To participate in the beta program a Connect membership and a registration to the ClearContext online forums is required.

Private Connect forums have been created that are visible and accessible only to Connect members. Beta information, downloads and discussion will take place in these private forums. Access to these forums is granted automatically based on a matching email address between a Connect subscription and the email address used to register on the forums. If assistance is needed in enabling the private Connect forums for your user account, please contact us at support at clearcontext.com

• Refreshed and streamlined user interface for ClearContext windows and toolbars
• Inbox and sent mail processing for multiple email accounts. Prioritization and automated actions such as AutoFile will now be supported in multiple mail files.
• Unicode support to properly handle multi-byte languages
• Performance improvements for Project selection to support thousands of entries
• Dynamic creation of ClearContext folders so they do not appear if unused
• Addition of Google Apps to supported configurations
• Addition of “Window 8” to supported configuration
• Other enhancements for multiple mail file support and configuration

In addition to these highlights, ClearContext v6 will also incorporate many other tweaks and enhancements to improve usability or address known issues. Some of these come from our own lists and planning, and many will come from feedback during testing from our Connect members.

As we mentioned previously, access to the v6 beta will be an exclusive benefit for Connect members. If you would like to check your membership status, please visit our Connect Subscription Status page. Also, you should be receiving a special offer in your inbox if you need to subscribe to or renew Connect. If you do not receive this email, please send an email to sales@clearcontext.com and we would be happy to add you to the mailing list.

We’ve received inquiries asking about what specific changes have been incorporated into these maintenance releases. As we transition into v6 development, we thought it would be a good time to do a wrap-up of these changes in the v5.4 maintenance releases:

V5.4.5

• Automatically detect a loss of connection to Public Folders and attempt to restore the connection
• Use different icons in the Project selector for Public Folders to better distinguish them from local folders
• More effective deletion of Project suggestions from the Edit Suggestions function

V5.4.4

• Fix a stability issue when using Word as an editor for composing emails in Outlook 2003
• Prevent a rare problem of a loss of connection to the suggestion database in Outlook 2010 while running
• Filter out disabled AutoFile Groups in the AutoFile create rule window
• Adjust Windows XP Theme detection to prevent UI color mismatches in certain environments
• Translate Exchange addresses to more readable email addresses when creating Tasks/Appointments from messages
• Fix crash when contact support button is pressed on severe error dialog before the application is initialized

V5.4.3

• Fix issue where categories are not saved in task creation from Dashboard when Project to category synchronization is disabled

V5.4.2

• Fix issue with suggestions database where version was not being incremented

V5.4.1

• Fix stability issue with loading recurring Appointments from the MessageContext
• Set defaults for Dashboard in the TWC version
• Allow selection of !next category in Organizer review

The latest version of ClearContext is always available by downloading from clearcontext.com.

Open a Project Dashboard for one of your important projects.  Avoid checking email and work on your most important tasks.

When you do check on email, group your Inbox by priority (View > Current View > ClearContext Prioritized by Category) and review only your highest priority messages (in red and green).

Use the MessageContext to see emails, appointments and other related tasks to get the full context for the item you are working on.

By completing the Identify and Manage steps previously, you are free to focus on the work that is most important to you while staying in control of your Inbox.

Tip

Only touch your high priority messages once.  Even though you are glancing at these messages throughout the day, make sure that you act on any email you open.

For additional tips for using the ClearContext Daily Workflow, see the following blog posts:

• Daily Workflow
• Identify
• Manage
• Succeed

Act Immediately?

Reply to the message if you can do so in a minute or two.

Delegate the email to someone else as appropriate.

If no response is required, review the message and file it to a Project folder.

Act Later?

Defer messages that you aren’t ready to deal with to a later date.

Create a task from email that requires further action on your part.  Assign Projects to tasks as you create them.

Schedule appointments from messages that require a meeting.  Assign Projects to appointments as you create them.

No action required?

Unsubscribe from mailing lists or long email threads that you have no interest in.

Use the Delete key to delete messages that you don’t need to keep for archiving purposes.

The end result will be a cleared Inbox and a prioritized task list, allowing you to focus on your work rather than your email.

Tip

As you act on email, assign a Project and allow ClearContext to automatically file the original message from the Inbox into a Topic folder.

Tomorrow: Throughout the day, succeed by focusing on your core work

Identify

Start your workday by identifying what you need to focus on.

Review today’s meetings and appointments.  Reschedule any conflicts.

Review your Tasks and Actions for the day in the ClearContext Dashboard.  Adjust due dates based on task and project priorities.

Review overdue and pinned projects in the ClearContext Dashboard to determine which Projects require immediate attention.

Identify your highest priority messages so that you are prepared to manage your Inbox.

Taking this time in the morning will get your priorities in place to ensure that you have a productive day.

Tip

Before you move on to the Manage phase and tackle your Inbox for the first time, work on one or two of your most important tasks.

Tomorrow: Twice daily, manage your inbox…

For our best practices for organizing email and managing overload, see the ClearContext Daily Workflow:

• Daily Workflow (overview | tips)
• Identify (overview | tips)
• Manage (overview | tips)
• Succeed (overview | tips)

Filing

One of the biggest changes in v5 is an intelligent one-click filing system and project selector.  The File Msg button on the toolbar now displays either the name of the project folder assigned to this conversation or a smart one-click filing suggestion (indicated by a question mark ) for new conversation threads.  Open the project selector ( ) for additional filing suggestions or to quickly search for any folder across all your mail files.

Views and Prioritization

In place of ClearContext’s old inbox views, v5 uses categories to indicate important messages.  ClearContext marks messages from your important contacts as “CC-VIP” and messages in threads you’ve participated in or from contacts you know as “CC-OK.”  Customize category name and color in options or configure ClearContext to mark important messages with flags or Outlook priority.  This lets you quickly scan and identify your most important messages. We’ve also provided three optional color-coded views using these priority indicator categories.

More Supported Configurations

Many of our customers run Outlook on multiple PCs.  ClearContext v5 includes support to run ClearContext on each of those machines, keeping track of filing and prioritization information across them all.  v5 also provides preliminary support for Outlook 2010 (Technical Preview – x86 only).  Additionally, ClearContext v5 now provides filing support to unlimited Outlook mail files.

Features Not Included in v5.0

A few v4 features no longer exist in v5.0.  FolderContext has been removed, as most pro users prefer to use Project Dashboards to view that information.  FolderContext will be redesigned for the v5.1 release.  Alerts and custom Notification Managers have also been removed in v5.0.  Those two features will be redesigned for v5.2.

More to Come

v5.0 is just the beginning of the next generation of ClearContext.  Our v5.0 release focuses on streamlining inbox management.  Version 5.1 is dedicated to improving project management and dashboard capabilities.  And 5.2 will focus on improvements to AutoAssign and related features.  See our blog for the v5 product roadmap.

We hope the new features in ClearContext v5 make it an even more useful and seamless part of improving your Outlook and email experience.  To preview v5, download the beta test version here.  Post all feedback and issues in the beta section of our User Forums.

All v4 purchases made after August 1, 2009 and all ClearContext Connect subscribers will receive a complimentary upgrade to v5.  This upgrade is available for all ClearContext customers, including the TWC/MYN powered edition of ClearContext Pro.

Turn off new mail notifications via Do Not Disturb so that you can work on your tasks without interruption. 

Open the ClearContext Dashboard and select a project to work on via the Topic drop down.  Work on your most important tasks for the project. 

To stay on top of email throughout the day, sort your Inbox by priority (ClearContext > Inbox Views) and review only your highest priority messages (in red and blue) as needed. 

Use the MessageContext to see emails, appointments and other related tasks to get the full context for the item you are working on.

One note on the Prioritized step above – if you look at a message during this phase, make sure that you act on any message you open just as you would in the manage phase.  You should strive to only touch an Inbox message once. 

By completing the Identify and Manage steps previously, you are free to focus on the work that is most important to you while staying in control of your email.

Act Immediately?

If the message doesn't have a Topic assigned to it, assign one.  IMS will link all future emails, tasks and appointments to this Topic. 

Reply to the message if you can do so in a minute or two.  IMS can automatically file the original message to a Topic folder for you. 

Delegate the email to someone else as appropriate. 

If no response is required, review the message and file it to a Topic folder. 

Act Later?

If the message doesn't have a Topic assigned to it, assign one.  IMS will link all future emails, tasks and appointments to this Topic. 

Defer messages that you aren't ready to deal with to a later date. 

Create a task from email that requires further action on your part. 

Schedule appointments from messages that require a meeting. 

No action required?

Unsubscribe from mailing lists or long email threads that you have no interest in. 

Delete messages that you don't need to keep for archiving purposes.

This phase is the bridge that moves you from sizing up your day to working on your most important projects.  Consider it blocking and tackling – quickly and efficiently move through your Inbox and put messages onto your calendar or your task list.  The end result will be a cleared Inbox and a prioritized task list, allowing you to focus on your work rather than your email.