". A dialogue box similar to the one that appeared when creating the Friends folder appears, but this time, "Friends" is highlighted, not "Inbox". This means that the new folder we are creating will be placed inside the Friends folder. Fill in the "Folder name" section appropriately (e.g. the name of your friend) and click "OK".

    view sample screen shot

    The Folders list should now look like this:

    view sample screen shot

Creating a rule from the new message.

  1. Go back to the Inbox (Single-Left-Click the Inbox folder in the Folders list)

  2. Highlight the new message (Single-Left-Click the message)

    You should see something like this:

    view sample screen shot

  3. Single-Left-Click the "Message" menu, and then Single-Left-Click the "Create Rule From Message" item.

    view sample screen shot

    A box like this should appear:

    view sample screen shot

  4. Single-Left-Click the check-box that says "Move it to the specified folder" and a tick should appear in it. In the "Rule Description" section, Single-Left-Click the word "specified" which is underlined.

    view sample screen shot

    A box like the one below should appear. In this case, the correct folder is already highlighted. If the wrong folder is highlighted, you will need to find the correct one and highlight it.

    The folders work on a "tree" system, in that "Local Folders" is the main folder (or the trunk of the tree), with "Inbox", "Outbox", "Sent Items", "Deleted Items" and "Drafts" as sub-folders, or "branches". "Friends" is a sub-folder of "Inbox", and "Joe Bloggs" is a sub-folder of "Friends".

    If a folder contains sub-folders, it will have a small "+" or "-" next to it's name. If there is a "+" then there are sub-folders within which are not currently being displayed. If there is a "-" then the sub-folders are visible. To see sub-folders which are not displayed, Single-Left-Click the "+". To hide sub-folders which are displayed, Single-Left-Click the "-".

    In the example below, "Local Folders", "Inbox" and "Friends" all have sub-folders which are being displayed.

    view sample screen shot

  5. With the correct folder highlighted, click "OK". The "New Mail Rule" screen should reappear.

    view sample screen shot

  6. Go to section 4, "Name of the rule" and call it something unique, then click "OK".

    view sample screen shot

    A message will pop up, saying "The rule was successfully added". Click "OK". The rule we have just created will now work for all subsequent messages from that particular person, but the original message is still left in the Inbox. To enforce the rule on that message, we must apply it.

  7. Single-Left-Click the "Tools" menu, then move the mouse to "Message Rules" but don't click. Wait for the list to appear and Single-Left-Click "Mail..."

    view sample screen shot

    Something similar to the screen below should appear.

  8. Find the rule you have just created, in this case "Direct e-mail from Joe Bloggs to the "Joe Bloggs" folder" and Single-Left-Click it. Ensure the check-box is ticked, or the rule will have no effect.

    view sample screen shot

    A screen like the one below should appear. Make sure only the rule you want is highlighted. The "Apply to Folder" section should say "Inbox". If it doesn't click "Browse" and then Single-Left-Click "Inbox" in the list of folders that appears.

  9. Click "Apply Now"

    view sample screen shot

    A message should pop up saying "Your rule(s) have been applied to the folder Inbox". Click "OK" to close this box.

  10. Click "Close" on the "Apply Mail Rules Now" box. Click "OK" on the "Message Rules" box.

    The e-mail should now be in the correct folder, and any e-mails from that person in the future will automatically go to that folder.

Last Amended : 2002-08-31 by elfin
Original Author : Jimbo

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