ENT2001: How to Use Categories in Entourage (276061)

MORE INFORMATION

This article discusses the following topics:

• How to Assign Categories to Items
• How to Remove Categories from an Item
• How to Change the Color of a Category
• How to Create a New Category
• How to Delete a Category
• How to Change the Primary Category of an Item
• How to Display All Items Associated With a Category
• How to Assign Categories by Using Rules

How to Assign Categories to Items

Use the following steps to assign a Category to an item:

1. Click the item to which you want to assign to a category.
2. On the Edit menu, click Categories, and then click Assign Categories.
3. Click to select the category to add the item to a specific category.
4. Click OK.

How to Remove Categories from an Item

Use the following steps to remove a Category from an item:

1. Click the item to which you want to remove from a category.
2. On the Edit menu, click Categories, and then click Assign Categories.
3. Click to clear the category to remove the item from a specific category.
4. Click OK.

How to Change the Color of a Category

Categories assign a color to each item to which they are associated. Use the following steps to customize the color for each category:

1. On the Edit menu, click Categories, and then click Edit Categories.
2. In the Color column, click the color to the right of the category that you want to customize, and then click to select any of the colors from the box. You can click Other to create you own custom color from the Apple Macintosh Color Palette.
3. Close the Categories dialog box.

How to Create a New Category

Use the following steps to create a new category:

1. On the Edit menu, click Categories, and then click Edit Categories.
2. Click New, type in a name for the new category, and then press ENTER.
3. Close the Categories dialog box.

How to Delete a Category

Use the following steps to delete a category:

1. On the Edit menu, click Categories, and then click Edit Categories.
2. Click to select the category that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
3. Close the Categories dialog box.

NOTE:If you delete a category that is assigned to an item, the item switches to the next category available, or it switches to None if there are not any other categories selected. The individual item is not deleted. Additionally, you cannot delete the Junk Mail category.

How to Change the Primary Category of an Item

You can assign multiple categories to an item. If you use multiple categories, Entourage selects the first category that was assigned as the Primary category. In lists, the item appears in the color of its Primary category and is sorted by the Primary category.

Use the following steps to change the Primary category of an item:

1. Click the item to which the category is assigned.
2. On the Edit menu, click Categories, and choose Assign Categories.
3. Click the category that you want to set as the Primary category, and then click Set Primary.
4. Click OK.

How to Display all Items Associated With a Category

Use the following steps to display all items associated with a category:

1. On the Edit menu, click Categories, and then click Edit Categories.
2. Click the category whose items you want to display.
3. Click Find Items in Category.

How to Assign Categories by Using Rules

You can assign categories to messages as they arrive by using Rules.

NOTE: By default, messages that you receive are automatically categorized by Sender. When you assign a category to a contact in your address book, all messages that you receive from that contact are automatically assigned the same category as the contact.

Use the following steps to assign categories by using a Rule:

1. On the Tools menu, click Rules.
2. In the Rules dialog box, click the e-mail tab that matches the account for which you are creating the Rule, and then click New.
3. In the Rule Name box, type a descriptive name for this Rule. For example, "Assign Category for Incoming Mail."
4. In the If dialog box, click the criteria required to activate this Rule.
5. In Then dialog box, click Set Category in the Action box, and then click the appropriate category from the adjacent list.
6. Click OK.