August 1, 2002

Using Public Folders in Outlook

By Teresa Lightle- Computer Training Coordinator

The Heat is on!

It's time for some Spring Cleaning, well O.K., at least Summer cleaning. It's time to reorganize and clean out those old files you have been storing forever. Clearing out unnecessary and old files can actually make your computer run quicker and more efficiently. Renaming files and creating folders and subfolders in which they are stored can make accessing files quicker. If you are one of those "old schoolers" who just can't bring yourself to throw anything away, create a copy on a CD or to a floppy disk and store it somewhere safe and cool, - label it so if you really need to you can access it.

Take the time to eliminate duplicate files and remove old forms and versions of outdated documents. Most BCOE forms are now available online. Business and Personnel forms such as mileage and reimbursement forms can be accessed via the BCOE Administrative Services web page. This means you do not have to keep a copy in your folder.

Outlook Public Folders

Staff who create documents that will be used by others might consider creating forms and or documents and posting them to the Public Folders In Outlook. By utilizing the public folders, anyone who is given permission can post an item to the folder for others to read. An example is the weekly or monthly school menu or bulletin. Rather than making numerable copies of these items, once the document is created it is posted in a Public Folder (This structure must be set up by your IT person). The teacher or staff member can access the document, read it or print it. This option also allows staff to view past copies of documents with ease and makes duplicate printing of certain documents unnecessary.

The Public Folders are located using your folders list option in the Outlook View Menu or by clicking the button on the toolbar. Remember each time the + is visible it indicates their are one or more sub folders available.  As you will see the folders can go down several levels and can take few steps to access. Once you find you are accessing a certain folder quite frequently you can easily add the folder to your favorites.  Some Personnel forms and files are located in public folders that are not available on the internet.

Adding a Public Folder to your Favorites

To add a folder your Public Folders "Favorites" select the folder you want, click on it, then drag and drop the folder over the Favorites folder. This will add the folder to Favorites.

To access using your Favorites, click on the Favorites folder and select the folder you wish to access.

Note: This does not relocate the folder, it simply creates a shortcut for you to use on your account.

New technologies:

Butte County Office of Education is always trying to find new ways of distributing training in a variety of ways. Here is a short video produced to show how to add the "Critters" folder from BCOE to your Public Folders favorites. Let me know what you think. You must have a media player on your computer such as Real Player or Quick Time. 

Click the button below to view a brief video on how to add a folder to your Favorites.

Adding a Public Folder to Favorites

 

The E-Teacher will return August 15th

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For Questions or Comments about this newsletter please contact: tlightle@bcoe.org

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