ClearContext Corporate Blog

From the ClearContext Scorecard in Outlook, you can compare your email performance to all other ClearContext Users (Scorecard > My Stats > Compare Stats). On ClearContext Online you can also compare with smaller groups.  For example, here’s a graph of TWC User’s statistics.

To join a group:

1. If you haven’t done so already, register with ClearContext Online and link your Outlook account.
2. After you have logged in, open Preferences.
3. Available Groups to Join are listed on the right side of the page.  Click to join. 
    
4. Once you have joined, the group will be listed for comparison on your Scorecard and Stats page.
   

Private Groups

Anyone can join Public Groups from the Preferences page (i.e. TWC Users, GTD Users).  Private Groups are available for many companies, including Microsoft, Intel, EMC and HP.  If you registered for ClearContext Online with your company email, the group will automatically be listed under Available Groups to Join.

If you registered under a personal email address, validate your company email address on the Preferences page:

1. Enter your email address and click Add
2. A validation email will be sent to the address (check your Junk Mail folder if you don’t see it)
3. Follow the link there to validate the email

Once validated, any private groups available for that domain will be listed on the Preferences page.  Follow directions above to join.

If you want to create a private group for your company, send us a note at support at clearcontext dot com and we’ll get the process started.

Now that you’ve taken the tour of ClearContext Online, here’s how to get started using the service:

1. Install ClearContext v4.5 or better
   
2. From within Outlook, open the Scorecard
    
3. Click Compare your stats online in the bottom left hand corner of the Scorecard
   
4. Login or register with ClearContext Online
   
• If you previously registered with our Support Forums, log in with that username.  This will link your Outlook install to this account.
• If you are new to ClearContext Online, register and create a new username.  Once you have activated the new account, return to the Scorecard in Outlook and click Compare your stats online to link to Outlook
5. Start exploring!  Now that you have associated your account with Outlook:
• View your email activity index
• Compare your statistics to group averages
• Evaluate your performance against other groups
• Join groups and enable your activity index for public viewing

Last week we rolled out a preview of ClearContext Online.  This week I’ll spend some time introducing you to our new features.  First things first – take the tour!

View a snapshot of your email activity on your ClearContext online home page.  This includes:

– Average messages sent and received

– Response time

– Email Effectiveness

For an example, view averages for all ClearContext Users.

Compare your statistics with other users and groups, including:

– Sent and Received

– Replies and Responsiveness

– Inbox Size, Unread

– Effectiveness and Workload

For an example, see this comparison of our CEOs email performance to the average ClearContext user.  After sign up, this page shows additional groups for comparison.

The ClearContext Scorecard allows you to evaluate your performance against others, including:

– Effectiveness and Workload

– Response Time and Communication

– Inbox Control

Evaluate the average effectiveness and workload for all ClearContext users.  After registration, use this page to compare your scorecard against individuals or groups.

If you’re ready to get started, download and install ClearContext and click Compare your stats online on the Scorecard.

The average ClearContext user receives about 500 emails per week. How does your email activity compare to those users, your friends, and people at your company?

ClearContext users reply to emails on average within about 6 hours. How does your email responsiveness compare?

Most ClearContext users send 100 messages per week and keep their inbox at under 25 messages.  How effective are you at managing your email, and what steps can you take to improve your effectiveness?

Today we’re excited to give you a way to answer those questions as we open up beta availability of ClearContext Online to everyone!

ClearContext Online is a companion service to both our free Personal and paid Professional ClearContext for Outlook products.  This site will provide a wide range of services to help you take better advantage of all the interactions and information that flow through your email within Microsoft Outlook.

The first set of services we’re releasing revolve around email statistics and effectiveness:

• View (and share if you choose!) a snapshot of your email activity
• Analyze and compare detailed email statistics with your friends and groups such as your company
• Evaluate and compare your email effectiveness – and soon get personalized tips on how to improve!

If you’re a ClearContext for Outlook user already, click the Compare your stats online link on the ClearContext Scorecard in Outlook to get started with ClearContext Online.  If it’s your first time, you’ll have to register and then click that link again to access ClearContext Online.   If you have already registered a support forum login, that login will work for ClearContext Online as well.

If you’re not a ClearContext user already, download ClearContext or take a tour of ClearContext Online.

In the coming months, we’ll be writing a lot more about how we’re expanding ClearContext Online to help you make the most out of everything you do within email.

Before we go into detail on that, though, our next big announcement will be something many of you have been waiting on for a long time – information on the next major release of ClearContext for Outlook.  We’re working on a lot of exciting improvements that our users have been requesting, and can’t wait to share our plans with you.  Stay tuned to the blog for a post on that later this month.

We have pushed a minor update to our Outlook client.  v4.6.5 addresses the following:

• Changed scoring of messages at startup to minimize un-scored messages in the Inbox
• Changed the cases where MessageContext is hidden on Tasks and Appointments
• Fixed multiple Topic display in the Dashboard when using a secondary data store
• Eliminated re-registration requirement on upgrades from ClearContext Personal

This update is complimentary for all registered v4 Pro and v4 TWC customers.

Download: Personal & Pro |  TWC

The Office Team has released Office 2007 Service Pack 2 to the general public.  Read about Outlook-specific changes here and download via Windows Update.

We have been running beta versions of SP2 in house for several months now and have found that it greatly improves performance and reliability.  I highly recommend that you upgrade at your earliest convenience. 

If you haven’t already installed the February Cumulative Update, SP2 will take several minutes to convert your Outlook mail file at startup.  Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

The Information Overload Research Group is putting on a 90-minute online event on Monday with a great group of speakers. 

Dr. Oliver Brdiczka from PARC, Prof. Gloria Mark from UC Irvine,  Col. Peter Marksteiner from the USAF, and Jonathan Spira from BASEX will be sharing a wide variety of perspectives on INFORMATION OVERLOAD: THE IMPACT ON THE ORGANIZATION.

The event is free, but does require registration, so please take a look at the agenda, sign up, and join us Monday for what will be a very interesting session.

To avoid this, create an Outlook rule to delay delivery of email by a minute or two.  A real lifesaver!

Many of Outlook’s performance problems can be traced to a corrupted or oversized mail file.  Here are some tips for keeping Outlook running in tip/top shape:

1. Run SCANPST against your offline mail file

Close Outlook and run Microsoft’s SCANPST utility against your mail file:

1. Find SCANPST via Programs > Accessories > System Tools or use Start > Search or Start > Find to locate it on your hard drive.
2. Once open, you will need to find the location of your Outlook mail files.  The default location for your Outlook mail file is in Outlook’s local settings directory:
   • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\{USER_NAME}\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.
   • Windows Vista: C:\Users\{USER_NAME}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.
3. Scan your primary outlook.OST (Exchange) or outlook.PST (POP) mail file and allow it to repair any issues it finds.
4. Repeat this process until SCANPST no longer reports errors.

We recommend performing the same process on open archive PST files as well.  For additional detail on SCANPST and it’s use, see this excellent SlipStick post.

2. Use archive to get (and keep) your mail file size down

Use archive to keep your primary mail file size below 1 GB.  To check your file size, right click it in your Outlook folder list, select Properties and click Folder Size.  We suggest you archive by date:

1. Select File > Archive from the Outlook menu.
2. Under Archive this folder and all subfolders, click your primary mail box.
3. Select a date after Archive items older than.  We suggest 6 months or less.
4. Select an archive file.  Outlook will suggest archive.pst in your Outlook local settings directory.  Remember the location of this file.
5. Click OK and Outlook will move your messages from your primary mail file to the archive file.  Watch the status of this process in the bottom right hand corner of Outlook.
6. If the file is not visible in the Outlook folder list, open it via File > Open > Outlook Data File.
7. Once complete, compact your primary mail file to further increase performance.

Repeat this process on a regular basis to keep your mail file healthy and performance snappy.

3. Create a new profile in Outlook and start with a fresh mail file

If you have tried the above and are still experiencing issues, try using a fresh new mail file as your primary mail file.  The easiest way to do this is to close Outlook and create a new profile via Control Panel > Mail.

Exchange Users

When you first first open your new profile, Outlook will rebuild your mail file from scratch.  Expect performance to be slow until Outlook updates all folders.

POP Users

Once you get your new profile up and running, your mail file will be empty.  Add your old mail file as a separate data file via File > Open > Outlook Data File.  It’s likely called outlook.pst or some variation in the default Outlook local settings directory.  You can also use File > Import & Export to import your old messages into the new mail file.

* Other performance tips

Here are a few additional performance tips:

1. Exchange users should run in Cached Exchange Mode (Outlook’s default) rather than direct, online.  See our General Troubleshooting tips for detail.
2. Outlook 2007 users should disable RSS feeds if they aren’t using them:
   • Navigate to Tools > Options > Other
   • Click Advanced Options
   • Uncheck Sync RSS Feeds to the Common Feed List
   • Exit the options dialogs
3. Update to the latest Windows and Office patches via Windows Update.  Outlook 2007 users should install the February Cumulative Update.
4. Disable other add-ins to determine if they are the source of your problem.

If you are still experiencing issues, see our Troubleshooting Guide for more tips and tricks.

A video tutorial and permanent help link is available on our Outlook Performance and Mail File Health help page.

We added additional user interface flexibility as part of our v4.6 release, giving the ability to disable FolderContext and MessageContext.

FolderContext

By default, FolderContext appears at the bottom of all mail folders, automatically displaying all contacts and attachments contained in email in the folder.  Minimize this window by pressing the in the header or turn it off completely via ClearContext > Options > Preferences > UI\Toolbar.

MessageContext

MessageContext displays all messages in the conversation, along with any related tasks or appointments.  In Outlook 2007, MessageContext is embedded in each message, task and appointment.  With v4.6, we have turned display of MessageContext in the preview pane off by default.  Add it to preview or turn it off in open items via ClearContext > Options > Preferences > UI\Toolbar.