OL2000: How Outlook Promotes and Demotes Menus Based on Usage

• Microsoft Outlook 2000

SUMMARY

Outlook, as well as other products in the Microsoft Office 2000 suite, uses menus adapted to the way you work. This article describes how Outlook promotes and demotes menu commands based on usage patterns.

MORE INFORMATION

Menus in Outlook 2000 display commands that have been determined, through focus group surveys, to be the most often used. Although displayed menu commands may vary depending on a user's work pattern, the menus will expand to display the full complement of commands. Menus may be expanded by clicking the double arrows at the bottom of the menu, or by clicking the menu and then pausing for a few seconds until the menu auto-expands.

Menu command usage is tracked beginning with default commands from the time the program is first started. Commands that are not used are said to "age." This results in the less-used commands being hidden until the menu is expanded. Conversely, menu commands that are used frequently are always visible on the menu. This process is referred to as menu promoting and demoting.

To determine how menu commands get promoted or demoted, commands have been divided into categories based on usage. For the purpose of these definitions, a "session" is defined as at least 12 hours of use ending when you quit the program.

Some commands will be demoted after three Outlook sessions if not used. In this case, a daily user who quits the program at the end of each day will have little-used commands hidden after the fourth day.

Based on these conventions, someone who has used Outlook for up to 30 days, will begin to see the menu commands adapt to their usage patterns, with the most-often used commands appearing on the menus and little-used commands being hidden earlier in that period.

To change how the Outlook adaptive menus display commands, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click the Options tab.



2. Under Personalized Menus and Toolbars there are three choices to alter how menus display:



• Menus show recently used commands first is the default behavior. If you want to use the traditional menus with the adaptive feature click to clear this check box.



• Show full menus after a short delay is also a default setting for menu behavior if the previous setting is selected.



• Reset My Usage Data resets the menus to their first-installed state.



3. Choose the settings you want to use for menu behavior and then click OK.

Additional query words: OL2K

Keywords : kbdta
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo