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custom reply form outlook 2000/exch 5.5

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by jenit

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Help! I need to create a custom reply form that will reply to the sender and have a certain text in the message (like an auto-reply except the message will need to be read first & manually determined which reply response they will receive). I have been able to create the custom message complete with signature and who gets responses...my problem is that I cannot get my message to fill in the reply address. I created this message by clicking on a reply form and then going to design the form. Then I published the form in the org. library. Did I go about the process wrong or how can I get the reply addres to fill in? After that then I want to be able to create a button on the tool bar for each response type. When you are on the msg and click the button, it will lauch the custom reply and address the custom message to reply to the sender.

15 replies

by jenit

I have been to this site and have gotten information, but I haven't been able to put it all together. I am new to the concepts of outlook programming, my only past experience with VB has been editing macros in word or excel. Thanks for your effort

by maxwell edison

If I understand you correctly, you want to decide "on-the-fly" which one of your saved message to reply with.

A possibility is to use stored Boilerplate Responses (using Word's autotext feature).

Outlook can use Microsoft Word's AutoText feature to insert the boilerplate with minimal effort. First make sure Outlook is set to use Word. Choose Tools | Options, then Mail Format, and make sure there's a check in the Use Microsoft Word to Edit E-Mail Messages check box. Then you'll be able to create or insert an AutoText entry whenever editing messages.

To create an entry, type the text in the message and select it. Choose Insert | AutoText | New, enter an abbreviation for the entry, and choose OK. When you close Outlook or Word, you may get a message that you made changes to Word's global template and be asked whether to save them. Answer yes.

To insert an AutoText item you've created, either type the abbreviation and press F3, or choose Insert | AutoText. Then find and selectthe abbreviation in the list of entries, and choose Insert.

I saw this procedure at the following PC Magazine Web site:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,124551,00.asp

(REMOVE SPACES from the pasted URL.)

While you're there, click on the "next" and "back" buttons for further (unrelated) tips.

These sites may also be helpful:

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=4857

You can create a distribution list on the fly with any Contacts folder, either publicor in your mailbox. Select the contacts you want to receive your message, and then choose Contact, New Message to Contact:

http://www.e-magazineonline.com/QUI/QUI011804.htm

http://www.nereosoft.com/techtips/prowrite/05distributionlist.htm

http://www.slipstick.com/rules/autoreply.htm

(REMOVE SPACES from the pasted URLs.)

Good luck,

Maxwell

by jenit

Thanks Maxwell, This is a workable alternative, but I would prefer to do this with a custom reply as launching word to send messages is not perferrable. I am running a citrix environment and I try to keep program overhead to a minimum. I would give you partial points if I could, but I can't. That for the last resort.

by dklippert

This will give you instructions and all the code you'll need. Outlook macros are handled just like Excel and Word. You can use Alt+F11 to bring up the VB Editor, or choose Tools>Macros and then type in a couple of letters in the name box, choose Create and paste the code in.

www.slipstick.com/dev/code/getsenderaddy.htm

by jenit

Thanks I have this and was able to get this done, but it does not seem to be doing anything. I have created my form and added the macro to it. I then published the form in the org forms lib. Now to try and use the form. I have tried by just having the message I want to reply to highlighted in my outlook then choosing my custom form. The form text appears, but no address fills in the to area. I have also tried to open the mail and then choose the custom form. Again no address appears in the to area. I think I am very close here and probably just missing one small step, but I don't know what it is just yet. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them. Thanks for working this with me. Jen

by maxwell edison

It's understandable that you may not want to (or be able to) use Word as part of the solution. I looked again at the following option, and it appears it would work.

You can create a distribution list on the fly with any Contacts folder, either public or in your mailbox. Select the contacts you want to receive your message, and then choose Contact, New Message to Contact:

http://www.e-magazineonline.com/QUI/QUI011804.htm

http://www.nereosoft.com/techtips/prowrite/05distributio nlist.htm

http://www.slipstick.com/rules/autoreply.htm

The preceding used in conjunction with using different Outlook templates as described in the following article:

http://www.helpdesk.cofc.edu/tips/html/AutomaticallySendCustomReply2000.htmlRemove any spaces that may have snuck into the pasted URLs.

by jenit

I also see that this would work, but as I said before, I only want to use this as a last resort. Word as the editor will add overhead to my citrix server and it will also make it difficult for some people to get the message formatted correctly. I do not want to make these people any part of a contact or distribution list, I simply want to reply to their inquiry with one of 5 standard responses easily. I will keep plugging away on this for a little while longer before I throw in the towel andgo this route.

by jenit

DKlippert,
I think I see the error of my ways with the macro. By launching the form, then going to macros and run I attempt to run it. However...I am getting the following error. "The macros in this project are disabled. Please refer to on-linehelp or documentation of the host application to determine how to enable macros. I cannot find any area in outlook that determine the enabling of outlook. Any more ideas???
JenIT

by acattr

GFI's Mail Essentials does custom autoreplies. You can create rules to do custom autoreplies based on recipients address and subject fields combinations. Autoreplies can contain auto-generated tracking numbers, attached files, and custom subject and body text. Both the reply and body can also use email variables like etc..

www.gfi.com

I hope this helps you

by jenit

Thanks but I want to this with the software I currently own. Purchasing additional software is not an option for our small business.

by maxwell edison

"The Macros in this project are disabled":

You get this message because Outlook has been set to High security, and it will automatically disable these macros. If you change the Outlook Macro security level to Medium, Outlook will ask if you want to enable macros instead of automatically turning them off.

Go to Tools/Macros/Security.

There are three choices.

High means no macros run unless digitally signed and the signer is in the Trusted Sources. This will disable the use of the button unless a digital signature is added to the macro and the signer is a trusted source.

Medium means the macro will run (the button will work), but user will get prompted at every startup of Outlook on whether to Enable Macros or not. The user will have to choose Enable Macros to allow the button to work.

Do not use the Low setting as the dangers of unknown macros are well known.

by lilyli

about answer 6:

Hello Maxwell, I changed the security, but it did not work. How can I get the warning message about disable micro/enabled micro?

Thanks.

by bsassone

After you change your security settings, you have to quit and restart Outlook. You may have to have the code saved first to get the prompt on whether to enable or not.

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