Template Phrases for Microsoft^® Outlook^®

How to create a new template

For Microsoft Outlook 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit), Outlook 2007, Outlook 2003.

• Create a new template
  • How to edit templates
  • How to use macros in your templates
• Paste a template into the message
• Manage templates tree
• Share templates
• Back up and transfer your templates
• Quickly find the necessary templates
• Work with the Favorites
• Template Phrases Options
• Manage the add-in pane
• Back to Template Phrases Overview

Create a new template

There are two ways of creating a new template:

The easiest way of creating a new template is using the desired text fragment from the e-mail message body:

1. Select the text that you’d like to become a template in the message body.
2. Click on the New template icon on the Template Phrases toolbar:
   or right-click on the place in the templates tree where you’d like to have the new template and select the New template option.

   Tip: You can also use the Insert key to create a new template.

3. The selected text will be automatically populated in the New template dialog box. By default, the first line of your text becomes the Template name. You can edit the template name so that you can quickly find the template when you need it.
4. Click OK and you will see a new template in your template tree.

If you would like to create a template from scratch, please follow these steps:

1. Open a new message window in Outlook so that you can see the add-in's pane.
2. Click on the New template icon on the pane toolbar or right-click on the place in the templates tree where you’d like to have the new template and select the New template option. You will see a New template dialog box with two fields: the template name and its text.
3. Enter the name for the new template into the Template name field. This can be a short summary that will let you quickly find the template when you need it.
4. Type the text of the template into the bigger field below. And add the necessary formatting. You can see all basic formatting options on the toolbar at the top of the text box.
   You will also see additional formatting options like managing hyperlinks if you right-click on the template text.
   
5. Click OK and you will see a new template in your template tree.

How to edit templates

1. Select a template in the list.
2. Press F2 key on your keyboard or the Edit icon on the Template Phrases toolbar. You can also right-click on the template and select the Edit option.
3. Make the necessary changes to the template and click OK.

How to use macros in your templates

Macros will help you in executing routine operations, so that each time you insert a certain template you don't have to attach a particular file or enter the same address into the TO field; there are many useful things you can do with macros:

1. To insert a macro into your template, select the template in the list and click Edit.
2. Click on the Insert macros button at the bottom of the Edit template window. Here is a list of macros to choose from and a description of what they can do:
   • ~%ATTACHFILE= use this macro to automatically attach a file each time you paste the template. Once you insert this macro, you'll see Widows Explorer window where you can browse for the file to be attached. After you select the file and click OK, the macro will contain the file path after =, e.g. :
     
     ~%ATTACHFILE=C:\Program Files\Add-in Express\AddIns\Template Phrases for Microsoft Outlook\readme.txt
     
     Now each time you insert the template with this macro into a message, the file will be attached and you'll get a confirmation window about it. You can disable confirmation if you like.

     Note! We recommend inserting this macro after the template text. Otherwise please make sure you start a new sentence from a new line so that it doesn't interfere with the file path.

   • ~%ATTACHMENTS – This macro inserts a list of attachments into the message text. Each time you use a template with this macro, all the attachment names will be listed in the message body.
   • ~%TO macro inserts the display name of a contact from the TO field into the body of the message. E.g. you can start a template with "Hi ~%TO," and each time you insert it, the macro will be replaced with the recipient display name, e.g. "Hi James".
   • ~%BCC macro inserts the address(es) from the BCC field into the message.
   • ~%CC macro inserts the address(es) from the CC field into the message.
   • ~%SUBJECT macro inserts the contents of the Subject field into the message.
   • ~%CLIPBOARD macro inserts the clipboard item into the message.
   • ~%DATE macro inserts the current date.
   • ~%TIME macro inserts the current time.
   • ~%FILLTO= macro will automatically fill in the TO field with the email address you enter after =, e.g. ~%FILLTO=support@ablebits.com
   • ~%FILLCC= macro will automatically fill in the CC field with the email address you enter after =, e.g. ~%FILLCC=support@ablebits.com
   • ~%FILLBCC= macro will automatically fill in the BCC field with the email address you enter after =, e.g. ~%FILLBCC=support@ablebits.com
   • ~%FILLSUBJECT= macro will automatically fill in the Subject field with the text you enter after =, e.g. ~%FILLSUBJECT=Sample Subject. Now each time you insert the template with this macro the subject will be set to the one you entered.
   • ~%SELECTED macro is for similar e-mails with some text that may vary, like the product name, price, etc. Just highlight the text that needs to be used this time before inserting the template with this macro and ~%SELECTED is replaced with the selection. For example, instead of creating a number of templates like these:
     • Our Template Phrases for Microsoft Outlook is compatible with ...
     • Our Auto BCC for Microsoft Outlook is compatible with ...
     • Our Attachments Alarm is compatible with ...
     We create just one template:
     Our ~%SELECTED is compatible with Microsoft Outlook 2003-2010.
     
     So when we reply to a question about compatibility of the Template Phrases with Outlook, we copy the add-in's name from the customer's question, paste it to our reply message and highlight it.
     
     Then we double click on the template and get:
     Our Template Phrases is compatible with Microsoft Outlook 2003-2010.
   • ~%WHAT_TO_ENTER[field label] macro prompts you to enter the necessary value every time you insert a template into the message. E.g. if you insert ~%WHAT_TO_ENTER [Name] into the template, each time you paste it you'll see a dialog box that will let you enter the name. Note that if you use this macro with the same text in square brackets several times in one template, you'll get just one dialog box to fill in the value and it will be populated in the place of all the same ~%WHAT_TO_ENTER macros.

     Tip: You can even pre-populate possible values by listing them in square brackets separated by a semicolon; in this case you'll get a drop-down list with them, e.g.

     ~%WHAT_TO_ENTER [Template Phrases; Auto BCC; Attachment Alarm]

     
   • ~%INSERT_RECIPIENT_FIRSTNAME macro inserts the first name of the recipient if their contacts are saved in Outlook Contacts (the panel in the lower left corner of your Outlook).
   • ~%INSERT_RECIPIENT_FULLNAME macro inserts the full name of the recipient if their contacts are saved in Outlook Contacts (the panel in the lower left corner of your Outlook).
   • ~%INSERT_RECIPIENT_LASTNAME macro inserts the last name of the recipient if their contacts are saved in Outlook Contacts (the panel in the lower left corner of your Outlook).

     Tip: If you want to insert the recipient's name that is not in your Outlook Contacts, use the ~%TO macro.

   • ~%REQUEST_DELIVERY_RECEIPT macro will automatically request delivery receipt.
   • ~%SET_HIGH_IMPORTANCE macro will automatically set message importance to High.
   • ~%SET_LOW_IMPORTANCE macro will automatically set message importance to Low.
3. Insert the macros you need into the template.
4. Click OK in the Edit template window to save changes.

See Next

• Paste a template into message

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