Managing Outlook Messages

SharePoint 2007 - Better For Managing Outlook Messages?

Having heard that SharePoint 2007 provides some significant new functionality in the area of document management, many organizations are asking whether they can use SharePoint 2007 to manage their Microsoft Outlook messages. Do the new document management features of SharePoint 2007 help with managing Outlook messages? Is the integration between Outlook and SharePoint 2007 better than with previous versions of SharePoint? Can SharePoint 2007 be the email message repository for my organization? The short answer is that SharePoint 2007 is definitely better for managing Outlook messages than previous versions of SharePoint. This article describes how the out-of-the-box features of SharePoint 2007 can be used with Outlook messages and discusses how by using a smart SharePoint add-on called WISDOM Message in conjunction with SharePoint 2007 you can create really great email message management solutions.

Content Types and Meta-Data Columns

Content Types are a key new document management feature in SharePoint 2007. A Content Type is effectively a collection of meta-data columns, which can be defined at the Site Collection level and then used in multiple document libraries. This approach allows much tighter control over the meta-data that is captured and stored for documents as they are saved to SharePoint. At the same time it reduces the maintenance effort that was associated with having meta-data columns defined separately for each Site within previous versions of SharePoint. The advantages of better meta-data are obvious when you need to filter and search for particular files in the SharePoint repository. A meta-data column such as ‘Client Name' makes it possible to search across a SharePoint environment for all documents and messages that relate to a particular Client.

Email-Enabling Your Document Libraries

SharePoint 2007 allows you to create an email address for each document library. You can then include that address in the ‘To', ‘CC' or ‘BCC' of an Outlook message, and have that message sent directly to the document library where it will be stored.

The problem with this approach is that SharePoint does not prompt for any meta-data columns that might be present in the document library. This in turn means that messages stored into SharePoint in this way will not be found if you search your SharePoint repository on the basis of a meta-data column - e.g. to find all documents related to a particular Client. A further problem is that any attachments are saved separately from the body of the message, which is saved in an .EML file whose name may not be unique.

Uploading Messages via Your Web Browser

If you browse to a SharePoint 2007 document library with Internet Explorer you can upload an email message to the library and SharePoint will prompt you for values of any meta-data columns that are present in that library. That makes for a better result when you are searching, but the key problem is that you first have to save your email message from Outlook to a file - e.g. on your Desktop or in your My Documents folder. If your message has attachments then you must remember to save the message in .MSG format (so that attachments are included with the body of the message) or save and upload those attachments separately.

Kibbn
We really liked this sweet and whimsical newsletter for Kibbn as designed by J3 Productions; especially the hand-drawn touch of the header and how that design element is brought through to the footer, tying it all together. The little clear tape headers in the left-hand column help bring the whimsy into the body of the message as well. What’s also great is that the three articles don’t overstay their welcome, they are just long enough to give their readers the latest scoop.
How to add a newsletter signup form to your Facebook fan page
It has always been easy to put a signup form onto a standard web page, just by copying and pasting the form code from your account. Now it is almost as easy to add the same signup form to your Facebook fan page, and let your Facebook friends join your list. Our thanks go to the Return on Subscriber blog for providing the general instructions. Here's what you'll need: The Static FBML application The signup form for the list you want people to join. See our help page for where to get it Add the Static FBML application to your page Go to the Static FBML application and choose to add it. It will ask you which page you want to add it to: Basically it is just a container you can add your own HTML into. Edit the FBML application and rename it Click on 'edit page' from your pages profile, and find the FBML box. Click the pencil edit icon in the header. Now you can paste in your form code, and add any introductory information, images or other design touches to your form. Add the signup form as a tab on your page To make it easier for your fans to find the form, you can add it as a navigation tab. Just click the "+" icon in the top navigation list, and select your new form from the list. Now it is a standalone tab, and people can signup at any time. To see it in action, visit the Campaign Monitor fan page. When we have our new shirts we'll give a few away to our Facebook fans too, so it could pay off to add us. We're not too proud for blatant bribery!
Easily email your contacts with TactileCRM integration
The fine folks at Tactile CRM have just announced a fantastic new integration into Campaign Monitor. Tactile CRM is slick web-based contact and sales management system that lets you easily share your sales, contacts and notes within your organization. One of our biggest problems with CRM integration to date is that just because someone is in your contacts, doesn't mean they've given you permission to send them commercial email. Simply dumping all your contacts into a Campaign Monitor list and sending away can land you into all sorts of permission problems (we've seen this happen on many occasions). The awesome thing about Tactile CRM's approach is that you can just sync subscribers that have been tagged in a certain way. For example, you might have a tag called "newsletter", and only sync those contacts that have this tag present to ensure you're only ever sending to those contacts that have specifically opted in. Here's a quick demo video the Tactile CRM crew put together so you can see it in action, and you can read more about the integration on their blog. Right now, they are looking for feedback and suggestions on any improvements customers might like to see, so head on over to their feedback form if you have any ideas on what might make this integration even better.
Pink Sherbet
Look look look at this gorgeous design from Thom Shannon at Glow New Media. The stunning attention to detail is evident from head to toe in this newsletter, from the lovely patterned background, which is oh-so-hard to pull off, to the little ribbon touches, something that is also an integral part of the product being featured. Beyond the lovely graphic elements and colors, the layout facilitates an easy reading flow, and the content is well organized. An excellent job from start to finish.
Typetec
Wow! It's not that often that you see a campaign using this much HTML text so effectively! Where many designers would have opted to use images, Ingage has created this layout for Typetec using text for almost every word in the entire email. Inboxes must have loved when this campaign arrived - the design is light and fast-loading, and no key communication is lost if images do not load. The only downside to the design is that that there is an image as the call-to-action in the bottom right corner, however if this doesn't load, the phone number to the left is still visible.
How Performative Web uses our API to build and send dynamic emails
Hot on the heels of our latest API updates released yesterday, I figured now is a good a time as any to highlight some of the interesting ways customers are using the API for their own benefit. Performative Web is a powerful tool built for design agencies who want to offer dynamic web sites (such as a CMS, blog or web app) without the need for an in-house development team. The Performative Web team recently integrated Campaign Monitor into their suite allowing their customers to quickly build newsletters using content from their web site and automatically deliver it to their subscribers via Campaign Monitor. By combining a simple editor with the power of the Django templating system (the framework their system is built on), users can create beautiful emails that combine their own content with dynamic content from the site. For example, recently added products or the last 3 stories from their blog. In effect, the Performative Web team have built their own version of our editor to make it easy for their clients to build emails based on existing content in a couple of clicks. They even complete the integration by including basic campaign reporting right in the Performative Web interface such as the number of opens and a list of everyone who bounced. If you're interested in reading more about this integration, Ben Eliott from the Performative Web team has put together a much more detailed post on their blog. If you're doing anything interesting with the Campaign Monitor API and would like use to share your hard work here, we'd love to hear from you.
BKWLD
This is an awesome looking newsletter designed in-house by the guys at BKWLD. We’re really digging the layout – their featured work is displayed prominently and takes the full width of the newsletter, while their other recent work is displayed in a 2 column layout. It’s a really well executed design that lets the content speak for itself. Another nice touch is that they’ve included a table of contents at the top of the newsletter so that recipients can see what the email is about even from the preview pane.
Winning slogans from our t-shirt competition
Votes have been cast and tallied in our recent t-shirt slogan competition, and we have your winning favourites. Over 1,000 votes were cast, and in the end the results were very tight. We'll be taking the top 3 ideas, and turning them into t-shirts that are actually worth wearing. If you've seen our existing shirts you know we aren't going to cover them in Campaign Monitor branding. Thanks so much to everyone who voted, and double thanks to those who made suggestions, funny, quirky, nerdy and downright odd as they were. Our winning authors were: Please unsubscribe me from this conversation — This was actually my entry, but I promise there was no vote fixing! You are reading the text only version of this t-shirt — by Doug Neiner G'day [firstname,fallback=mate] — by Ricky Cox We'll be sending Doug a Flip Mino HD video camera, copies of each shirt when printed and also setting him up with a nice chunk of Campaign Monitor email credits too. Ricky will be receiving one of each shirt too, as well as his choice of awesome Blik decals and some Campaign Monitor credits. As for me, I'll be receiving a pat on the back and a temporary increase in social standing. I'll also award myself some bonus ranking points in our internal ping pong tracking application. Watch out on the blog for the shirt designs over the next couple of weeks. Keep in mind we won't be selling these ones, only giving them away to people we spot sending great campaigns, helping out in the forums or otherwise grabbing our attention.

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