This page was originally published in Dec. 04 as "part one" of a series of articles to help local dentists become more adept at managing emails, it can be applied to anyone. It's simply just not only for dentists.

E-mail for Dummies

AOL users click here

I have been asked, by Dr. Bob Leonetti, the editor of our local dental association's newsletter, to help him overcome some of the objections he's heard from some of the less technologically-inclined members about the on-line newsletter and discussion group.

Having been involved on the Internet since its naissance, and having helped numerous local and national dentists become more adept at managing web-related adventures, my initial mission is to help you manage your email more efficiently. I can help those of you who use Microsoft Outlook Express. My dental assistant, Amy Katz, tells me that AOL Communicator, which is a free download, will allow you to do very similar things.

Many of you have told us that you get enough email, and you cannot handle any more. There are several issues at play here. Certainly junk mail (spam) is an issue for everyone. For the past several months I have been using a program called "Qurb" which looks for emails from senders not already in your address book, and gives you the option of reading them, or deleting them (download from www.qurb.com). You still have to clear your Qurb folder periodically, but the time savings in not having to read through all those fake solicitations is tremendous. When you want to see what's in an email, simply put your cursor on the box next to the sender's name, and you get a blurb about the email. Put an X in the box if you want to read it, otherwise, when you close the Qurb folder, it is automatically marked as read and deleted.

There are many on-line dental discussion groups that have helped raise the level of many dentists. Questions about cases, practice management issues, continuing education, technology, laboratories and materials are discussed on a daily basis. Some popular groups include the Internet Dental Federation, Dental Town, Genr8TNxt, and elitedocs, have been tremendous adjuncts to our knowledge base. The mail which comes in from them can be daunting. There are some days when my GenX mails total over 100. Similar interest groups exist for just about anything you could think of. It's not real cumbersome to deal with.

However, if you set Outlook up to sort all your incoming mail, you can have several mail folders to which an incoming piece of mail can be moved to without you ever having to physically touch it. If there is someone whose opinions you'd rather not have to read, you can automatically have his or her mail deleted. If there is someone whose mail you don't want to miss, you can have his or her mail highlighted. If there is a certain conversation that doesn't interest you can blot it out without a trace of ink on your screen. The secret lies in the task bar at the top of the screen.

Open Outlook Express, and look at the Tools drop down menu at the top of the screen, below the blue top border of the screen.

Click on message rules, and then on mail, and then on new

You then have the option of telling your computer what you actions you want to take to specific types of emails. The screen will then state, Select your Conditions and Actions first, and then specify the values in the Description:

1. Select the Conditions for your rule:
   

   Where the From line contains people Where the Subject line contains specific words Where the message body contains specific words Where the to line contains specific words Where the CC line contains people Where the To or CC line contains people Where the message is marked as priority Where the message is from the specified account Where the message is of a size greater than ___ Where the message is secure For all messages

   
   
2. Select Actions for your rule:
   

   Move it to the specified folder Copy it to the specified folder Delete it Forward it to people Highlight it with Color Flag it Mark it as read Mark the message as marked or ignored Stop processing more rules Do not download it from the server Delete it from the server

3. Rule description - This is a summary of the rule you've written which Outlook posts automatically
4. Name of rule - You have the option of giving a rule a name.

So what I do, with all GenX mail that comes to me, I move it to my GenX folder as soon as it hits my computer. It is never in my inbox. Whenever I have time to go through my GenX mail, I do so. It does not jam up or confuse my inbox.

One thing you will need to know is how to set up a new folder in your Outlook files.

Here's how:

1. Left click on the word inbox
   
   


2. A directory tree drops down
   
   
   
   
3. Right click on the word inbox and you have the option of creating a new file folder
   
   
   
   
4. Simply name the folder
   
   
   

As you can see, if you look at the pictures on the website, my inbox has about 200 folders in it. Not only can you save great jokes you've heard, but you can create a folder for dental information or any other category you wish. It's just like a filing cabinet drawer, with lots of files in it! Need more help? Just hit F1, or Alt H. They open up the help window. If sufficient interest is shown, I can set-up a training course for you.

Next month: Using an email message which you are viewing to make things more organized. If there are other questions you'd like to see answered, contact me at drmarkus@cent4dent.com