If you've been paying attention, you already know how to send a message to several people using the carbon copy function. Outlook Express makes it even easier to send a message to a bunch of people by letting you create a contact group. You may, for instance, want to create a contact group that includes the e-mail addresses of everyone in your local Save the Trees club. When it comes time to send membership renewals or newsletters, don't bother typing a long list of e-mail addresses. Simply enter the name of the contact group and Outlook Express will handle the rest. Using contact groups I've recently created a contact group called Lonely Aliens. It contains the e-mail addresses of all the solitary green creatures in the galaxy. When I want to tell everyone about my latest adventures on Earth, I simply type the group name into the To: box, and my message will be sent to all members of the contact group. Astromatix! Creating a contact group I know you're wondering how I created this time-saving gem. No problem, friend. I'll let you in on the secret. You can create your own contact group by: 1. On the Address Book toolbar, click the New Group button. The Properties dialog box will appear. 2. In the Group Name box, type a name for the group. Then, click the Select Members button. The Select Members dialog box will open. 3. In the Select Members dialog box, type in the names of the members or select them from the list, then click the Select button. The names of the selected members will appear in the Members list on the right. 4. Click OK to close the Select Members dialog box, then click OK to close the Group Properties dialog box. The contact group is now part of the Address Book list. Adding addresses to a contact group Does someone want to join your tree-hugging team? No problem. After you've created a contact group, you can add new addresses anytime. To add contacts that are already in your Address Book: 1. Open the Address Book. 2. In the Address Book list, double-click the contact group you want to add names to. The Group Properties dialog box will open. 3. Click the Select Members button to open the Select Members dialog box. 4. In the contact list, click the name you want to add, then click the Select button. 5. Click OK to close the Select Members dialog box, then click OK to close the Group Properties dialog box. The contact is now added to the group. To add contacts that aren't in your Address Book: 1. In the Address Book list, double-click the contact group you want to add a name to. 2. In the Group Properties dialog box, click the New Contact button. The Properties dialog box will open. 3. Enter the new contact information, then click OK. The Properties dialog box will close. 4. Click OK to close the Group Properties dialog box. Deleting addresses from a contact group Uh, oh. Did certain members of the Save the Trees club forget to pay their annual dues? Don't hold a grudge. Just photon-ZAP their names from your contact group. To delete names from a contact group: 1. In the Address Book list, double-click the contact group you want to delete names from. A Group Properties dialog box will open. 2. In the contact list, click the name you want to remove, then click the Remove button. The name is removed from the contact group. 3. Click OK to close the Group Properties dialog box.