Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Training

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Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Training
Middleton Public Schools presents

• Control how you send and see e-mail messages

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Course contents

• Overview Control view, format, size
• Lesson 1 Choose the right format for sending
• Lesson 2 Control how you see the messages you
  receive

Each lesson includes a list of suggested tasks
and a set of test questions.
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Overview Control view, format, size

• The formatting of your e-mail messages is
  important for many reasons. Message format
  dictates how text and images are displayed, and
  even the size of your messages.

This course will give you the information you
need to choose and control message formats in
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, both for e-mail
messages you send and for those you receive.
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Course goals

• Understand the differences between HTML, Rich
  Text, and Plain Text e-mail message formats.
• Choose the right format for your audience and
  avoid sending "gobbledygook" or a winmail.dat
  attachment.
• Understand which format causes attachments to
  appear inline and which formats show them in the
  message header.

(Continued on next slide.)
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Course goals, contd.

• Know how to change the default format for all
  messages you send (and even set a different
  default for messages that go to specific people).

• Control the format used to view messages that are
  sent to you and understand why some types of
  pictures and attachments are blocked.

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Lesson 1

• Choose the right format for sending

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Choose the right format for sending

• You carefully formatted an e-mail message and
  sent it to someone over the Internet.
• When she replied, you saw that your text had lost
  its format, and instead it appeared to be Plain
  Text with a lot of gobbledygook mixed in. Or,
  maybe she replied that she couldn't open the
  "Winmail.dat" file that you sent.

A message with gobbledygook in it
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Do they see what you see?

• Can everyone who gets your e-mail message see
  your animated signature?
• Do they have the ability to see the inline photo
  of your dog, or does it appear as a 350 KB
  attachment (and take forever to download over
  their slow modem)?

Before sending a message, consider who will get
it.
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What you have to choose from

• In Microsoft Outlook, you have three choices for
  the e-mail message format

• HTML (the default)
• Rich Text Format (RTF)
• Plain Text

You have three choices for the message format.
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What you have to choose from

• If you use a format that your recipients e-mail
  program can't understand, they may not see what
  you see.

You have three choices for the message format.
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What you have to choose from
Each choice also influences a messages sizeand
size can affect the amount of time it takes to
send or receive a message.

• Plain Text format will yield the smallest message
  size, and HTML messages will be the largest.

You have three choices for the message format.
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HTML It's on by default

• Do you receive e-mail messages that look like
  fancy newsletters? They were probably created
  using HTML.

HTML is the default message format in Outlook.
HTML lets you add style and emphasis to your
messages.
An HTML newsletter sent as an e-mail message
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RTF Show attachments inline, with caution

• If you're sending e-mail to people outside your
  company or if not everyone inside your company
  uses Outlook, Rich Text Format (RTF) is not the
  best choice for a message format.

RTF increases your chances of sending
gobbledygook because it's the least compatible of
the three available message formats.
E-mail message in Rich Text format
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RTF Show attachments inline, with caution

• See the image at left.

• In a Rich Text Format (RTF) message, an
  attachment appears inline. This allows you to
  emphasize the point of the attachment.
• In an HTML or Plain Text format message, an
  attachment appears in the message header.

E-mail message in Rich Text format
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Plain means plain

• If a message recipient complains about getting
  gobbledygook when you've sent him an HTML
  message, try using Plain Text format the next
  time you send him a message.

A Plain Text message
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Plain means plain

• This means that the recipient of your Plain Text
  format message will be able to

• Read your message
• Access your message as quickly as his system will
  allow

A Plain Text message
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Work outside the default

• Youve carefully considered the people who
  receive most of your e-mail and verified that
  you're using the right default format for them.
• But what if you want to send a message to someone
  else using a format other than the default?

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Work outside the default
Here are your options

• You can pick a format before you start.

• To create a new message in any of the three
  available formats, use the Actions menu.
• Click New Mail Message Using on the Actions menu,
  and select the format of your choice.

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Work outside the default

• You can set a new default for a single contact.
  If you send e-mail to someone with an Internet
  address (rather than to someone within your
  company who has an Exchange e-mail account), you
  can specify the format you'd like to use for that
  one contact.

• Double-click the e-mail name of that person, and
  select the Internet format option you want.

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Use Word as your e-mail editor

• With Word as your e-mail editor, you can use
  features like AutoCorrect, bullets, numbering,
  and tables to compose better messagesprovided
  you're using a format that supports them.

The Mail Format tab of the Options dialog box
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Use Word as your e-mail editor

• When you're using the HTML format and Word as
  your e-mail editor, be aware Word includes an
  HTML "filter" that automatically strips out
  unnecessary HTML elements when you send your
  e-mail messages.

The Mail Format tab of the Options dialog box
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Use Word as your e-mail editor

• To verify whether Word is selected as your e-mail
  editor

• In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Mail Format tab.
• Confirm that the Use Microsoft Word to edit
  e-mail messages check box is selected.

The Mail Format tab of the Options dialog box
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Format e-mail replies and forwards

• Other types of messages that you send are replied
  to and forwarded messages.
• Although you may not think of these as messages
  that you create (because someone else started the
  message), you do have some control over how your
  replies and forwards look.

Responders name in an e-mail message response
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Format e-mail replies and forwards

• One option you have in messages that you reply to
  or forward is to change the look of your
  comments

• Here, Nancy has set up Outlook so that her
  replies appear in dark blue and her name is
  automatically entered as she makes each comment.

Responders name in an e-mail message response
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Suggestions for practice

• See your default message format and e-mail
  editor.
• Set the default for a specific contact.
• See how to customize the look of messages you
  reply to or forward.
• See where to change the default font for Plain
  Text format messages.

(Continued on next slide.)
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Suggestions for practice, contd.

• Create a message that's different from the
  default.
• Change the message format midstream.
• Add an attachment and compare HTML and RTF
  formats.
• Restore your settings.

Online practice (requires Outlook 2003)
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Test 1, question 1

• When you specify a default format on the Mail
  Format tab of the Options dialog box, that's the
  format that you'll be forced to use for all
  messages you send. (Pick one answer.)

• True.
• False.

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Test 1, question 1 Answer

• False.

It's the default, but you can always switch to
one of the other formats.
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Test 1, question 2

• Which of the following formats will yield the
  smallest file size? (Pick one answer.)

• Plain Text.
• Rich Text.
• HTML.

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Test 1, question 2 Answer

• Plain Text.

If small is what you want, Plain Text format is
your choice.
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Test 1, question 3

• You send a friend a snazzy message with an
  attachment over the Internet. The friend replies
  that the message contained a Winmail.dat file and
  that she could not open it. Which e-mail format
  is most likely to cause this scenario? (Pick one
  answer.)

• Plain Text.
• Rich Text.
• HTML.

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Test 1, question 3 Answer

• Rich Text.

If you use Rich Text format to send a message to
someone who doesn't also use Outlook, the message
may be accompanied by a file called Winmail.dat,
the contents of which won't make sense to him.
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Test 1, question 4

• Which format type will show attachments inline
  with the message text? (Pick one answer.)

• HTML.
• Rich Text.
• Plain Text.

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Test 1, question 4 Answer

• Rich Text.

If you want your attachments to appear inline,
you need to use RTF. Be sure that the recipient
is using an e-mail program that understands RTF.
Otherwise, she may see gobbledygook instead of
the attachment that you intended.
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Lesson 2

• Control how you see the messages you receive

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Control how you see messages you receive

• Do you wonder why you sometimes see red Xs in
  your messages instead of pictures? The Xs are
  related to message format, too.
• Do you wish you could choose whether to see
  formatting in messages, or read them only in
  Plain Text format? You can!

Think about the messages you receive.
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The sender sets the format

• Now you know you can choose among formats when
  you send messages.
• But what about controlling the format of messages
  that you receive? What are the choices and
  defaults for those?

Wondering how to manage message formats?
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The sender sets the format

• By default, you see messages the way they were
  sent, which means that the sender controls the
  message format.

You'll be glad to know that Outlook gives you
some control over how you see a received message,
regardless of its original format.
Wondering how to manage message formats?
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Blocked attachments It's about security

• Does the message in the picture look familiar?
  Its a message about a blocked attachment.

Outlook automatically blocks certain types of
attachments. This blocking helps protect your
computer from viruses and cannot be changed.
A received message with a blocked attachment
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Pictures and privacy in HTML messages

• Have you ever received a message that had red Xs
  like the ones in the picture? One reason for the
  red Xs is that Outlook purposely blocks certain
  types of pictures in HTML-formatted messages.
• Why does Outlook do this?

E-mail message with blocked pictures
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Pictures and privacy in HTML messages

• HTML has the potential to carry pictures that may
  do either of the following

• Invade your privacy (by alerting the sender to
  the fact that you downloaded the picture and
  therefore opened the message)
• Irritate or even offend you (unwanted photos or
  advertisements may appear in the reading or
  message pane)

E-mail message with blocked pictures
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Pictures and privacy in HTML messages

• You can also view the pictures right away.

• Click the text at the top of the message.
• Click Download Pictures.
• If you always want to see pictures from this
  sender, select one of the commands.
• A red X indicates that a picture has been
  blocked.

E-mail message with blocked pictures
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Play it safe with Plain Text format

• Although HTML offers some great safety features,
  you can play it safer yet with Plain Text format.
  

Just as Plain Text format is the simplest and
least cumbersome format you can choose for
sending a message, it also simplifies things with
messages you receive.
Plain Text message with menu to view as HTML
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Play it safe with Plain Text format

• If you opt for Plain Text as your initial
  "receive" format, there are a couple things you
  should keep in mind

• When you reply to or forward a message that
  you've viewed this way, the format of that
  message will also be Plain Text.
• This setting will not reduce the size of a
  received message, the way it does a sent or
  forwarded message.

Plain Text message with menu to view as HTML
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Suggestions for practice

• Select the Plain Text option for reading e-mail
  messages.
• Send yourself a glitzy message.
• Open the message.
• Clear the Plain Text option for reading e-mail.
• See where to change settings for downloaded
  pictures.

Online practice (requires Outlook 2003)
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Test 2, question 1

• You receive an e-mail message with a red X in it.
  What's the most likely cause? (Pick one answer.)

• It's probably a glitch in the e-mail server.
• Outlook prevented pictures from being downloaded.
  
• The picture is too big to display in an e-mail
  message.

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Test 2, question 1 Answer

• Outlook prevented pictures from being downloaded.

If you trust the sender and want to see the
pictures in the e-mail message, click the InfoBar
at the top of the message, and then click
Download Pictures.
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Test 2, question 2

• Which of the following is the main advantage of
  reading e-mail in Plain Text? (Pick one answer.)

• It's safe.
• It can help you conserve disk space.
• You won't have to bother with attachments.

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Test 2, question 2 Answer

• It's safe.

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Test 2, question 3

• You received an e-mail message and it says that
  the attachment was blocked. What are your
  options? (Pick one answer.)

• Tell the sender.
• You don't have any. Blocked means blocked.
• Change the message format to RTF.

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Test 2, question 3 Answer

• Tell the sender.

Tell the sender that the attachment is a type
that was blocked automatically by Outlook. The
sender will need to take a few extra steps before
sending the attachment, but the good news is that
with a few extra steps, the sender should be able
to get the file to you. For more information, see
the "Useful links" section in the Quick Reference
Card.
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Test 2, question 4

• Suppose you're using the HTML default format for
  sending messages. Which format will be used for
  messages you receive? (Pick one answer.)

• HTML.
• RTF.
• Whatever format the sender used.

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Test 2, question 4 Answer

• Whatever format the sender used.

A sender chooses the format of the sent message.
If it's sent as Plain Text, that's how you'll
receive it. If you want to use something
different in a reply or forward, you'll need to
take action to do that.
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Test 2, question 5

• In Outlook, it's possible to view all your
  received messages in Plain Text format. (Pick one
  answer.)

• True.
• False.

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Test 2, question 5 Answer

• True.

To see the message in the format that the sender
used, select that option in the InfoBar at the
top of the message.
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Quick Reference Card

• For a summary of the tasks covered in this
  course, view the Quick Reference Card.

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USING THIS TEMPLATE

• See the notes pane or view the full notes page
  (View menu) for detailed help on this template.