Thanks Sue, and Russ, for your explanations. It's becoming clearer now
(although I don't know what 'IMO' is or was; but that doesn't matter as it's
not around anymore!).
I am in the process of re-populating my Contacts after a hard drive loss and
subsequent rebuild/applications upgrade. This new fangled thing is quite
different and will take a little getting used to, hence the questioning.
Thanks again for your comments.
Frank
"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
What is the Nickname field for in 2003? What purpose does it serve, and how
so?
The Nickname field holds data, like any other text field, that you can edit and use in searches in the Advanced Find dialog on that particular field. That field has no other special meaning within Outlook. You could put the person's pet's name or the name of a vegetable there, and Outlook wouldn't care.
For what you want to do -- enter a shortcut name for a contact when addressing a message -- a one-member distribution list is the solution.
Note: Apparently you were using Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 is its very problematic IMO mode. The functionality you recall for the Nickname field worked only in that configuration.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx
"FranksBank" wrote in message ...
There seems to be a continual denial that Nickname usage has existed in
anything other than peculiar versions of Outlook. I have used Outlook '98,
2000 and now 2003 in various offices and at home; all aparently standard
versions. Only now in the 2003 version can I not use Nicknames in the way
that I have used them before. As follows:
Having set a nickname, I could hit Ctrl-K and have the relevant detail
appear in the To field. The fact that this does not work in Outlook 2003 is,
to say the least, extremely frustrating. It never ceases to amaze me how
application advances often translate into functional deterioration.
Having been unable to find a satisfactory answer to the question 'how do I
use my nicknames?' I would like to re-phrase this question and put it to to
the forum:
What is the Nickname field for in 2003? What purpose does it serve, and how
so?
Rather than a repeated 'that won't work and never did' answer, it would be
very useful and customer friendly to explain exactly what the field is about
and how it may be used.
Many thanks for any further constructive assistance with this issue.
Kind regards
FB
"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
Not in any standard version of Outlook. Only the long abandoned IMO mode of
Outlook made use of that field.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
wrote in message
ups.com...
There is a nickname field in the Contats setup page. This is the name
you could (previous to Outlook 2003) use in place of an actual e-mail
address in the "To" field, or the other fileds in a newlwy composed
message.