bookmark_bordermake sense of “flags” in your mail

Something about the mail template I don’t like: how colors are used.

they can be used to colorize mails from certain senders, I don’t see the point of it, i have the by Person view for that or I could use a rule to move emails from a particular group to a folder.

I would like to use colors for my “flagged” mails. Now you can, well you always could, maybe you simply didn’t know how. Let me explain it to you.

Create a form in a database. Add 3 color fields to it like this:

add a button with this formula:

Dim ws As New notesuiworkspace
Dim session As New notessession
Dim db As notesdatabase
Dim docProfile As notesdocument, docCurrent As notesdocument
Dim strformula As String
Set db = session.currentdatabase
Set docProfile = db.getprofiledocument( “colorprofile” )
Set docCurrent = ws.currentdocument.document
strFormula = {S_1B :=  “} + docCurrent.GetItemValue(“High”)(0) + {“; S_1F :=  “00000000”; S_2B :=  “} + docCurrent.GetItemValue(“Normal”)(0) + {“; S_2F :=  “00000000”; } _
+ {S_3B :=  “} + docCurrent.GetItemValue(“Low”)(0) + {“; S_3F :=  “00000000”; } _
+{ color1 :=  S_1B   :   S_1F ; color2 :=  S_2B  : S_2F; color3 := S_3B  : S_3F; } _
+{ colorDefault := “FFFFFFFF” : “00000000”; } _
+ { @if( “1” = FollowUpStatus ; color1; “2” = FollowUpStatus ; color2; “3”  = FollowUpStatus ; color3; “” ) }
Call docProfile.replaceitemvalue( “$Sender1”, strFormula )
Call docProfile.save( True, True )
Print “Chosen colors for flags have been set”

Send the form to yourself (maybe with a button and a formula like this):

Dim ws As New notesuiworkspace
Dim session As New notessession
Dim db As notesdatabase
Dim docCurrent As notesdocument

Set db = session.currentdatabase
Set docCurrent = ws.currentdocument.document
Call docCurrent.replaceitemvalue(“Subject”, “Use colors for flagged mails” )
Call docCurrent.ReplaceItemValue(“Form”, “frmMailColors” )
Call docCurrent.Send( True )

I guess the rest you should figure out yourself how it works. I posted this tip on our intranet yesterday and got immediately tremendous feedback. Well I didn’t go into details, I just let our users know their mail could look like this: (notice the little flag icons and how the whole mail changed it’s color! Now the “flags” for mails finally make sense!)

bookmark_borderquindip: prevent SameTime windows popping to the front

do you use SameTime? we use it a lot!
are you annoyed when someone sends you a message and the window pops to the front while you are typing something somewhere? I am!

here is the solution:

the setting “Bring chat window to front” is VERY hidden! You have to select the one-on-one chat notification to actually see that property!

bookmark_borderever wondered how to toggle single-sign on feature?

If you did install the single-sign-on feature with Lotus Notes and you got it working, fine.

But what if for some reason you want to disable this feature?

And you find unluckily it’s grayed out and thus cannot be disabled?

help is around the corner…

run Notes as “Administrator”

and you happily find this feature “active” (ie. not grayed out anymore), thus you can now disable it

bookmark_borderdid you know about all those “undocumented” features LN offers?

following this link you will find a lot of really cool stuff which is hidden underneath, ie. undocumented

http://www.devinolson.net/devin/SpankysPlace.nsf/d6plinks/DOLN-8G4NBJ

IBM: please make those features “documented”!

do you personally use “undocumented” stuff in the LN world? did you ever face challenges?

bookmark_borderdo you ever read “release notes”?

it’s been a while since my last post here.

i usually don’t really read release notes, do you?

but did you know those cool features about the new table edititing possibilities in the LN8.5 client?

  • Drag column or row margins to resize
  • Drag the margins of the entire table to resize it
  • Drag the contents from one cell to another
  • Set the table width when creating a fixed width table
  • Easily insert a new row or column by holding down the Shift key and double-clicking the common border

or these ones:

  • a new Folder column in the mail All Documents view displays any mail folders that a document is in
  • From any mail view, right-click on the Trash folder and select Empty Trash.
  •  Back by popular demand, you can use red text to indicate unread documents. Click File > Preferences, and then click the Fonts and Colors preference. For the field Unread mail indication, select Plain red text. Also note that this preference provides you with an easy way to enlarge the text in the data areas of Notes, such as the Inbox and messages.
  • To select an alternate email address, when you begin typing a name, select Other email Addresses from the menu that appears. The more frequently used addresses display at the top of the list.
looking forward to more exciting features

bookmark_borderTip for Mail User

Does it appear to you that you would like to see all mail by person? well.. that’s easy.. just open the view all mail by person

Have you ever heard about the “Collaboration History”?

This feature is WAY cool… (I 100% doubt that the big MS brother can do it 😉

See how it works:
Just right click on a mail in your mail box. select the name of the sender (or recipient, in case you sent that mail) and then select “Collaboration History”

That also works within open mails and any other place where a names field is online aware (sometimes, as in open mails, you will have to select a name, if several names are in the field, just left click the name first, then right click it)
Sidenote for developers: How to make a field online aware
I once “landed” in another database! so I will try to figure out “how” this actually works (and hopefully) and how it can be “controlled” in its behaviour
But wait.. I got one more cool thing about this!!! (nope.. my name is not Steve 😉
Just look at this screenshot and get the idea about it:

I’m loving it

bookmark_borderannoyed of the Sidebar taking too much space?

Are you annoyed with the Sidebar taking too much space?

Solution:
use keyboard shortcuts to open/close:
to open use <ctrl><4>
to close use <ctrl><0>

you can use <ctrl><F7> for a menu with open panels:

You can then use the keyboard to select a panel (let’s say Sametime), you then use some <tab> keys to navigate to the searchfield and you can easily find your desired chat partner without the need to use the mouse

bookmark_borderfind/use applications most easily in the Lotus Notes client

Do you hate the “Workspace” in Lotus Notes?
Are you lost finding your applications?

Solution:
1. use bookmarks and folders and give the folders intelligent names
2. use the open button (<alt gr><b> or <ctrl><alt><b>, <alt gr> = the righthand-side <alt>)

I have a project called AWC. typing in awc will find too many items. but using .AWC as a folder (DOT AWC) I can enter .awc and it lists only that folder

In fact you can use any character as prefix for your foldernames. I found the “.” to be easy to access, easier than @ or # or +

bookmark_borderHow to install additional language dictionaries in Lotes Notes 8.5.2

Do you miss additional language dictionaries to spell check your texts in Lotus Notes 8.5.2?
Here is the solution:

Steps:

1. download this Zip File (Notes_XTAFDictionaries_852_WinLnx_Ml.zip)

2. extract the updateSite for the dictionary you need (I use C:temp)
3. extract the extracted updateSite (I use in this example: C:temp)



4. Ensure in the Notes client that you can use Widgets: FilePreferencesWidgets

5. select ViewRight Sidebar PanelsMy Widgets
6. select ViewRight SidebarOpen (or use <ctrl><4>)
7. select the right hand side MenuConfigure a Widget from…Features and Plugins on an Update Site



8. enter file:/c:/TEMP/site.xml
9. click load and select the displayed feature then click Next > and Finish
10. Restart your Notes client and select the new dictionaries to be used for spell checking