Posts categorized “product”.

User Guide: Notification Managers

New in our latest release, Notification Managers move automated emails from your Inbox into a categorized view so that you can quickly process notifications without interruption.  Use ClearContext templates or create your own customized notification managers.

Notification Manager Summary

As you receive messages that meet the criteria of an enabled Notification Manager, messages will be moved into the Notification Manager’s home folder and automatically categorized.  View a summary of all of your Notification Managers on the Notifications tab of FolderContext or on the summary Dashboard (Pro only). 

Home Folder   

Click on the home folder of an individual Notification Manager to see a more detailed, categorized view of your notifications:

Click on a category in the home folder to mark all unread messages in that category as read, jump to a link associated with the current category or filter message display in the folder.  The latter function is available in Outlook 2007 only.   

Use the options menu to:   

  • Jump from the current folder to the dashboard for this Topic (Pro Only)
  • Edit the parameters for this Notification Manager (more below)
  • Share the Notification Manager with a friend of colleague
  • Clear message filters set from individual categories (i.e. "View only…")

Templates   
ClearContext ships with two, preconfigured Notification Managers for managing Facebook and LinkedIn requests.  To enable:

  1. Open the Notifications tab in FolderContext    
  2. Click on a disabled notification manager
  3. Select yes when asked to enable
  4. Select a home folder for this Notification Manager

ClearContext will automatically move email from the selected service into the home folder and categorize by requests, invites, etc..  For more detail on these specific Notification Managers, see our notifications page.

Customized Notification Managers   
Create your own notification managers to manage automated email messages:

Edit a notification manager

  1. Open the Notifications tab in FolderContext or from the Dashboard (Pro Only).    
  2.    

  3. Select Actions > Create New Notification Manager.    
  4.    

  5. Select a folder that you will move these messages to – this can be an existing folder or a new folder – and click OK.    
  6.    

  7. The selected folder will be opened and the Notification Manager builder will appear.    
  8.    

  9. Give your Notification Manager a name. This is the name that will appear in the Notifications Summary.    
  10.    

  11. Click Add Rule to add a condition that will cause messages to be moved into this folder. For example, create a rule to move all messages from domain facebookmail.com to this folder. Please note that you can only add one rule for moving messages into this folder.    
  12.    

  13. If you would like, click Add Icon to add a 16×16 icon to display for this Dashboard.    
  14.    

  15. Click Add Category. This is how you will identify and track various classes of messages that are moved into this folder.    
  16.    

  17. Give the Category a Display name and a Category Name. The latter is an Outlook category that is assigned to incoming messages that meet the criteria you set.    
  18.    

  19. Add rules(s) that will cause this category to be assigned to an incoming message in this folder. Extending the example above, create a subject rule that assigns category Friend Request to all messages from facebookmail.com that arrive with the word friend in the subject. Please note that an OR condition is applied when multiple rules are entered – if an email arrives that meets any one of the rules you have set, the category will be assigned.    
  20.    

  21. Add a link to this category by clicking the Add Link button. This link will appear in the category’s action menu. For example, you might add a direct link to your Facebook friends approval page here.    
  22.    

  23. Change the appearance of this tab or add a 16×16 icon as desired.    
  24.    

  25. Repeat steps 8 through 12 to add as many categories as you would like.    
  26.    

  27. When you have completed building the dashboard, press Save and restart Outlook.

Use regular expressions to create complex criteria for category assignment in the Notification Manager.  Details on regular expression syntax are available here.

Import/ExportNotification Manager Summary Actions   
Share a Notification Manager via Options > Send this Notification Manager.  Import Notification Managers from the Notifications Summary in FolderContext or the Dashboard (Pro Only).

Disable/Delete   
Disable a Notification Manager by right clicking it in the Notification summary and selecting Disable Notifications.  You may delete a notification manager by removing it from the Dashboard directory in Windows:

  1. Close Outlook    
  2. Locate your ClearContext program directory:   
            

    • Vista: C:\Users\{USER_NAME}\AppData\Local\ClearContext\ClearContext Information Management System\Dashboards\  OR  C:\Program Files\ClearContext\ClearContext Information Management System\Dashboards\
    •        

    • XP: C:\Documents and Settings\{USER_NAME}\Local Settings\Application Data\ClearContext\ClearContext Information Management System\Dashboards\
  3.    

  4. Delete the XML file that corresponds to the Notification Manager that you want to remove

Jump to Folder

Jump to Folder

While viewing the Notifications Summary, quickly open a Notification Manager home folder by right clicking the title for the Notification Manager and selecting Jump to Folder.

The complete ClearContext Personal and Professional User Guide, including a downloadable PDF, is available here.

User Guide: Attachment Explorer

New in our latest release, the Attachment Explorer allows you to preview attachments within Outlook folders as if you were viewing them in a Windows file folder.

Attachment Explorer in Outlook

Preview    
While in the folder you want to explore, launch the Attachment Explorer in one of several ways:

  • Click the Attachments button on the Inbox toolbar.  This button is available by default in Personal, but must be added to the Pro toolbar.
  • Select Attachment Explorer from the ClearContext Outlook menu (Keyboard Shortcut Alt-XA)
  • From the Files tab in FolderContext, select Actions > Open Attachment Explorer
  • From a Project Dashboard (Pro Only) click the Attachment Explorer icon Explorer Icon Dashboard.

Once you have opened the folder you want to explore, click on a file in the left hand pane to see a preview in the right hand pane.  Some file types cannot be previewed.

Change views    
While in the Attachment Explorer, there are several ways to change the file display:

  • Select the Views header to choose various views, switching to a smaller detailed list of the attachments in this folder, larger thumbnails, etc..
  • Click the Sort Header to change sorting by attachment name, type, received date, etc..
  • Drag the bar between the attachment list and the previewer to change the width of these panes.

Act    
Attachment Explorer ActionsSelect files in the attachment explorer by clicking on them.  Right click or select Actions to quickly act on these attachments.  Options include:

  • Open the messages containing the selected attachments
  • Open the attachments themselves
  • Save the attachments to a file folder
  • Forward the attachments via email

Quickly Open Messages

Double-clicking an attachment in the file list will automatically open the message it is attached to.  Quickly open the email that contains the attachment you are previewing by clicking the link at the bottom of the preview pane.

The complete ClearContext Personal and Professional User Guide, including a downloadable PDF, is available here.

User Guide: FolderContext

New in our latest release, FolderContext automatically displays all attachments and contacts contained in the current folder so that you can quickly locate the information you need.

 

FolderContext

 

FolderContext is integrated into the folder list for all supported Outlook folders.  Expand and minimize by pressing the +/- button in the header.  There are three tabs on FolderContext – Files, Contacts and Notifications.

Files   
FolderContext Files ActionsThe Files tab shows all attachments contained in the current folder.  For attachments that appear in more than one message, click the more button to see a list of all emails that contain the file.

Perform the following actions from within the Files tab:

  • Double-click a file to open the most recent message to contain that attachment.
  • Highlight message(s) and right click or select the Actions menu to open the message containing the attachment, open the attachment itself or forward or save the selected files.
  • Sort the file listing via the Actions menu.

Contacts   
FolderContext Contacts ActionsThe Contacts tab automatically lists all contacts contained in the To and From fields of the folder’s emails.  The colored contact icon indicates the assigned priority for the contact.  For contacts that exist in the Outlook address book, click more to show additional contact details.  Click create to quickly new contacts to the address.

Perform the following actions from within the Contacts tab:

  • Double-click a contact to open the contact record.  Adjust priority from here to improve Outlook prioritization.
  • Highlight contact(s) and right click or select the Actions menu to email or set up an appointment with the group, export contacts to a file or create a distribution list.  You can also invite others to try ClearContext from here.
  • Sort the contact list via the Actions menu.

Notifications   
FolderContext Notifications TabThe Notifications Summary displays a summary of all active notification managers.

  • Click the +/- next to the header for each Notification Manager to expand message categories.
  • Right-click individual Notification Managers to enable/disable and/or jump to its home folder.
  • Select Actions > Import Notification Manager to import a new Notification Manager into Outlook.
  • Select Actions > Create New Notification Manager to create your own custom message view.

More detail on Notification Managers is available here.

FolderContext Tips

Pro Users: When in a Topic folder, select Jump to Dashboard from the Actions button to open a Project Dashboard.

Share Project Files: Has a new person joined your team?  Get them up to speed by opening your project folder, selecting all attachments in the Files Tab and forwarding to them.

Create a Project Meeting List: From the Contacts tab, select all contacts in your Project, right click and select Create Dist List to quickly add these contacts to an Outlook distribution list.

The complete ClearContext Personal and Professional User Guide, including a downloadable PDF, is available here.

ClearContext v4.5 User guide Available

button_user_guideThe ClearContext User Guide has been updated to v4.5 and now includes information on the tabbed Dashboard, FolderContext, Attachment Explorer and Notification Managers.  View it online here.  If you want it offline, grab the downloadable PDF at the bottom of the page.  I’ll be posting some of the updates to the blog over the next few days.

ClearContext v4.5.2 Available

We pushed out a minor point release late last week to address the following:

  • Improved Dashboard performance when opening multiple tabs
  • Stability during periodic thread cleanup
  • Calendar display range default in Outlook 2003
  • Taskline date display in Dashboard Tasks and Actions
  • Added RV: to list of known prefixes to better support Spanish language threading

If you are experiencing issues related to the items above, we suggest you download and upgrade from here.

New in v4.5: Activity Log

image One new feature that I forgot to mention in yesterday’s "What’s New" post.  We’ve implemented an Activity Log so that you can see the last actions you took using ClearContext.  This is a quick way to find messages you recently filed.  Go to ClearContext > Activity Log to view.

What’s New in ClearContext Pro?

I recently had a number of folks ask about the additions we made between IMS v4 and ClearContext Professional.  At a high level, new features in the latest release include:

 

Topic Suggestions

 

 

ClearContext now suggests Topics based on your past history when filing.  After upgrade, run ClearContext > Analyze Contacts to increase the accuracy of suggestions.

 

Redesigned Tabbed Dashboard

 

Tabbed Project Dashboard

 

The Dashboard contains a new summary view.  From there, open Project Dashboard tabs to view all the information related to a  project into a single combined view – email threads, contacts attachments, appointments and tasks.

 

Contacts and Attachments by Project

 

Contacts and Attachments Menus

 

ClearContext automatically identifies contacts and attachments in your projects and folders so that you can quickly and easily share information with your team.

 

MessageContext

 

RelatedView

 

Formerly RelatedView, MessageContext now shows message text and indicates attachments in messages.

 

FolderContext

 

FolderView

 

Instantly:

 

       

  • See attachments and contacts from emails in each folder.
  •    

  • Sort, save, and forward those attachments.
  •    

  • Create distribution lists, meeting requests, etc. from those contacts.

 

Attachment Explorer

 

 

Explore and preview attachments within Outlook just like folders on your desktop.

 

Notification Managers

 

Notification Managers

 

Too many status and notification emails in your inbox?  Many people’s inboxes are clogged with email like:

 

       

  • Notifications from online services
  •    

  • Automated log and alert emails from IT applications
  •    

  • Receipts and status from e-commerce sites

 

Notification Managers automatically move these emails out of your inbox into a categorized view so you can quickly process notifications without constant interruptions.  Use ClearContext templates or easily create your own customized notification managers.  For more information, see our Notifications page.

 

Fit, Finish and Performance

 

Too numerous to list here, we have also implemented many v4.5 performance and fit and finish enhancements as requested by our customers.

 

Download ClearContext Pro 30-Day Trial

 

As a reminder, the upgrade to ClearContext Professional is free for all registered IMS v4 customers.  If you are running v3 or earlier or you are running the Personal version of ClearContext, download and install a free 30-day trial of ClearContext Pro.

Introducing ClearContext Personal and Professional

We are pleased to announce the release of ClearContext Personal and ClearContext Professional.  This release includes a number of our most requested features and makes organizing email and projects easier than ever.  Please upgrade soon, we’re confident you’ll find this release a huge step forward for ClearContext. (Please note that this is a complimentary upgrade for all of our registered IMS v4 customers).

We also would love your help in spreading the word.  In addition to the powerful new capabilities in Pro, with ClearContext Personal we now have a completely free solution for people who simply want to keep their inbox more organized and file their messages faster – please let your friends know about which product you think is right for them!  Thanks!

Pro ClearContext Personal

Personal is a free Microsoft Outlook add-in for to organize your email and make your inbox useful again.  See our brief video for an introduction:

New Personal features include:

Suggested Topics

ClearContext automatically suggests the right folders to instantly file messages.

 

 

Attachment Explorer

Browse attachments in Outlook just like you view files in Windows.

FolderContext

View all the contacts and attachments contained in each folder.

Pro ClearContext Professional

Pro includes all of the features of Personal plus the ability to organize and manage projects within Outlook.  This is a complimentary upgrade for all of our registered IMS v4 customersHere’s a 1.5 minute demo:

New Pro features include:

Tabbed Project Dashboard

Tabbed Dashboard

Open each of your projects in tabs so that you can refer to them throughout the day.

 

Attachments and Contacts by Topic

ClearContext displays all contacts and attachments associated with the current project.

 

Download Pro here.  If you are using Personal and would like to try pro, select ClearContext > Try ClearContext Professional within Outlook.

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who helped beta test this release.  It’s really rewarding to have such a passionate group of users willing to give feedback on pre-release products. 

Take the ClearContext Usage Survey

As we near completion of our latest release, we are mapping out the future of the product.  Please take a moment to complete this brief, 10 question survey about the features you use most and the future features you would most like to see.  Our product development is driven by customer feedback – your answers will have a direct impact on the future of ClearContext.

 

We opened the survey last week to registered users and the data so far has been extremely valuable.  We were pleased to find that many of the feature suggestions will be addressed in the next release of ClearContext Professional

 

For example:Dashboard Tabbed UI

 

   

   

“I hope to see [the Dashboard] improved with future releases.”

 

   

In the next release, the redesigned Dashboard will provide a tabbed interface for quickly accessing multiple projects and better interactivity throughout.

 

   

   

“still too many keystrokes to assign topics. Not enough intelligence in figuring out what the topic should be.”

         

   

ClearContext Professional suggests Topic assignments based on email history and we have streamlined the assignment of Topics throughout the application.

 

   

   

“…sometimes I start to type an existing topic name (to eventually assign the message to it) and mistype the name, click file too quickly, and a new folder is created.  …If it prompted before creating a new folder, I could make is less painful during my mistakes!”

                               

   

ClearContext Professional does exactly this – we prompt before creating a new folder.

 

   

   

“I don’t need a Clear Context Topics folder, why does it not work off my inbox?”

 

   

With the release of v2, the Inbox can be used as the root for Topic filing.  Details on changing this setting are available here.  The release of ClearContext Professional will support using the root of your mail file for filing, effectively making all of your mail folders Topic folders.

 

 

 

Some other questions that came out of the survey are below:

 

   

“I would like to be able to flag 3 of these topics as my high priority topics and have a view where I can see what topics are my highs, mediums and lows.”

   

Use a folder/sub-folder arrangement for prioritizing your Topics, placing your most important Topics as a sub-Topic of “1 – Very High”.  Then use the View Sub-Folders feature in the Dashboard to view all of your Very High Topics.  For more detail, see our Topic Management Tips.

   

“Topic assignment had a bug, when using with Exchange server, then any assigned sent e-mails are not assigned but end up in SYNC ISSUES and appear to be lost”

 

   

Quirky Exchange issues like this one are always the result of a corrupt mail file.  Follow step #3 here to repair.

 

   

   

“The current Beta is not working well with XOBNI…”

 

   

The Xobni team is working on a fix for this.  Follow this post for updates.

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who has taken the survey so far.  If you haven’t given your feedback yet, please go there now.  Leave your email address in a comments field if you’d like a response.

 

Thanks!

ClearContext Personal Beta Launch Update

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who has downloaded
or signed up for the ClearContext Personal beta. The level of
interest has been incredible. We’re
working hard so we can send invites to everyone still on the waiting list as
soon as possible.

Title_personal_325px_2

One thing we didn’t really expect was how quickly so many people
would download, install, and send us feedback about their experience with
ClearContext Personal. Based on that, we’re
changing our plans a little bit. The
initial plan had been to roll out the first wave of invites to a group of
Outlook 2007 users, follow that with a quick round of bug fixes, and roll out
to a larger group of Outlook 2007 users plus Outlook 2003 users. We’ve received a lot of enhancement requests
and feature suggestions (many of which were already on our plans for the next
beta) from our beta testers in a few key areas that we agree will make the product both easier to use and more valuable to our users. So we’ve decided to extend development a few
weeks and roll a number of these changes into the product. People currently on the waitlist will
have to wait a little longer than initially planned, but the beta you’ll get
will be a much improved version of the product. Again, thanks a ton to everyone who has provided us with all this great
feedback. Here are a few key areas
we’re working on:

  • Guided Setup – walk-through during setup with more details
    on contact prioritization and options for
    color-coded inbox views
  • Filing – make one-click filing capability
    even smarter and more automatic, so keeping email organized will be even easier
  • Contacts and Attachments – additional
    actions on contacts and attachments, and make it easier to work with groups of related items
  • Message Prioritization – make it easier for people to customize how important messages from different contacts are to
    them
  • Notification Managers – simplify the installation
    process for notification managers

We really appreciate all the feedback we’ve received so far
and are excited about these improvements that will make the product even easier
to use and give users a much better email experience from the first moment they
install the product. Please keep signing
up for the beta
and stay tuned to the blog for more
updates. Thanks!