Outlook Express in the Classroom: Move the Bar

Outlook Express in the Classroom is produced by ACT360 Media Ltd.
in conjunction with Microsoft Corporation.
Copyright 1998. All rights reserved.

You can tell a lot about someone by looking at how they arrange things. If items are neatly stacked on top of each other, the person is probably very careful. If things are scattered about, the person is quite carefree. You can customize the look of Outlook Express to suit your personality.

Hiding the toolbar
Outlook Express has provided a toolbar that provides quick, easy access to many mail functions. However, if the toolbar isn't exactly your cup of Martian Fire tea, you can customize Outlook Express to hide it.

To hide the toolbar:

1. Click the View menu, then click Toolbar to deselect it. The Toolbar will disappear from the Outlook Express window.

Moving the toolbar
The default location for the toolbar is at the top of the active window. If this isn't your favorite place for a toolbar, you can move it to the bottom, to the right side, or to the left side of the Outlook Express window.

To move the toolbar to the left side of the Outlook Express window:

1. Click the View menu, then click Layout. The Window Layout Properties dialog box will appear.

2. In the Toolbar title, click the option button next to Left. Click OK. The toolbar will now appear on the left side of the Outlook Express window.

Select an option button to move the toolbar to a new location

When you build a spaceship, it is important to put the navigation controls in easy to reach places. The same goes for the buttons you use in Outlook Express. You will want to move buttons that you use often to accessible places and remove ones that you don't use at all.

Adding toolbar buttons
Is checking your Outbox as important as checking your Inbox? If so, you might want to add the Go to Outbox button to your toolbar. Here's how:

1. In the Outlook Express window, click the View menu, then click Layout. The Window Layout Properties dialog box will open.

2. Click the Customize Toolbar button. The Customize Toolbar dialog box will appear.

3. In the Available buttons list box, click Go to Outbox, then click the Add button. The Go to Outbox button will appear in the Toolbar buttons list box.

Select the button you want to add, then click the Add button.

4. Click Close to return to the Window Layout Properties dialog box, then click OK to return to the Outlook Express window. The Go to Outbox button now appears on your toolbar.

Note: The Outlook Express window toolbar and the Inbox window toolbar are not the same. The buttons for the bars must be customized separately.

Removing toolbar buttons
Is your toolbar getting too cluttered? Then consider cutting a button or two off. Here's how to remove the Go to Outbox button we added previously:

1. Click the View menu, then click Layout. The Window Layout Properties dialog box will appear.

2. Click the Customize Toolbar button. The Customize Toolbar dialog box will appear.

3. In the Toolbar buttons list box, click the Go to Outbox button, then click Remove. The Go to Outbox button now appears back in the Available buttons list box on the left.

4. Click Close to return to the Window Layout Properties dialog box, then click OK to return to the Outlook Express window. The Go to Outbox button is no longer on the toolbar.

Changing the order of buttons
Is there a button you want in a certain place on the toolbar? Outlook Express lets you shift buttons to more convenient locations. Here, let me show you how to change the position of the Compose Message button.

1. In the Outlook Express window, click the View menu, then click Layout to open the Window Layout Properties dialog box.

2. Click the Customize Toolbar button to open the Customize Toolbar dialog box.

3. In the Toolbar buttons list box, click Compose Message to select it.

Move the button around using the Move UP or Move DOWN buttons.

4. Click the Move Down button, until the Compose Message title is below the Send and Receive title in the list box.

5. Click Close to return to the Window Layout Properties dialog box, then click OK to return to the Outlook Express window.

The Compose Message button is now positioned next to the Send and Receive button on the toolbar. Astromatix! Don't you love being in control?

Easily change the locations of your toolbar buttons.

During my stay on Earth, I've learned that humanoids have varied tastes. For instance, some people like to live in the quiet countryside, while others can't imagine living anywhere else except a bustling metropolis. No wonder Outlook Express gives you so many display options.

Setting up the preview pane
If waiting for things to happen isn't your idea of fun, consider using a preview pane to read your e-mail messages. This feature lets you read messages without opening them, which sure comes in handy if you receive lots of mail.

If the preview pane is not already activated in your Outlook Express, follow these steps to set it up:

1. In the Folder list, click Inbox. The Inbox folder will open.

Note: You can't configure the preview pane from the Outlook Express window. That's why you have to go to the Inbox.

2. Click the View menu, then click Layout. The Window Layout Properties dialog box will appear.

3. Under Preview Pane, click the check-box next to "Use preview pane", then click OK. The Outlook Express window is now split into two areas: the message list, and beneath it, the preview pane.

Automatically opening your Inbox
Some of you certainly do get excited when you see new mail in your Inbox. Outlook Express doesn't want to get in the way of your celebration. That's why it lets you automatically open your Inbox when you fire the program up.

1. Click the Tools menu, then click Options. The Options dialog box will open.

2. On the General tab, select the check-box next to "When starting, go directly to my 'Inbox' folder".

A check-mark in this box means faster access to your Inbox.

3. Click OK.

Now when you launch your Outlook Express program, you'll go straight to your Inbox. Nitrific!

Specifying a font for incoming messages
If your taste leans towards the far side of the galaxy, you probably favor a wild and fanciful font. By tweaking a few things in Outlook Express, you can use your favorite font to read incoming messages.

Here's how to set Times New Roman as the font for incoming messages:

1. Click the Tools menu, then click Options. The Options dialog box will open.

2. Click the Read tab. Under the Font Settings section, click the Fonts button. The Fonts dialog box will open.

3. In the Proportional font box, select Times New Roman.

4. Click OK to close the Fonts dialog box, then click OK to close the Options dialog box.

Astromatix! Outlook Express has more options than the latest ZiTy-3 rocketship. In addition to changing fonts and viewing areas, you can also personalize the columns in your message lists.

Sorting Messages in a Column
Outlook Express lets you arrange your message lists in any order you prefer. You can sort messages according to the date they were received, the subject titles, or the senders' names. Your lists can run from top to bottom or vice-versa. It's up to you.

The following steps will show you how to sort messages by the date received, in descending order.

1. In the Folder list, select the Inbox folder.

2. Click the View menu, then point to Sort By. A sub-menu will appear.

Look at all the options you have for sorting messages.

3. If Received has a black dot beside it, then it is already selected. If it doesn't, click it to select it. The messages are now sorted according to the date received.

In Outlook Express you can sort messages in either ascending or descending order. In ascending order, messages received most recently appear at the bottom of the message list:

In descending order, they show up at the top:

Most people like to sort their messages in ascending order. However, if being a part of the minority is more your style, here's how to sort messages in descending order:

1. Click the View menu, then point to Sort By.

2. In the submenu, click Ascending to deselect it. The check-mark beside Ascending disappears, and your messages are now listed in descending order.

Adding and deleting columns
Outlook Express lets you add columns to your message list. Let's say you want information about the message size (e.g. 2KB) to be displayed in the message list. Here's what you need to do:

1. Click View, then click Columns. The Columns dialog box will appear.

Use this command to access the Columns dialog box.

2. In the Available columns list box, click Size, then click the Add button.

Select the column name, then click the Add button.

3.Click OK. A size column now appears in your message list.

Are you a strong believer that less is more? If so, you'll probably want to vaporize any unnecessary columns from the message list. Try deleting the size column you just added.

1. Click View, then click Columns to open the Columns dialog box.

2. In the Displayed columns list box, click Size, then click the Remove button. The Size column is now back in the Available columns list box.

3. Click OK to close the Columns dialog box. The size column is removed from the message list.

Changing the order of columns
Should the subject of a message appear before the sender? If so, try shifting a couple of columns around.

Follow these steps to change the order of the From column and the Subject column:

1. Click the View menu, then click Columns. The Columns dialog box will open.

2. In the Displayed columns list box, click From, then click the Move Down button once.

Shift the From title to below the Subject title.

3. Click OK. The From column now appears to the right of the Subject column in the message pane.

Classroom Set-Ups

With so many options available for customizing the Outlook Express window, you might not know where to start. That's why we've put together this list of Outlook Express set-ups that work well with kids. Choose your favorite, or use them all--it's up to you.

Use It or Lose It
With younger students, the fewer buttons and items to click the better. A simple way to do this is by removing unnecessary buttons and toolbars. For example, if you know that your students won't be using the Address Book, then remove the Address Book button from the toolbar.

A few of the toolbars have the same function as other display items. Take for instance the Outlook Bar, the Folder List and the Folder Bar. All three give you access to folders, but each is presented in a different way. Thus, having all three items visible may be redundant.

Which of the three display items should you use to access folders? That comes down to personal preference. However, if your students are only using Outlook Express for basic sending, receiving and reading of mail, we recommend keeping the Folder Bar. This keeps the items that your students can click on to an absolute minimum. Yet, allows easy access to folders should you need them.

Ordered Buttons
You can also move the buttons on the toolbar so they appear in the same order that your students will use them. For basic e-mail, consider the following set-up for the toolbar:

Pretty Previews
Here's a "Cliff Claven" factoid. Wide bodies of text are more difficult to read than narrower ones. You can see for yourself by moving the Preview Pane in Outlook Express to different locations. If you position the Preview Pane below the messages, you will have a wide window with long lines of text running from left to right. If you position the Preview Pane beside the messages, you will have a narrower window with shorter lines of text from left to right.

Font size also contributes to legibility in the Preview Pane. The larger the font, the wider you should make the Preview Pane. You can do this by simply clicking and dragging the gray divider between the message area and the Preview Pane. See if you can adjust the Preview Pane so that there are, on average, 8 to 11 words on one line of text. This length is considered optimal for reading.

Clean Columns
More food for thought. The more columns you have for your message list, the more likely that you'll be scrolling from left to right. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but remember--as your message list grows you will also be scrolling from top to bottom. A viewing area that moves in four different directions is always more confusing than an area that only moves in two.

What's our point? Remove any columns that you don't use. For most classrooms, the From column, Subject column and Received column provide enough information for basic e-mail.

Don't keep any columns that you don't use.