The Entourage Help Blog

This is part one of a series of articles on using AppleScripts with Entourage. I want to stress "using" and not writing. You don't have to know anything about writing scripts to use them. This first article will go over the basics for using AppleScripts with Entourage.

AppleScripting Entourage:

Why should I be interested in using AppleScripts with Entourage?

AppleScripts can save you many hours of repetitive work and add features to Entourage.

Using scripts is guaranteed to be easy and most are free. ...what's not to like?

We see lots of comments on the newsgroups about problems using Entourage, but it has many good features too.

One user recently wrote:

I'm curious as to what people here like about Entourage. I like the interface, and having my calendar, notes, email all in one place. Entourage is also pretty good at managing IMAP accounts, and certainly better than Outlook for that, but it's still pretty lacking, especially since I can't import Windows data (PST).

Get your feelings off your chest about what you like and don't like about Entourage. No Microsoft bashing allowed and no foul language. Hope this is cathartic. We will not be responding to comments. This is just an opportunity for you guys to sound off.

Once in a while I get an idea from someone posting a question in the Microsoft Entourage newsgroup and wonder how I managed without it. Someone recently asked this question:

In the primary Inbox window, how can I have the dates in the Sent column display the day of the week also (i.e. Tuesday, 6/24/08, 3:00 PM instead of just 6/24/08, 3:00 PM)?

With a simple change to the International System Preferences pane I can add the weekday to all my dates making messages easier to locate.

Apple will take the .Mac accounts off line tonight, 6:00 PM PST, to begin
the launch of MobileMe.

"Members will be unable to access www.mac.com or any .Mac services during this time with the exception of .Mac Mail accessed via a desktop application, iPhone, or iPod touch,

See Apple's .mac support page for more info.

In "Using AppleScripts with Entourage Part 2", I want to discuss some of my most used scripts. If I had to pay on a per use basis, I would be broke. I have many others that are favorites but these I use many times every day.

AppleScripting Entourage:

My Most Used Scripts

1. Insert URLs into message
2. Nuke Messages
3. Insert Brackets, Quotes and Parenthesis around text

You'll find several scripts that are favorites for many Entourage users on the Favorite Scripts to use with Entourage page. Most scripts are free.

Some users are receiving the error "can't find the server download.microsoft.com" when trying to download the updater files for Office.

This frustrating problem does not affect everyone. It is not an Office for Mac problem, nor is it browser specific. Feedback indicates it could be older PPC computers or older versions of the OS that do not deal with changing DNS updates that are being rolled out. Try these solutions and let us know if they worked for you.

A user on the Entourage newsgroup recently asked about using superscripts in an Entourage message. I thought it was a topic that may interest a wider audience, and this article is the result.

Normally (in Word, at least) superscript (or subscript) is a formatting applied to an ordinary character to make it smaller and shift the baseline. This can't be done in an entourage message, even using HTML - the formatting tools are just not available. However, there is a way - and a way that will work with plain text messages as well as HTML!

The folder window is the left most column in Entourage. New in Entourage 2008, your default account will be listed at the top of the window. In previous versions, folders "On My Computer" (for POP accounts) was always on top followed by IMAP and Exchange accounts. If you use an Exchange or IMAP account as your default account, the folders "On My Computer" will drop to the bottom right above Mail Views. Mail Views position never changes.

You cannot delete folders "On My Computer." All accounts send through the Outbox under "On My Computer." In addition, these local folders serve as an interface to store and organize (archive) messages locally on your computer. When you have a lot of folders under "On My Computer," make them as subfolders of the Inbox. This way you can toggle them closed for easier viewing of all folders. View image For easy access to a deeply nested folder, add the folder to the Favorites bar.

Note, the little mini calendar in the bottom of window. Entourage opens by default with this option, but what if you remove this option and now you want it back? You check Entourage's Help but can't find how to get the mini calendar back. The option to show the mini calendar is staring us in the face, but to most users, including myself, it simply is not obvious.