How to Organize Email
by J. Walker of GNC Web Creations
People always want to know how I can possibly keep all of my
group, business and personal email organized. This is another one
of those things in life that I have learned slowly through trial
and error. After a few embarrassing moments of posting personal
emails to a public group, I set out to find a method that would
keep everything straight for me.
Remember high school when you were taking several classes? If you
just threw everything into one big notebook without a method to
organize it all, things could end up in a mess very rapidly. You
probably used one big notebook with dividers to separate the classes or you may have
even used separate notebooks for each individual class. This
is similar to the method I use to organize my email accounts.
To prevent posting personal mail to a group or posting to the wrong
group, I set up a separate email account for each group that I am
a member of. Each of my email addresses has a specific purpose and
are used only for that purpose. This should also be done for your
personal and business email accounts. Since most Yahoo Groups will
not accept email from a different email address than you have listed
for that specific group, this will help prevent embarrassing posting
errors to the wrong group.
Each of us has different personal preferences and email programs
that we find the most effective. Most of these programs have various
methods of customizing them in a manner that will keep things more
organized. Take the time to read the help files for your specific
program, or search Google for tutorials. If you learn how to organize
email now, it will save countless hours of frustration later.
I use Outlook 2003 to organize email.
When I create each new email account in Outlook, I select an account
name that will easily identify which group or topic the email address
is associated with.
The first thing I did once my email accounts were set up was to
create a separate folder for every group that I belong to. I also
set up separate folders for my business email and my personal email.
This allowed me to easily make rules that sends each email to the
appropriate folder, instead of spending countless hours sorting
through my inbox.
When you click on "View Screenshot" a new window will open to display the
step.
Create Folders to Help Organize Email Accounts
STEP 1
Open Outlook. Right-hand click on "Personal Folders".
Select "New Folder".
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screenshot
Step 2
Enter the name selected for the new folder. Click "OK".
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screenshot
Repeat this process for each folder you need to create.
Set Up Email Rules
STEP 1
In the Tools menu, select Rules and Alerts.
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screenshot
STEP 2
Click on the New Rule Button.
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screenshot
STEP 3
If it not already selected, click the circle in front of
"Start creating a rule from a template" and then click on "Move
a message sent to a distribution list to a folder".
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screenshot
STEP 4
Click on the underlined text for "people or distribution
list”.
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screenshot
STEP 5
In the new box that opened during step 4, enter the email
address you are creating the rule for, next to the "To" button.
If you are creating this rule for a Yahoo group, I recommend
selecting the email address of the actual group, rather than
your own email address. When you click “ok” this box will close.
Select "Next".
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screenshot
STEP 6
Place check mark by "move it to the specified folder"
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screenshot
STEP 7
Click on the underlined text "specified". This will cause
a new box to open.
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screenshot
STEP 8
Scroll to the folder you created for this email address or
group earlier. Select the appropriate folder by clicking on
it and click on the OK button. This box will then close.
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screenshot
STEP 9
In the remaining window, click on the "Finish" button.
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screenshot
Repeat this process for each email account or individual folder
you have created.
Organize Your Signature for Each Email Account or Group
STEP 1
In the "Tools" menu select "Options".
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screenshot
STEP 2
If you are setting up this account for a group it is always
best to use plain text for email. This will prevent strange
formatting in your signature. Use the arrow down button to select the
"plain text" option.
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screenshot
STEP 3
In the same small window, click on the "Signatures" button.
A small window will open.
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screenshot
STEP 4
Click on the "New" button. A small window will open.
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screenshot
STEP 5
Enter a name for the new signature. I select the name of
the signature based on the information of the signature, or
the group. Make sure there is a mark in front of "Start with
a blank signature" and click next.
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screenshot
STEP 6
Enter the text for your signature. If you are adding
a link, make sure to include the http:// in front of the URL
so that it will be a clickable link in your emails. Click on
the "Finish" button. This small window will close.
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screenshot
STEP 7
In the remaining box click on the "OK" button.
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screenshot
STEP 8
In the small window that remains, you can select which email
signature you want used for each of your accounts. Since I use
a variety of signatures in each of my groups I selected "none".
This allows me choose which signature I need, based on the
content of the email. Once you have made your selection, click
"OK".
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screenshot
Repeat this process for each signature you would like to use.
Inserting Your Signature in Emails
STEP 1
When you have completed your email, place the cursor where
you would like to insert the signature. In the "insert" menu,
select "Signature". Click on the specific signature you would
like to use for this email. Hopefully you named each signature
in a way that will make it easy for you to identify the content
of each signature.
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screenshot
You can also use this method to organize responses you add to
emails frequently. Anything I need to add to an email frequently,
I make a signature for it.
Final Notes on How to Organize Email
Computer Basics offers additional tips and various tutorials on how
to organize email using a variety of email programs. Over time, you will discover
which techniques work best for your
specific situation. The methods I have described to you makes it
possible for me to keep track of the emails from more than 30 accounts.
Using these techniques, I can be assured that I will never miss
an important business email buried within the mass of other unrelated
messages.
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Owner GNC Web Creations and Mississippi Photo Gallery
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