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| Create a custom Outlook Today view |
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Users can make relatively minor changes to the Outlook Today view, but maybe you'd like to implement major changes to Outlook Today across the enterprise. For example, maybe you want to include access to intranet-based resources, give users quick access to a set of public folders, or put a custom corporate feel on the layout and scheme. If you're handy with HTML or have a developer or two on staff, you can go well beyond the customization offered by the options in Outlook.
Outlook Today is defined by code in the Outlwvw.dll file, which by default is located in \ Program Files\ Microsoft Office\ Office10\ 1033 for an English installation of Microsoft Office. You can customize Outlook Today by either creating a custom DLL or using a custom HTML document for the view.
To create a custom view with the HTML method, start by extracting the HTML code from the DLL:
Close Outlook and open Internet Explorer.
In the Address field, enter this for Outlook 2002 (adjust if the file is located in a different folder):
Res://c:\ Program Files\ Microsoft
Office\ Office10\ 1033\ Outlwvw.dll/outlook.htm
Or, enter this for Outlook 2000:
Res://c:\ Program Files\ Microsoft
Office\ Office\ 1033\ Outlwvw.dll/outlook.htm
Click No if Internet Explorer generates a script error.
Choose View | Source to display the code in Notepad. Then, in Notepad, choose File | Save As and save the document to a file, entering .htm after the file name and choosing All Files from the Save As Type drop-down list.
Perform a search and replace in the file, replacing "display:none" with "display:". Then save the file.
At this point, you have the default HTML code for Outlook Today. Next, open the file in FrontPage, Dreamweaver, or another Web development application and make the desired changes to the source code. When the custom page is completed and tested, modify the Registry on each user's computer to load the custom page:
Open the Registry Editor and open the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Office\ 10.0\ Outlook\ Today key.
If there is no Url value, create a new string value named Url.
Set the value of Url to the absolute path to the custom file, such as File://z:\ shared\ outlook\ custom-ol.htm.
Close the Registry Editor, open Outlook, and test the new Outlook Today view.
Creating a custom DLL for Outlook Today is another option, but it requires more programming abilities and development tools. Customizing Outlook Today with HTML is a great way to offer your users a custom interface for their Outlook data. |
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