Overview

Filing Mail is a Big Topic

Lessons 5 and 8 of the book are devoted to filing mail. This is a big topic, with lots of potential approaches. Most people who file use multiple file folders. I do not like the multi-folder approach (and say why on the last tab of this page). Instead I recommend a different approach of tagging mail with categories or topics. In the book, and in my seminars, I ask people to just try out this new prescription and see if it works. If not, feel free to stay with your older multi-folder methods.

Outlook Categories vs. ClearContext Topics vs. Both

ClearContext IMS ships with a Topic approach to tagging mail using the proprietary ClearContext Topics field. This is similar but different from using Outlook Categories. The next tab covers the pros and cons of these two tagging approaches. Using both together (in a mirrored fashion) is discussed in tab 4.

If you do decide to use ClearContext Topics

If you do decide to use ClearContext Topics there are a large number of useful tools available in this software. They are discussed in the third tab.

How to Reinstate the File Msg. Button

The topics features of ClearContext can be used in two ways. One is to just tag mail (and perhaps manually move it all into one folder, as in Lesson 5 of the book). The other is to move tagged mail into individual folders with the same topic name. This latter is inconsistent with my core MYN teachings, and so I have removed the button that enables it from the main toolbar. If however you are a devoted multi-folder-filer, you will want that command back, so see this page/tab to learn how. How to file that way is described next.

Filing with ClearContext

Filing Using the ClearContext File Msg Button

Every time you create a new topic name, a corresponding folder is created in your designated ClearContext Topics folders location (which is under the Inbox by default, but I suggest you change it as described here). If all you do is tag mail, then these folders remain empty, and you can manually drag all mail into the Processed Mail folder, as encourage in Lesson 5 of the book. If however you want to move mail into these multiple topic-named folders, then use the File Msg button (or the File Thread, or File Topic buttons). What that does is move all the selected mail out of the Inbox, and distribute it to the corresponding topic folders. This nicely separates the tagging step from the moving step, which shows great advantages when you automate mail tagging. See the Topic Features tab for more on that.

Filing by Dragging into Topic Folders

Of course, you do not need to use the ClearContext File Msg button. You can drag your mail directly into the ClearContext Topic folders. When you do this, if the corresponding topic is not already assigned to the e-mail, ClearContext IMS will ask you if you would like to assign the corresponding topic. If you answer Yes, then the Topic field will also get populated with the Topic name. Having a topic tag applied like this is useful to support many other ClearContext IMS features.

 

 

Categories vs. Topics

The ClearContext IMS Topic field acts very similar to the Outlook Category field and in most cases can be used in place of Outlook Categories in when tagging mail in the MYN system. But they are not the same. There are advantages and disadvantages of using ClearContext IMS Topics instead of Outlook Categories, and whether you use them or not has no impact on the other beneficial aspects of the software. Here are the pros and cons.

Advantages of Using ClearContext IMS Topics with MYN Over Outlook Categories

• Easy to use tools are added by ClearContext IMS to Outlook to assign Topics to e-mails and tasks. Many are automated. Most are easier to use than corresponding Category assignment tools. This is by far the primary advantage to most users.
• Topics automatically assign to e-mail in the same conversation or thread. That means much of your mail will be already assigned for you.
• You can create nested (hierarchical) topics; you cannot do that with Outlook Categories.
• Topics take maximum advantage of the relationship capabilities of ClearContext IMS, where all items related to each other can be identified using the Related View or Dashboard. This is a bit more subtle but can be very powerful once you start using it.
• Topics do not import into other users' Outlook messages like Categories can. Once you assign a category in Outlook to an e-mail, there are cases where other users who have category views active will see your categories in their Inbox. Outlook has workarounds, but the ClearContext IMS Topics approach nicely avoids this. Note that Exchange Server 2007 filters out incoming and outgoing categories, so this is not a problem if your organization uses Exchange Server 2007.
• There is no limit to the number of rules you can create to automatically assign ClearContext IMS Topics. In Outlook run on Exchange Server, if you create rules to auto-assign categories, a rule limit is imposed by the server and it is easy to reach that limit if you have a large number of categories.
• You can build the same Show in Group views for ClearContext IMS as the ones built above for Outlook Categories. And the TWC-enabled version of ClearContext IMS available on my website comes with those views already built.

Disadvantages of Using ClearContext IMS Topics with MYN Instead of Outlook Categories

• With Categories you can assign multiple Categories to one message. With ClearContext IMS Topics you can only assign one. Many users will miss this capability dearly and in my mind it is the main reason to stick with Outlook Categories.
• When you use topics in ClearContext IMS, the software urges you to file topic-assigned mail into separate file folders; in my opinion individual topic folders have many disadvantages as described earlier in this lesson. Note, though, you can choose not to actually move the messages when you assign topics; you just need to be mindful of that. And, of course, if you are a hybrid MYN user and still enjoy multifolder-based filing, then this is not a disadvantage at all.
• If you use a PDA or Smartphone or other device that synchronizes with Outlook and takes advantage of Outlook Categories, ClearContext IMS Topics will not be supported directly. This is offset by the following, however: for every topic ClearContext IMS creates, it can create a corresponding Outlook Category, and it can assign that category when the topic is assigned.

So which should you use for MYN filing, Topics or Categories? You can use either with MYN depending upon how you feel about the advantages and disadvantages described above.

 

Topics Features 

Again, go to the ClearContext User Guide section on topics for full coverage of all topic features mentioned below.

Topic Tagging Tools

If you do decide to use ClearContext topics as you tagging tool, you can now enjoy many great and automatic ways to tag mail. Once tagged in these convenient ways, you can drag all the tagged mail into the Processed Mail folder, as described in the book. Here are some tools to assign topics.

Topic Button and Drop Down

These two adjacent tools on the ClearContext toolbars are the primary ways to assign a ClearContext Topic to an e-mail, for later filing. You can either click the drop down for a quick set (and even type a new topic name into it), or click the Topics button for a more thorough user interface. I find this method of choosing tags generally easier than the Outlook method of choosing Categories, especially in Pre-2007 Outlook. These offer great time savings particularly from within an open mail message.

AutoAssign

This is a way to automatically assign ClearContext Topics to incoming mail, either based on sender, the To: field, keywords in the subject, or keywords in the body text. A similar capability exists for Categories using Outlook Rules, however if you work in an Exchange environment, you may quickly max out a rule limit. No such limit exists here.

Activate this by clicking the AutoAssign button within a mail item, or by using the ClearContext menu item with the same name.

Topic Assigning Outgoing Mail

It is difficult in Outlook to assign an Outlook Category to a mail you have created and are sending; the command is buried rather deeply. The command for setting ClearContext topics is right at the top of the e-mail, and so much easier. See this link for more information. And you can configure ClearContext such that you are prompted to select a topic every time you send an e-mail.

Conversation Tagging

Another timesaver with topics is when you first move a message into a Topic folder, ClearContext asks whether you want to assign or change the topic for the email's conversation. Adjust topic assignment preference via ClearContext > Options > Preferences > Topic Assignment to turn this message on/off.

Topic Views

You can group mail by assigned topic, by using some new views added in the MYN version of ClearContext IMS. Go to this link to see more about this.

Topics and Filing

ClearContext Multi-folder Filing

ClearContext IMS was originally designed to not only tag mail, but file it into multiple folders. Even though I do not recommend the latter, if you are a devoted multi-folder-filer, the ClearContext approach is definitely the way to go. Why? Because this separates the topic tagging step from the move step, which is hugely valuable. How is it valuable? By allowing you to take advantage of AutoAssign of incoming mail (and other auto-tagging features), but still allow your mail to sit in the Inbox until you are done reading it. This solves the classic problem with Outlook rule-based multi-folder filing: the mail is moved out of sight before it is even read. But with ClearContext, you can auto-assign topics as mail comes into the Inbox and read the mail later in the Inbox. Then use the File Msg button (or other File buttons) to move it into corresponding topic named folders, only when ready. These folders are created automatically btw, every time you create a new topic name.

How to File Mail This Way

There are three ClearContext buttons to use to do this filing:

• The File Msg button will move the current message from the Inbox into the corresponding folder. If a file button is pressed on a message that does not have a Topic assigned to it, the Topic selector window will ask for a Topic name. By default, the Inbox toolbar in the MYN version of ClearContext does not include the File Topic button.  You can access it via ClearContext > File Topic or add it to the toolbar via toolbar customization.
• The File Thread button moves all messages in the Inbox from the current email conversation into the assigned topic folder.
• The File Topic button moves all messages in the Inbox with that assigned topic name into the topic folder.  By default, the Inbox toolbar does not include the File Topic button.  You can access it via ClearContext > File Topic or add it to the toolbar via toolbar customization.

 

Mirrored Topics and Categories

The Concept

Whether you decide to use Outlook Categories or ClearContext Topics, you may want to combine the two to get some of the advantages of each. In this case you would create ClearContext IMS topics that mirror your Category list, and link them. What I mean by that is you can configure ClearContext IMS such that every time you set a ClearContext IMS Topic, a corresponding Outlook Category is set. Then use all the easy ClearContext IMS tools to set topics, thereby setting your Outlook Categories. Why is this important? Well, for example, there is no fast way in Outlook to set categories on outgoing e-mails (it requires too many clicks in my opinion). But there is with ClearContext IMS topics; the control is right at the top of all new e-mails. So use that as the way to set outgoing categories. Or configure ClearContext IMS to prompt you for a topic on all outgoing messages. And the way ClearContext IMS automatically sets topics on all mail in a conversation is a major time saver; it will link through to categories as well. I also find the rules engine in ClearContext IMS for automatically setting topics easier to use than Outlook’s rules engine, and there are no rule storage limits, unlike the one in Exchange Server. So consider linking the two and get the best of both worlds.

If you do link them, I suggest you tag only, not file. Then drag directly into the Processed Mail folder, rather than clicking the File button. The mail will hold the topic (and linked Outlook Category) but will not be moved into the corresponding ClearContext IMS topic folder. Again, that means avoiding the File buttons within the ClearContext IMS tool at all times.

How to Mirror Topics and Categories

How to Set Up

Under the Options menu, Preferences button, Topic Options tab (shown below), check "Copy Topics to Categories" to duplicate Topic assignments in the native Outlook category field.

By default, ClearContext puts brackets "[ ]" around Outlook Categories added this way; this is so you can spot these automatically added categories easily. However I recommend you remove those brackets so that you do not duplicate existing categories, as you add matching topics. Do that by clearing the brackets from the two fields in the bottom portion of the Topic Options tab, as shown below.

 

 

You can optionally check "Remove Topics from Categories" to instruct IMS to remove the duplicated Topic from the category field when a Topic is changed or unassigned.

How to use

From now on, every time you add a new Topic, a corresponding Outlook Category will be created and assigned. If the category already exists, then only the assignment step will occur. From now on you can use all the handy Topic assignment tools to set your categories.

You may also want to go through all your categories and topics, now, and sync them up, so that you have a good starting place

Note that when ClearContext creates a new Outlook Category to match a new ClearContext Topic, that new category will show up in the Outlook Categories list with the note "Not in Master Categories List." This has little impact on your use of the category, but you may want to every so often formally add the new categories to the Master Categories list, to remove that note. The book discusses how to add categories.

 

Single Folder vs. Multi Folder

Problems with Filing into Multiple Outlook Folders

(Extract from book)

I have mentioned several times in the book (and this website) that moving mail into multiple-topic-named folders is not my favorite topic-filing method. This method never worked for me, and here is why.

For these reasons and others, I have always given up on filing e-mail into a collection of various topic-named Outlook folders. Perhaps you have had similar problems. You’ll see below that Outlook Categories tagging in one folder solves nearly all the above problems.

That said, many people have no problem with filing into multiple-named Outlook folders, and they are able to empty their Inbox nearly every day. If that is you, fantastic; keep doing what you are doing. However, if you go weeks at a time without filing or if any of the above symptoms sound familiar, try these new approaches.

Single Folder Filing with ClearContext

Simply do this: do not use any of the File buttons in ClearContext. Rather, after assigning topics, then drag the mail into the Processed mail folder (set up as in Lesson 5, or Appendix A of the book). Then use the custom MYN views that group mail by Category or ClearContext Topics to see folder-like groups of mail. Custom MYN views delivered with this software are documented here.

If you Want to Use Multi-Folder Filing

Again, there are three ClearContext buttons that will move topic filed mail into the corresponding folder (this is a repeat from earlier tab).

• The File Msg button will move the current message from the Inbox into the corresponding folder. If a file button is pressed on a message that does not have a Topic assigned to it, the Topic selector window will ask for a Topic name. By default, the Inbox toolbar in the MYN version of ClearContext does not include the File Topic button.  You can access it via ClearContext > File Topic or add it to the toolbar via toolbar customization.
• The File Thread button moves all messages in the Inbox from the current email conversation into the assigned topic folder.
• The File Topic button moves all messages in the Inbox with that assigned topic name into the topic folder.  By default, the Inbox toolbar does not include the File Topic button.  You can access it via ClearContext > File Topic or add it to the toolbar via toolbar customization.