Question 1: How Do I update to the newest version of Outlook Explorer?
Answer: You can get Internet Explorer/Outlook Express 6.0 by clicking here. It is very important that you close out all running programs including your virus protection. If you dont close out all programs except Internet Explorer you will more then likely get a faulty installation of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. If you have a dial up, the download could take a while. You might want to start the download when you know you will not need to use your computer for an extended period of time. Note: Windows XP comes with Internet Explorer/Outlook Express 6.0, so if you are using that windows program, you are using the latest version!
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Question 2: How do I use the stationery in Outlook Express?
Answer: You cannot click "New Mail" or "FORMAT APPLY STATIONERY" when using most stationery as it will ruin the formatting. You must click 'Message' 'New Message Using' 'Select Stationery' and browse to the stationery you wish to use. (These instructions are for Outlook Express 5 and 6)
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Question 3: How do I uninstall your stationery?
Answer: Using Windows Explorer, go to the default stationery directory at C:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\stationery and right click, then delete the name of the stationery file that you do not wish to keep. I put all of my stationery into file folders which include the scripts, music, and all graphics, so when you delete the file folder, your deleting all of the components for that particular stationery.
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Question 4: How do I embed music in my Stationery?
Answer: I have set up a file on my 'C' drive called "My Music". In that file, I have subfiles called "midi files", "wav files" etc and I am downloading new ones from the net all the time and dropping them in those folders. Most of the time you will use a midi file in your stationery, although if you want a particular sound file instead of a song file, you may need to use a wav. Once you have clicked on 'Create Mail' in Outlook Express, click on 'format' in the toolbar of the new message box that pops up. Click on 'Background' then click on 'Sound'. A new browse window will pop up that will allow you to go to your harddrive and find your music files to bring into the stationery. When you click the browse button, it will automatically take you to the Windows Media folder which has all of the Windows default sounds in it. You can use one of those, or instead choose to use a music file. If that is the case using the browse window, Click on C drive and find the music files you have created and downloaded music into. Double click on the particular song title that you want to use in your stationery and that will bring it into the browser window. Indicate whether you want it to play once or play continuously. If its music, you will probably want it to play continuously. If you are using sound files instead of music, you might want to determine if the sound is going to get annoying to the recipient of your stationery. If so, instead of continuous, you may prefer to just play the sound once or twice. Just click OK and you are ready to finish your stationery.
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Question 5: How can I add my email address or a homepage URL to my stationery?
Answer: Once you click on 'Creat Mail' and type in your email address or URL in the message body, click on 'Insert' then on "Hyperlink". First you will need to select the "type" of hyperlink you are adding. For a email link, select 'mailto'. You will notice that it automatically adds the words 'mailto' into the next box. Just click in that box and type in the email address that you want to link to. Do not add any spaces. For example: mailto:graphicsbykelly@hotmail.com Click OK. For a Web Page URL select 'http'. In the URL box below that, type in the address of the web page you want to link to. Again adding no spaces. Click OK and your done.
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Question 6: How can I strip scripts for reuse?
Answer: If you receive an email that you would like to strip and keep for reuse, you must tidy it up some before you can use it. Open the email in outlook and press CTRL-F2 to copy the script to a Windows Notepad Text editor. Here is a simple script that will help us walk through the process:
Sample Script
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"><BASE
href=file://C:\graphicsbykellystationery\>
<STYLE>BODY {
FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: arial
}
</STYLE>
<BGSOUND balance=0 src="
cid:016101c007c1$060ef520$423fa2ce@f5q7j4" volume=0>
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV> </DIV><IMG src="
cid:015f01c007c1$0605cd60$423fa2ce@f5q7j4"
border=0><BR><IMG src="
cid:016001c007c1$0605cd60$423fa2ce@f5q7j4"
border=0><BR></BODY></HTML>
I have highlighted certain areas of the script that need either modified or removed. The yellow highlighted areas can and should always be removed completely. These include all
tags, tags, and tags. The tags always start with a < symbol, and end with a > symbol. Remove everything within, including these symbols.
The areas highlighted in white will need to be modified. These are the cid (Content-ID) numbers which identify the files. In this script, they are the two images and one sound file. You will need to remove the contents located in the white and replace it with the file name. For example, the first white highlighted section is the background sound. You will need to replace the contents with the name of the music or sound file you wish to use. Be sure to use the full file path. An example would be as follows: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery\pastel flower\Cher_-_Shoop_Shoop_Song.mid. Change this string of code to agree with your file system and where you are storing your music files. Do the same with the image files. You might have to experiment with these. Most of the time there is more then one image file made up of background images, main picture image, border images, floaters, etc. You will catch on quickly as to which one is which and when in doubt just try one. If its wrong, no harm done. Just replace it. All you need do now is save and name the script from the notepad window into your Outlook Stationery file. Now, a handy little tip. To save all of the embedded files in a stationery, this is the easiest method I have found. Open the stationery in Outlook that you are stripping and click 'Forward'. Click on 'File' then 'Save Attachments'. You can either save like file types at one time or drag and drop them into a Windows Explorer window if you have one visible. I keep files on my harddrive for each stationery component. For example I have a file for just midi files, a file for just backgrounds, one for pictures, etc. I like to drag and drop the components into those files so that I can have them handy for future use. I then make a new folder in Outlook Express Stationery for each stationery I make. I select a name that will clue me in to what the stationery is... drop all the graphic and music components used into that file. When I am thru with my newly striped and rebuilt script, I save it to that file also. Make sure though that when your entering the file path in your newly stripped and rebuilt stationery for those components, you have the proper path specified. In the path shown above, note that I have included the name of my file located in OE Stationery, in this case its called 'pastel flower'.
The more you work with copying and stripping scripts the more it makes sense and the easier it will get. I learned from trial and error and just plain reading scripts until it started making sense.
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