Pages
Stay In Touch
More
© 2010 Administrative Sparkle Blog
My latest challenge involves using distribution lists when all users access the same “Global” directory.
THE SCENARIO
I work for the State of California. One of my tasks was to manage the Branch’s distribution lists. Adding new staff and removing staff who have left. Quite a few months ago IT created new distribution lists, distribution lists that I did not have permissions to edit in order to keep them current. The distribution lists recreated in the “Global” do not reflect the continual revolving door of staff leaving and coming on. So, in the interim, till IT is able to resolve the issue by giving me the necessary permission or, in the alternative, maintaining the lists themselves, I created distribution lists that I could send to the entire Branch staff for use.
This fix however does not resolve the issue for outside departments and units who do not receive my distribution lists, which are sent by email as attachments and saved in each person’s personal Contacts directory, such as the Receiver’s office.
Nevertheless, I was asked by someone from another department how I was able to send my distribution lists to other people to use and directions on how to transfer them into their own personal Contacts directory. And, yes, I have created a reputation for knowing how to do really unusual computer stuff to people outside of my own department, even so far as departments in other locations outside of my direct sphere of contact, network, or relationship to my department. Word gets out and people let their colleagues know a resource they find valuable. Strange, but true.
So here is the step-by-step on how to save a distribution list that has been sent to you by email.
DIRECTIONS
While in your opened email with the attached distribution lists, using your mouse, you will need to “drag and drop” each distribution list, individually, onto your “Contacts” tab in Outlook. If you hold down the Shift key and mouse click on each distribution list, this will allow you to select them all and drag them collectively to your “Contacts” tab in one fell swoop.
We will use the following example distributions lists as the attached:
- Centralized Hiring (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Education & Training (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Planning Northern (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Planning Southern (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Recruitment Outreach (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Selection Services (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Workforce Development Branch (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory, as well as the six distribution lists above). This will be the master distribution list for the entire Branch.
DIRECTIONS FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BRANCH
This distribution list allows you to send to the entire Branch without having to select each unit distribution lists individually because we are consolidating all of them within this one distribution list. Did that make sense? I hope so.
This particular distribution list will require your edits; otherwise, it will not recognize the referenced distribution lists.
- With the Workforce Development Branch transferred into your “Contacts,” double-click on it to open it for editing.
- Delete the existing distribution lists (they are bold). The reason for deleting the existing distribution lists is because your system is looking for them on the global and they don’t exist there. What we need to do is replace them with the ones you transferred to your personal Contact list.
- With the Workforce Development Branch distribution list still open (only individual names remaining), first, select the tab titled “Select Members.”
- The “Select Members” dialog box will appear. At the top right hand side of the dialog box, just below the big red X, a drop down menu called “Show Names from the” will display your various directories. Select “Outlook Address Book: Contacts.” This is your personal directory. The “Select Members” dialog will refresh to display all the names and distribution lists that you create in Outlook.
- Scroll down to the bolded distribution lists that you added earlier and select all the above distribution lists except Workforce Development Branch distribution list, by clicking on and selecting each distribution list and then clicking on the tab “Members” just below the window of names where it says “Add to distribution list.” Once again, If you hold down the Shift key and mouse click on each distribution list, this will allow you to select them all and add by clicking on “Members” in one fell swoop.
- Click on the OK button located at the very bottom of the dialog box.
- The dialog box will disappear. One last step. On the Menu Bar, click on Save and Close.
That’s it!
REMINDER
Individual names and distribution lists will transfer as long as they come directly from the community-shared “Global” directory. If the names and distribution lists are unique to your personal “Contacts” directory, they will not transfer.
ANOTHER REMINDER
To use these distribution lists in your email, remember to access them from “Outlook Address Book: Contacts,” where it says “Show Names from the” drop down directory listing.
UPDATE
Tami left me a comment that encouraged me to probe the effect of whether my distribution lists sent by email worked when sent outside the “internal” office global directory network. This is what I discovered:
I have to admit this would be a “internal” business tip. In researching the effects when the distribution lists are sent outside the office (or office computer network), I sent the distribution lists to my home computer. Two issues arise:
1. I use MS Outlook Standard at home and MS Outlook Professional at work. My attachments come over as email messages, they are no longer distribution lists containing the contact information. This brings us to Point 2.
2. The names provided in the distribution lists come from the “internal” network global directory. Outside the office, they don’t exist.
Problem. You have created a fabulous spreadsheet. You’ve entered text and formulas and all that is required to update the spreadsheet is the data. The user input is entered by others than yourself and you are discovering that certain cells are being modified, such as “Sum” formula cells. The individual doesn’t even have to enter anything because the formula will automatically update that cell. But, no, you’re dealing with a person who thinks they need to update that field with manual input.
Answer. To maintain the integrity of the sheet and its corresponding formulas and links, you are going to want to lock them out. Not the entire sheet of course. After all, you need them to enter their data. You can lock out individual cells. This is what you can do to keep sticky fingers out of your cells.
1. First, unlock all the cells on the sheet so you can pick and choose which ones you want to protect. Click on the left corner (see picture below) or press Ctrl-A to select the entire sheet.
2. Right-click your mouse and select Format Cells. Select the tab Protection and clear the check box next to Locked. It will look like this:
3. Click OK.
4. Back at your spreadsheet, select the cells you want others to stay out of. You can select multiple cells by holding down the Ctrl key and left-clicking your mouse on the cells you want to lock up. You don’t have to do one cell at a time, you can do them all at once. If your cells are consecutive, next to each other, hold down the Shift key and drag your mouse through all the cells you want.
5. Now that you have made your selection, go back into the Protection tab. Right-click in the spreadsheet, select Format Cells, then left-click the Protection tab, and put the checkmark in the box Locked. So now it looks like this:
6. Lock and Load. You have primed your document for selective lockout. You’re going to like this, I promise. In Excel 2007, you will want to select Review in the menu, then select Protect Sheet. You will see three boxes checked (see picture below). You can leave those checked and enter a password in the section that says, “Password to unprotect sheet:,” and click on OK. A dialog box will prompt you to confirm the password. Re-enter the password and click OK.
That’s it. You’re done. You can test this by attempting to type in the cell. A warning dialog box will stop your unsuspecting violator in their tracks. JUST REMEMBER YOUR PASSWORD.
If you need to make changes to your protected cells, just follow the same procedure in line item #6. Instead you will see Unprotect Sheet instead of Protect Sheet. You only have to put your password in once here. Remember, passwords are also case sensitive. So if you have Caps Lock on, that’s what you’ll get. I’ve done that, so if you feel like you’ve been locked out and you know for a fact that you know the password, put your Caps Lock on and that should get you in.
I hope this tip helps keep your vagrants at bay and the integrity of your worksheet intact. If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment and I will respond within 24 hours. I have some rather elaborate spreadsheets and a lot of users who input data. This has saved me immense time and frustration in maintaining a lot of associated links located on additional spreadsheet tabs and workbooks that reference those cells where I will receive value error in the field if the cell is modified.
Let me know if you find this tip helpful, if you have any suggestions, or would like to elaborate. Also, let me know if you find the graphics helpful. Share with your fellow colleagues and let them know where they can find a great resource for information by visiting this website. Share the knowledge is what I always say!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e878ac70-e592-4d6e-8f63-894f12a0df2c)
This is a really easy tip and, surprising, many aren’t aware that you can add, delete, and manipulate your PDFs in Adobe. You do have to have the full-blown version of Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Reader will not do.
Inserting a PDF into a PDF
If you have an existing PDF and want to add additional information consisting of another PDF document, without having to send over seperate and multiple files in an email, here are your steps:
- Open your first document, the one you want to add the information to.
- In the menu bar, select Document.
- In the drop down menu, select Insert Pages…
- A file directory will appear. Locate and select the PDF file you want to insert.
- An Insert Pages prompt will display.
- First choose the location. Your choices in the drop down menu will be Before or After.
- Then select the Page you want it to start. The radio buttons are First, Last, and Page __ of ## (you type in the page location in the box. It will look like this:
When you say OK, remember that the beginning of the document will be placed “Before” or “After” the very first page of the existing document you are working in, the very last page, or within the document at a specific page location. I usually select “Before” First (so it starts at the very beginning of the document), or “After” Last (so it is merely appended to the back end of the document, or “After” a specific page location (so it is placed in the middle of the document after a certain page).
If you want to see how the full document is laid out. On the left side, there are six icons (four left-side top and two left-side bottom). Right-click on the very first icon that looks like two pages and a vertical display of a thumbnail preview of your pages will appear.
Multiple Program Documents
If you are finding difficulty in getting different program information into one document (i.e., inserting Excel information into a Word document), just convert your documents into PDF and insert the pages with the tip I just explained. I have worked with a lot of administrative staff that just hate being bothered with the hassle of manipulating different program information into one consolidated document. This usually consists of Inserting an Object, or other techniques.
Manipulate Your PDF
You want to move your PDF pages into a different order. This is really simple. All you have to do is bring up your vertical thumbnail view I mentioned earlier, click-and-drag the page to its new location. The vertical slider will move up and down till you get where you want to drop your page.
Deleting PDF Pages
The easiest way to do this is to just mouse-click on the thumbnail page or by pressing down on the the Ctrl button, you can select as many pages as you want. Once you have made your selection, hit the Delete key. You will be prompted if you are sure you want to delete the page(s). Just click OK. Super easy!
Extraction
Lets say you have a large PDF document that you want to save specific pages as another file. Follow the same procedure as above to Insert Pages…, but instead select Extract Pages… Select the specific pages you want saved as a document, and don’t forget to select the radio button that says Extract Pages As Separate Files, and click OK. It will look like this:
A “Browser For Folder” prompt will appear, select the directory location for the separated pages to be saved and click OK. This process does not delete the pages from your existing document. It’s like saving a copy of those pages, and eliminating extraneous pages, to a separate file of only the information you want to dessiminate. I hope that makes sense.
Anyway, there are a lot of things you can do with PDFs in Adobe Acrobat, but these are just a few really useful and easy tips for putting together, consolidating, manipulating, or refining a PDF document.
If you like this tip, please share and let your friends know where they can get some useful tips and information. I enjoy getting your feedback and please let me know if you have a question about something that is driving you crazy and you really believe there has got to be an easier solution. I’ll see what I can do.
Have you ever had something staring you right in the face and you just don’t get it. It happens when you buy a car. All of a sudden the car you buy is everywhere, before, you rarely saw it. Now they are EVERYWHERE.
Let me just say, I didn’t mean for this to be so long. After going through the information, I really wanted to provide the details of what you would see and get. So with that said, I hope you enjoy the post and check it out for yourself.
That brings me to my challenge for today. I work on three different computers: the office, home, and the laptop. I don’t lug my laptop around with me wherever I go. So I was looking for technology that met three criteria:
- My work has become more collaborative, requiring the necessity to be able to share documents with people who are not on my network or server;
- I would need access to the documents when working on a different computer, once again, not on the network or server; and
- I need to be able to work the document in the program I created it in and others can use as well.
There you have my dilemma.
It dawns on me that I have been reading a lot in my “feeds” about Google Docs. So I dove in to see if this was the answer I had been seeking. I work on resumes and require access to the most current version of the document when preparing a mailing series. The document is in Word, complete with graphic lines and WordArt Text.
Google Docs failed my qualifications. Google Docs strips it down to its basic elements. Looks nice, but anything graphical is eliminated. I suggest this as a simplistic method of sharing information. One great use is for students. Kids who are living between two houses and juggling homework between the two. This option eliminates carrying a flash drive in a bag full of books.
My conclusion for Google Docs is a glorified word processor and hard drive in the clouds. Nothing fancy, but it does store your documents for retrieval wherever you are and available when working on various computers.
My second option, Office Live Workspace. As soon as I executed the desired workspace, the Job Search Workspace, loaded the Word document, and then executed the saved document, I got exactly what I wanted. Microsoft Word executed and the exact replica of the document slid onto my desktop. Now I had to test the second criteria: sharing the document. I sent off the invitation to my client to see if she was able to access her documents.
She was floored with what she was presented. She had her resume and cover letter, but she was also greeted with the following: Interview Preparation Notes, Interview Schedule, Interview Thank You Letter, Job Contacts, and Informational Interview Request. I had just prepared her with the perfect “workspace” to keep everything organized, managed, and manageable. And, she could access all this information anywhere.
She divides her time between the office, the place she lives at during the workweek, and her home 100 miles away. She prefers to keep her travel light, so eliminating the need to transport her computer back and forth every week definitely simplifies her life. However, she does travel with a plethora of flash drives and my work doesn’t have to be included when she is searching for all her job search documentation. I just made her computing life easier, arrangement of all her job search information in her workspace environment, and now whenever she needs changes, I have access to all the necessary information at once.
Needless to say, our previous method of manipulating the information was emailing back and forth. When the next round of resume submissions came, I had to request her most recent information. There just had to be a better way. The “cloud.” Now, we are on the ground running.
In the Workspace I have provided her the following documentation:
- Resumes;
- Cover letters;
- The Interview Schedule, listing the company, job position, the event the company is attending or attended, location, the start time, the end time, job description, the interviewer(s) name(s), the interviewer(s) title(s), and the interviewer(s) phone number(s);
- Interview Preparation Notes where she can contact the department in advance to prepare for her interview. She works for the State and is seeking a promotional position. If you have been asked for an interview, you can request their interview questions in advance and they will email it to you. I know, that was weird for me when I first found out.
- The Interview Thank You Letters;
- Job Contacts where she can enter information from their business cards to send their Thank You Letter and follow up; and
- Information Interview Request. It was an option that she had not even considered and may consider in researching what it might take to get the position she wants.
Office Live Workspace comes with a variety of workspaces that preload with various templates just for that subject. Here are the choices of workspaces and their preloaded templates you have to choose from:
- Class Workspace
- Class List with Contact Information
- Class Notes
- Essay Outline
- Important Dates
- Syllabus
- Essay Workspace
- Paper Milestones
- Team Paper Outline
- Term Paper Template
- Thesis Template
- Event Workspace
- Business Event Flyer
- Directions
- Event Agenda
- List of Invitees
- Notes
- Party Invitation
- To-do List
- Household Workspace
- Announcement Board
- Emergency Contact List
- Grocery List
- Household Event List
- Household To-do List
- Job Search Workspace
- Cover Letter
- Informational Interview Request
- Interview Preparation Notes
- Interview Schedule
- Interview Thank You Letter
- Job Contacts
- Resume
- Meeting Workspace
- List of Attendees
- Meeting Minutes
- Meeting Notes
- Meeting Presentation
- To-do List with Owners
- Project Workspace
- Participants
- Project Notes
- Project Overview Presentation
- Project Post-mortem Presentation
- Project Proposal
- Project Schedule
- To-do list
- School Workspace
- Graduation Requirements
- Notes
- Semester Schedule
- Sports Schedule
- To-do List
- Useful Contacts
- Sports Team Workspace
- Announcements
- Directions
- Season Schedule
- Snack Schedule
- Team Roster
- Study Group Workspace
- Announcements
- Event List
- Meeting Notes
- Report Template
- To-do List with Owners
- Travel Workspace
- Business Trip Itinerary
- Packing List
- Personal Data Form
- Travel Checklist
On the left sidebar you have “My Workspaces” where you can view and select from the various Workspaces you are working with. On the right sidebar you can view “Activity,” “Comments,” and your list of “Shared” persons for the selected Workspace. The preloaded templates use the various Microsoft software applications, but Workspace is not limited to just Microsoft applications. Because you can upload your own documents, you can have access to any of your program documents as long as you have the program application on the computer.
It’s easy and it’s free.
If you found this article interesting, I hope you will share your thoughts and ideas of what you do in resolving sharing issues in an age where sharing information has become essential. How have you simplified your sharing challenges? I look forward to hearing your experience.
