CUSTOMISE  THE  E-MAIL  COLUMNS

After re-sizing the Windows Mail window panes (see previous section) the next thing to do is customise the Columns of the E-Mail window pane. At the moment only the Priority (Exclamation Mark), Attachment (Paper Clip), Flag, From and Subject columns are in view. The Received and Size columns for example are hidden.


The re-sized window panes from the previous, RE-SIZE WINDOW PANES, section.

The first step to customising the columns is deciding which columns you actually need, so that you can take out any unneeded columns and/or add more columns. Begin by right clicking on the SUBJECT column heading/title to bring up the Column Options menu (Fig 2.0 below) and then select (left click on) the COLUMNS menu-item to bring up the Columns window (Fig 2.1).



Fig 2.0  Right click on the SUBJECT column heading/title to display the Columns menu



Fig 2.1  Un-Tick (Clear) the columns you do not need

The next thing to do is look through the list of columns and decide which columns you need and which columns you do not need. With each column you need make sure it is ticked (set). And with each column you do not need make sure it is un-ticked (clear). Use the scroll bars and/or arrow buttons, if need be, to go up/down the list of columns.


Fig 2.2  Tick (Set) the columns you need

In Fig 2.2 above I have cleared (un-ticked) the Priority column and set (ticked) the Received, Account and Size columns. The Flag column was cleared in Fig 2.1 above. With the columns chosen I now want to put them into some sort of order. This is done by selecting a column's name and then clicking on the MOVE UP (or MOVE DOWN) button to move that column up (or down) one position. Do not click on a column's tick box to select the column, click on its name only.


Fig 2.3  Select a column's name and then move it one position with MOVE UP or MOVE DOWN



Fig 2.4  The SIZE column has moved up two positions already

In Fig 2.3 above I have selected the SIZE column and then moved it up two positions (Fig 2.4 above). When you have finished un-ticking/ticking the columns and moved them into position click on the OK button to continue. Your column changes, if any, will then be applied before the Columns window closes.

When a column is selected the SHOW and HIDE buttons act the same as tick and un-tick. The RESET button resets the columns back to Windows Mail manufacturer settings. This means only the Priority, Attachment, Flag, From and Subject columns are shown, using their orignal widths. Any width changes you may of done using the PIXELS WIDE Edit Box, or done by manually widening the columns, will also be reset.



Fig 2.5  The column changes have been applied

After clicking on the Column window's OK button to set my changes the Priority and Flag columns are removed and the Size, Received and Account columns are added. All in the order I specified. The next step is to re-size the columns manually so that they can all be seen comfortably.

Although you can re-size each column using the PIXEL WIDTH Edit Box on the Column window I would recommend re-sizing each column manually, using the Mouse Drag technique and your eye-sight. This is because, unless you know exactly what pixel (dot) width to make each column, you will always be entering pixel widths until you are happy with the width.

Start by moving the mouse pointer towards the gray line that seperates the FROM column and the SUBJECT column (Fig 2.6 below). When the mouse pointer reaches the gray line it changes into the Drag mouse pointer, which is cross shaped, and the column that will be re-sized is highlighted in light-blue. This is always the column to the left of the Drag mouse pointer. In this example the FROM column. With the Drag mouse pointer in place, click the left mouse button and keep it clicked (held down) as you now move the drag mouse pointer either left or right to re-size the FROM column (Fig 2.7 below). As you are moving (dragging) the mouse pointer a black guiding line will appear (Fig 2.7). Use it to help you re-size the FROM column.



Fig 2.6  Move the mouse pointer to a gray line that seperates two columns




Fig 2.7  Keep the left mouse button clicked as you move (drag) the column

When you are happy with the FROM column's width simply let go of the left mouse button. If you are not happy with the FROM column's width you can always re-size it until you are happy. With the FROM column try and leave enough space for at least 15 characters to be displayed.



Fig 2.8  Release the left mouse button when you are happy with the column's width

After re-sizing the FROM column carry out the above Drag technique to re-size any other columns. In the example below, after re-sizing the RECEIVED column it moved the ACCOUNT column to the right (as it should do) partly out of view (Contact John can be seen but not the width of the column). This then forced the E-Mail window pane to use scrollbars due to the width of the ACCOUNT column. Therefore, in order to get every column viewable inside the E-Mail window pane it may be necessary to scroll the pane rightwards so that any hidden column(s) can be re-sized.



Fig 2.9  The account name can be seen on the ACCOUNT column but the column's width is forcing scrollbars in the E-Mail window pane




Fig 2.10  Scroll the E-Mail window pane rightwards to see any hidden column(s) and then re-size as necessary




Fig 2.11  All columns have now been re-sized to fit inside the E-Mail window pane without scrollbars

Ideally you re-size each column, if need be, until they are all viewable within the E-Mail window pane (Fig 2.11 above) without scrollbars. If this is not possible because your screen's width is too small I would advise you have the FROM and SUBJECT columns viewable and quite wide and have the SIZE and RECEIVED columns hidden, if necessary, as they are usually considered less important - You can always scroll the E-Mail window pane to view any hidden columns of course. On the other hand, you could have SIZE before FROM if you really need to know the size each e-mail. It is totally up to you how you customise the E-Mail window pane with columns.

COLUMN  CONTENT  ORDER

Once the columns have been customised you may then want to put a column's content into some sort of order. For example. You may want the e-mails in order of Size, in order of when they were Received or in Alphabetical order. Basically, you click on a column to put its content in either ascending order or descending order. Only one column's content can be put into order though. This means the other columns will be affected order-wise. For example. If you change the SIZE column's content order to show the largest e-mails first it will affect the FROM column - The FROM content will be re-order. This next example shows how to put the RECEIVED column into order and how that affects the FROM column for example.

In the example below the e-mails are in FROM column, Alphabetical (Ascending), order. This means if there were hundreds of e-mails you would have to scroll down the E-Mail window pane to get to the last received e-mail. Fortunately, you can use the RECEIVED column to put the last received e-mail at the top of the E-Mail window pane. To do this begin by clicking on the RECEIVED column.



Fig 2.12  Click on the RECEIVED column to activate it




Fig 2.13  The RECEIVED column has been activated




Fig 2.14  Click on the RECEIVED column (again) to change the content order

After clicking on the RECEIVED column for the first time (Fig 2.12 above) it activates the current (last clicked on) e-mail (Fig 2.13 above) and shows the last order of the RECEIVED column - Ascending order in this example. Clicking on the RECEIVED column a second time (Fig 2.14 above) changes the e-mail order into Descending order. Clicking on RECEIVED after that switches the order between Ascending and Descending all the time. The little black arrow that appears next to a column's heading/title indicates which order that column is currently in.

Experiment with each column, by clicking on each one, until you are satisfied which column's content you want put in order. Remember. Only one column's content can be in order. You cannot have SUBJECT's content listed in alphabetical order at the same time as having the RECEIVED dates/times in ascending order for example. The above example was purposely easy, using only two e-mails, but when you have more e-mails to work with you will probably find yourself searching for specific e-mails using the FROM and RECEIVED columns.

MOVE  A  COLUMN

In Fig 2.3 above I explained how to move a column up/down one position using the MOVE UP / MOVE DOWN buttons on the Columns window. Now I will show you how to re-position/move a column using the Drag technique. In this example you are going to Drag (move) the SIZE column to the left and place it in between the FROM and SUBJECT columns.

Begin by clicking on the SIZE column. Keep the left mouse button clicked (held down) and then move the mouse pointer leftwards. As you do this a faded version of the SIZE column will appear on the left-hand-side of the real SIZE column. Use the faded version as a position guide.



Fig 2.15  Use the faded SIZE column as a position guide

When the SIZE column is ready to replace the SUBJECT column a, heavy-ish, dark blue line appears on the left-hand-side of the SUBJECT column. It is indicating that you can now release the left mouse button, so that the SIZE column can take the position occupied by the SUBJECT column. The SUBJECT column will then move into the position that was occupied by the SIZE column.



Fig 2.16  When you see the dark blue line appear, on the left-hand-side of a column, release the left mouse button.




Fig 2.17  The SIZE and SUBJECT columns have swap positions

When you release the left mouse button the SIZE and SUBJECT columns swap positions. As you can see from above, the content of each column (i.e Size) is also moved (swapped over) and left intact - It is not just the column's heading/title that moves.

If you want to swap the columns over again, or move a column to the right, simply follow the above drag technique but move the mouse pointer rightwards instead.



Fig 2.18  Drag (move) the mouse pointer rightwards in order to move a column to the right

The next customisation section teaches you how to customise the Toolbar, which is the long-thin window with the Buttons on it (CREATE MAIL, REPLY, DELETE and so on).



Re-Size Window Panes Index Customise The Toolbar