Renaming Fields in Outlook

In an earlier blog entry, I explained how to create Outlook fields. But one of the inherent problems with creating fields is that you CANNOT sort or even group by them.

So how can you overcome that issue?

Ah! let me introduce you to the Rename Field feature of Outlook.

Outlook has about 250 fields, and although they can’t offically be renamed, you CAN assign an alias name to them in any View.

Here’s what to do. Let’s say I was an independent marketer in a multi-level marketing organization. If I knew everyone’s level within the organization, I could create 20 different categories and manage them for each level members are in, but what a nightmare of management that would be–also bloating my categories list needlessly. Instead, I’m going to “pirate” one of those 250 fields, in this case the Government ID number and create one view for all members grouping by the level they are in. Just hang in there with me and we’ll walk through this step-by-step.

I’m going to assume that you’ve already created a category and that category has been applied to everyone in your downline (by the way, I show how to do this for many people at once on CD-2 of my course www.outlookfortheentrepreneur.com).

Let’s start by creating a new view. We’ll copy an existing view and call it MLM Levels.

1. Select the Contacts module. From the menu select Views, Current View, Define Views. Click on New.

2. In the Create New View dialog box, Name it MLM Levels, Highlight Tables Type of View, click the Can be used on: All Contact folders. Click OK.

3. Click on Fields Icon. Remove whatever fields you won’t be using. Add those from the left side that you wish to add (drag/drop, double-click or Add->).

4. In the Select available fields from click the drop-down and select the set called Miscellaneous fields. Double-click on Government ID Number and it will move to the bottom of the Show these fields list on the right. Left-click drag that field to the top of the list.

5. Click OK to return to the Customize View: MLM Levels wizard.

6. Click the Group by… icon. Select the Miscellaneous Fields box in the lower-left corner drop-down. In the first Group items by, drop-down and select Government ID Number. Click OK.

7. Click on the Sort… icon. Again select the Miscellaneous Fields box in the lower-left corner drop-down. In the first Sort items by, drop-down and select Government ID Number. Click OK.

8. Click on the Filter… icon and then the More Choices tab. Click on Categories and select the category that you have assigned to everyone in your downline. This will eliminate anyone not in that category in your new view. Click OK.

9. Finally, click Format Columns. Here you can change the Label of Government ID Number to Member Level. Click OK.

10. Click OK to close the Custom View window. Then click Apply View. You will now see that the Member Level is grouped and sorted. Click in the Member Level text box on any row and fill it out. Use “sortable” field names like 1-Diamond and 2-Director.

That’s it. You now have a new report view that will tell you in an instant who’s where in the organization and also is easily modified.