•
Add and remove fields to a view
•
Move a field in a table view
•
Format a column in a table view
•
Sort items in a folder
•
Filter a view
•
Group items in a folder
•
Reset a view
•
Format the settings for a table view
•
Format the settings for non-table views
•
Create a custom view
ADDING AND REMOVING FIELDS IN A VIEW
Discussion
You can control which columns appear in a view by adding or removing “fields.” Table views - where the information is laid out in standard columns and rows - offer the greatest flexibility for adding extra fields. For example, the Task folder provides a “Simple List” table view comprising of six columns – Icon; Complete; Subject;; Due Date; Categories and Flag. You could, for example, remove columns that you don’t use and add additional columns that you do, such as Status or Progress.
Customising the Simple Task List view
Graphical views, however, offer less flexibility when it comes to adding or removing fields. Some standard graphical views are:
• Calendar - in Day, Work Week, Week, Month or Schedule arrangement or in Preview view.
• Contacts - in Business Card or Card view.
• Notes - in Icon view
• Journal - in Timeline view
In timeline type views such as the Calendar in Day, Work Week, Week, Month or Schedule arrangement or Journal in Timeline view, you cannot add or remove fields at all, but merely define which fields are used to control how the items are displayed against the timeline. There are only a few built-in Timeline views but it is possible to customise most folders to display in this form.
In the case of Contacts in Business Card or Card view, you cannot add or remove fields at all. Folders in “Compact” view cannot display additional fields either unless they are customised further to show more rows or, are converted to a table view (eg. by moving the Reading Pane). There are only a few built-in Compact views but it is possible to customise most folders into this arrangement.
Examples of “Compact” views - Inbox (left) and Tasks To-Do List (right)
To add or remove fields to a view, you open the Advanced View Settings: <name of view>
views (see above), specify which fields to use to display items against the timeline, the Columns… button will be active.
The Advanced View Settings dialog box for mail folders “Single” view
On clicking the Columns… button, the Show Columns dialog box will appear allowing you
to add, remove, move and even create new, custom columns in the current view.
The Show Columns dialog box
Procedures
1. View the folder that you want to add or remove a column to.
2. Select the View tab.
3. Click View Settings command in the CurrentView group.
4. Click Columns….
5. Click the Select available columns from: drop down list.
10. Select any columns that you want to remove in the Show these columns in this order: list box.
11. Click < - Remove.
12. Click OK to close the Show Columns dialog box.
13. Click OK.
Tip
You can add fields to a table view by right- clicking the grey column headings and selecting Field Chooser. The Field Chooser displays a list of available fields for that folder type. You can then drag and drop fields directly into the desired position on headings row of the table.
Tip
You can also remove columns from a table view by clicking and dragging the grey column heading down until a large cross appears over it.
MOVING A FIELD IN A TABLE
Discussion
You can move the columns in a view and re-order them according to your needs. A field in a table view can easiest be moved by dragging the column heading to the desired position.
Moving the task status field to between % Complete and Categories
Procedures
1. View the folder where you want to move a column.
2. Apply a table view, if necessary.
3. Drag the column heading for the field you want to move until the red arrows
appear in the desired position on the grey column heading row.
FORMATTING A COLUMN IN A TABLE VIEW
Discussion
You can format the columns in a tabular view and change the look of the columns and their data. You may want to change the label used as the column heading. For example, if the
column label is much longer than the data in the column, you can create a shorter column label. You can also change the width of a column to a specific number of characters or select the Best Fit option, which automatically sizes the column to fit its longest entry. In addition,
you can change the alignment of the text in the column to Left, Center, or Right.
Some fields allow you to change the format used for icons or data in the field. You may prefer to display text instead of an icon for a field. You can also change the format of dates,
times, and durations. For example, instead of displaying the data in the Start column in the
Fri 12/3/12 3:00 PM format, you can select the Fri 4/3 format and omit the year and time.
The Format Columns dialog box for Calendar List view
Tip
You can also change the width of a column by dragging the right column border in the column heading row. Double-clicking the right column border in the column heading row automatically sizes the column to its longest entry.
Procedures
1. View the folder where you want to format the columns.
2. Apply a table view, if necessary.
3. Right-click anywhere in the grey column headings row.
4. Select the Format Columns command.
5. Select the field you want to format in the Available fields: list.
6. Select the Format list.
7. Select the desired format.
8. To rename the field, select the text in the Label text box.
9. Type the new field label.
10. Select the desired Width option.
11. Select the desired Alignment option.
12. Click OK.
Tip
You can also format columns by clicking the Format Columns… button in the Advanced View Settings dialog box (see page 112).
SORTING ITEMS IN A FOLDER
Discussion
Most Outlook folders can be sorted, even some graphical ones such as Contacts Business
Card and Card but not timeline ones. For example, you cannot sort items in the Calendar
folder in the Day: Work Week; Week; Month and Schedule arrangements. If a folder is not
in a view that you can sort, you have to change the view to one that can (usually a table). The Sort dialog box allows you to select the field by which you want to sort. If you attempt to sort by fields that do not currently appear in the information viewer, Outlook prompts you to display those fields.
Sort dialog box for Contacts folders
Tip
The Clear All button in the Sort dialog box allows you to quickly remove all current sort criteria. It does not, however, return items to their previous order.
Tip
You can also sort columns is table views by clicking the grey heading at the top of the column that you want to sort by. Hold down the SHIFT key and click other column headings to carry out multiple level sorts.
Procedures
1. View the folder where you want to sort the columns.
2. Apply the view you want to customise.
3. Select the View tab.
4. Click View Settings command in the CurrentView group.
5. Click Sort….
6. Select the Sort items by list.
8. Click the Ascending or Descending option, as desired.
9. To sort by a second field, select the upper Then by list.
10. Select the second field by which you want to sort.
11. Select the Ascending or Descending option, as desired.
12. When you have finished selecting fields by which to sort, click OK.
13. If a Microsoft Outlook information box opens, click Yes or No to display the field.
14. Click OK.
FILTERING A VIEW
Discussion
You can apply a filter to any view in an Outlook folder so that only those items meeting the filter criteria appear. The other items are still stored in the folder, but are hidden so that only
the data you want to view appears. When a filter is applied to a view, the message Filter
Applied appears in the bottom left corner of the status bar (at the bottom of the window over the Windows Start button).
Filtering appointments in a Calendar view
Tip
The tabs in the Filter dialog box will vary depending on the folder type being filtered.
Procedures
1. View the folder where you want to filter the columns.
2. Apply the view you want to customise.
3. Select the View tab.
4. Click View Settings command in the CurrentView group.
5. Click Filter….
6. Type the text you want to use as a filter, if applicable.
7. Select the In list.
8. Select the field types you want to search.
9. Continue to select options on the current page as desired.
10. Select the More Choices tab.
11. To filter by category, select Categories.
12. Select the category you want to use as a filter.
13. Click OK.
14. Continue to select options on the More Choices page as desired.
15. Select the Advanced tab.
16. Select Field.
17. Point to the desired field type.
18. Select the field you want to use for a condition.
19. Select the Condition list.
20. Select the desired condition.
21. Enter a comparison value in the Value box, if necessary.
22. Click Add to List.
23. Continue adding more conditions to the list, if necessary.
24. If you are familiar with the SQL programming language, select the SQL tab and
write the necessary code.
25. Click OK to close the Filter dialog box. 26. Click OK.
GROUPING ITEMS IN A FOLDER
Discussion
You can group items to control how they appear in the information viewer; however, you can only group items that appear in tabular and timeline views. For example, you cannot group
contacts in the Business Card view.
Some views come grouped by default, eg. mail folders are grouped by time interval (Today,
Yesterday, Last Week, etc) and the Contacts folder List view comes grouped by Company.
You group items in a view using the Group By dialog box or the Group By box in the
information viewer. The Group By box is an area above the column headings that you can
activate, and then drag and drop column headings in the order that you want to group them.
A typical Group By dialog box
Tip
You can quickly group items by right-clicking a column heading at the top of a table view and selecting the Group By This Field command. This command automatically displays the Group By box. If you had already grouped the items by one field before selecting this command, items will now be grouped by two fields. Both field names will appear at the top of the information viewer in Group By boxes.
Remove a group by clicking and dragging the field off the Group
By box until a large black cross appears over it. Removing a group
from a view does not remove the column from the table.
Tip
The Clear All button in the Group By dialog box allows you to quickly clear the settings and remove a group.Procedures
1. View the folder where you want to group the columns.
2. Apply the view you want to customise.
3. Select the View tab.
4. Click View Settings command in the CurrentView group.
5. Click Group By….
6. Untick the Automatically group according to arrangement check box if the view is
10. Select the desired option.
11. Select the Group items by list.
12. Select the field by which you want to group.
13. Select the desired sort order.
14. Continue setting additional groups (up to four in total).
15. When you have finished selecting the desired options, click OK.
16. Click OK.
RESETTING A VIEW
Discussion
You can reset all the field, sort, group, and filter settings you have applied to a view back to
their default settings using the Reset View button in the Views tab. If you want to reset only
one setting without affecting other changes, open the Advanced View Settings dialog box
and clear that particular setting.
Resetting a view
Procedures
1. View the folder and apply the view that you want to reset.
2. Select the View tab.
3. Click Reset View in the Current View group.
FORMATTING THE SETTINGS FOR A VIEW
Discussion
You can use the Other Settings dialog box to format the fonts and change other settings in a table view so that the display in the information viewer meets your requirements. The options in the Other Settings dialog box are identical for all table views, regardless of the folder. Depending on your selections, however, some options may not be available.
The Other Settings dialog box
If the Allow in-cell editing option is selected, you can change the information directly in the
information viewer. This option also allows you to enable and disable certain fields in the
information viewer. For example, you can flag a contact by clicking in the Flag Status column
for that contact and selecting the desired flag status.
AutoPreview is a legacy feature going back to early versions of Outlook that did not have a Reading Pane (or its equivalent). AutoPreview, if activated, displays the first three lines of an email under the message header.
Example of AutoPreview for all Inbox messages in Compact view
You can use the Other Options section at the bottom of the dialog box to force table views to
change to Compact view when the number of visible characters becomes smaller than the
number you enter in the Use compact layout in widths smaller than x characters.
For Compact views to work, you generally need to show the Reading Pane at the right and make it quite wide. The two conversation options force the view to show related messages (Threads) in various layouts (see page 107).
Tip
Resetting a view (see previous topic) does not reset the options in the Other Settings dialog box.4. Click View Settings command in the CurrentView group.
5. Click Other Settings….
6. Select Font for the text you want to format.
7. Select the desired font options.
8. Click OK.
9. Select additional options as desired.
10. Click OK to close the Other Settings dialog box.
11. Click OK.
FORMATTING THE SETTINGS FOR NON TABLE VIEWS
Discussion
Although table views contain the same options in the Other Settings dialog box, graphical views and arrangements have options specific to those views. For example, selecting the Other Settings button for the Day; Work Week; Week; Month and Schedule arrangements
in the Calendar folder opens the Format Day/Week/Month View dialog box which includes
options such as the Time scale option to change the time slots displayed on the calendar.
Opening the Format View dialog box for Notes in Icons view includes options for icon size and how to layout the icons in the information viewer.
Formatting graphical Calendar views Formatting Notes icons view
Tip
You can also change the width of items in a Card view by dragging the grey divider line between cards.Procedures
1. View the folder where you want to change the view settings.
2. Apply the view you want to customise.
3. Select the View tab.
4. Click View Settings command in the CurrentView group.
5. Click Other Settings….
6. Select Font for the text you want to format.
7. Select the desired font options.
9. Select additional options as desired.
10. Click OK to close the Other Settings dialog box.
11. Click OK.
CREATING A CUSTOM VIEW
Discussion
You can create custom views for use in any Outlook folder. You can use the Manage All
Views dialog box to Create a New View that displays specific fields quickly, group and sort items, filter items automatically, and format the view according to your preferences. It is often preferable to create your own custom views rather than modify the existing built-in views and arrangements. All settings in a custom view are automatically applied each time you switch to the custom view.
The Manage All View dialog box for mail folders The Create a New View dialog box
Custom views are added to the Change View command in the Views group of the View tab.
If you attempt to create a new view that is not possible in the current folder, an information message will warn you.
Tip
Selecting the Apply View button in the Define Views dialog box closes the dialog box and applies the new view.Procedures
1. View the folder for which you want to create a custom view.
2. Select the View tab.
3. Click the Change View command in the Current View group.
4. Click New.
5. Type the desired name for the custom view.
6. Select the type of view upon which you want to base the custom view.
7. Select the desired option under Can be used on.
8. Click OK.
9. Apply options, preferences and settings in the Advanced View Settings: New
View dialog box as described in previous topics of this lesson.
10. Click OK.
11. Click Close or Apply View.
Tip
You can also create a new view by customising an existing one as described in previous topics of this lesson and then selecting Save
Current View As a New View in the Custom Views command.
DELETING A VIEW
Discussion
You should delete any custom views you no longer use. Deleting unused views keeps the CurrentView drop-down menu on the View tab smaller and easier to manage. Outlook prompts you to verify a deletion before a view is removed.
Procedures
1. View the folder for which you want to delete a custom view.
2. Select the View tab.
3. Click the Change View command in the Current View group.
4. Select Manage Views….