Change Flag Reminder Default Time

C

Chris

Hello,

I have a number of users that love using the flag feature in Outlook
2007. The only drawback has been that the default reminder when
setting a flag reminder (FOLLOW-UP / ADD REMINDER) the default time is
1 hour before the end of the day as defined in Outlook (TOOLS /
OPTIONS / CALENDAR OPTIONS). Most of these users would prefer to
either have the default time be either their start time or 1 hour
after. While this is not overly difficult to change, it is a few
extra clicks and is reducing the adoption of this feature.

Is there a way to change the default flag reminder time other than
change the work hours? Even a registry edit if there is nothing in
the GUI would go a long way to keeping these folks excited about this
feature.

Thanks in advance for the help,

Chris
 
D

Diane Poremsky

tools, options, reminder time drop down in the Tasks section of preferences
tab doesn't meet your needs?
 
J

Jon LaBarge

You can right click on the flag icon column and say "Set Quick Click". This
will allow single click for all flags to default to another day (ie;
tomorrow, this week, next week, etc.)
 
C

Chris

tools, options, reminder time drop down in the Tasks section of preferences
tab doesn't meet your needs?

Hello,

Unfortunately what you noted is for tasks and not flagged e-mails.
Flagged e-mail reminders default to 1 hour before the end of day as
defined in TOOLS / OPTIONS / CALENDAR OPTIONS. To demonstrate this,
right-click an e-mail, highlight Follow-Up and then click Reminder.
If you have the default 8-5 day set you will the reminder time is 4:00
pm. While you can click this time and adjust it, it is several more
clicks to change something that the user always wants to be 8:00am or
9:00am. Changing the default day is not an option as that effects
other scheduling options.

Hope this clarifies the situation, but feel free to let me know if I
need to add any more.

Chris
 
D

Diane Poremsky

No, you can't change that default. The hour field accepts date shortcuts
which will save a step or two. They can also add the reminder time field to
a view and enable in-cell editing and just type in a date and time. (1d830a
will convert to Thu 12/13/2007 8:30 AM)
 
C

Chris

No, you can't change that default. The hour field accepts date shortcuts
which will save a step or two. They can also add the reminder time field to
a view and enable in-cell editing and just type in a date and time. (1d830a
will convert to Thu 12/13/2007 8:30 AM)

Hello,

Thanks for your quick responses Diane. Unfortunate that the default
is not manageable as I suspect it will reduce how many of our users
make use of the feature. It is funny how a couple extra clicks or
keystrokes stops folks from using certain features. Hopefully this
flexibility will be a feature added in the future.

Thanks again,

Chris
 
C

Chris

You can right click on the flag icon column and say "Set Quick Click". This
will allow single click for all flags to default to another day (ie;
tomorrow, this week, next week, etc.)

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the info, but this won't really hit the trick for our
folks. The flags are often being set for numerous periods and often
fairly non-standard periods. This means that the Quick Click isn't as
handy for our group as it might be for others. The users really like
the Add reminder function as they can pick the date they want, but
they always want either start of the day or one hour after the start
so having to change that info each time is wearing down their desire
to keep using flags. From Diane's post it seems that there is nothing
to be done unfortunately.

Thanks again for your thoughts,

Chris
 
D

Diane Poremsky

if they use the quick click and set it to default for tomorrow or another
future date, the reminder time default is the start of the workday. then
they just need to choose a new date - and honestly, if they are setting a
date for every reminder already, its really not that much more effort to
type 9a in the time field - 3 key strokes (tab, 9, a - and a is not always
necessary). Set the quick click to tomorrow or this week, or next week then
they just need to adjust the start and/or due date, which they are
apparently already doing.

It may be easier for them to use tasks - drag the mail item to the task icon
and drop. set the date and click the reminder box then save.
 
L

Larry D

I agree with Chris. Outlook 2003 defaulted to the time of day that the flag
was activated. If the default cannot be changed by the user, the default
should be 9AM not 4PM.
 
D

Dan

Diane's post works. Also see Paperclip's 24/09/2008 post on http://thenewpaperclip.com/2008/04/15/change-the-default-reminder-time-in-outlook-2007/.

Basically, by changing the Quick Click default reminder day from Today to anything else, Outlook will assume you want to be reminded at the start of the/that day rather than before you go home (today). Not quite intuitive, but it sort of makes sense.

-dww

EggHeadCafe - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/default.aspx?ref=ng
 

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