OL98: Finding Information on How to Customize the Outlook Today Page (194978)

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Information about customizing the Outlook Today page is provided in the Outlook Deployment Kit (ODK) documentation. You can download the ODK documentation from the following Microsoft Web site: The following are the introductory paragraphs on customizing Outlook Today from Chapter 4 of the Outlook Deployment Kit.

Microsoft Outlook 98 includes a unique "at a glance" view called Outlook Today. This view displays information about the user's calendar, tasks, e- mail, and contacts, using the familiar and attractive style of a Web page. Outlook Today lists upcoming appointments, indicates what tasks are due, lets users search Outlook for contacts, and shows the number of unread e- mail messages in the user's Inbox. Each item on the Outlook Today page is a hyperlink to an Outlook item or view, so users can gain access to more specific information about a meeting or check off a completed task. And end user can easily customize his or her Outlook Today page by using the Outlook Today Options page. For example, the Options page lets end users change how many days of meetings to display.
Outlook Today displays information in HTML, which allows limited customization by enterprise developers and solution providers. Outlook Today can be thought of as a "home page" of information available to Outlook users; therefore, it provides an excellent opportunity to deliver corporate intranet or public Internet content, in addition to Outlook information. For example, you might create a standard Outlook Today page that shows a bulletin of corporate news and a stock ticker tied to real- time market data taken from the Web. A customized version of Outlook Today might also contain information drawn from other enterprise applications (such as account tracking or financial management software), enabling an Outlook Today page that is targeted to a specific job function within an organization. For example, you might create an Outlook Today page for sales and marketing employees, the accounting department, or senior management.

Outlook Today uses databinding, a new feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, to link an HTML table on the page to a datasource -- Outlook 98, in this case -- via an ActiveX(R) datasource control. The page has separate databinding tables for the Calendar, Mail, and Tasks sections. After the page loads, the datasource controls collect the appropriate Outlook information and display it in the databinding tables. Whenever the source information is updated or new items are created, the databinding controls update their tables dynamically without refreshing the page. (For more information about databinding, see the Internet Client SDK). You can customize the Outlook Today page in the following ways:

• Adding text, links, and images
• Adding script
• Adding ActiveX components
• Changing styles (backgrounds, fonts, etc.)

Customizing Outlook Today is an advanced developer feature. Therefore, keep in mind the following limitations when you add content and functionality to the Outlook Today page:

• Although Outlook Today provides users with a powerful time-saving summary view, it is not intended to replace the Inbox, Calendar, or Task modules. Nor is Outlook Today intended to replace a Web browser. You should consider Outlook Today as a summary and starting point for personal, intranet, and Internet information delivery.
• Modifying the Outlook Today page may result in reduced performance when information is retrieved and rendered on the page. Again, you should consider the Outlook Today page as a starting point, which users read at startup or check into periodically during the day or week.
• Outlook Today is expected to change in future releases of the product. Therefore, any changes to Outlook Today pages that work in Outlook 98 may require additional updates or rewriting in future versions of Outlook.
• You can modify Outlook Today by adding links or controls that connect to untrusted, external Web sites or content providers. Outlook Today does not verify the security of the URL you assign to Outlook Today in the registry or the pages you browse within the Outlook Today frame. Outlook Today pages that contain unsafe content can expose individual users and entire organizations to the risks associated with that content, including viruses and data destruction. Note: If you must include links to untrusted, external sites on your customized page, make sure that the links launch the URLs in a new browser window to take advantage of browser security. For instructions, see "Customization Details" in this chapter.
• You cannot add Outlook Today as an Active Desktop item. The Outlook Today functionality only works when it is hosted within the Outlook window.