Work with Microsoft Outlook

Maps can contain Outlook topics  that are linked to Outlook items. They remain linked to and synchronized with their Outlook counterparts. You can then edit these Outlook items directly in Outlook or from within MindManager.

Outlook topics show special icons that indicate the type of item they are linked to:

There are several ways to add Outlook topics to your maps:

• Conduct an Outlook query to find Outlook items that match criteria you specify and then:

• Add the query and its results to your map

• Add select items from the query results to your map

• Send a topic from your map to Outlook as a task or appointment

• Send items or folders from Outlook to your map as Outlook topics

You must have Outlook 2003 or later installed on your system to use these features.

What do you want to do?

• Add an Outlook query to your map

• Add select Outlook items from query results to your map

• Create, edit and manage queries

• Send a topic from your map to Outlook as a task or appointment

• Send Outlook items or folders to a map

• Edit Outlook items

• Sync items with Outlook

Add an Outlook query to your map

MindManager comes with a set of pre-defined Outlook queries that you can use. You can use these as-is, edit them to suit your needs, or create your own queries.

When you add an Outlook query to your map it returns all matching Outlook items as subtopics. You can sync the query at any time to see updated results.

1. Optional Select a topic (the query will be added as a subtopic of this topic)

2. On the Insert tab, Microsoft Office group, click Outlook Items.

3. If you do not see these commands, see Troubleshooting Office add-ins.

3. Click the query you want to use.

You can also add the query from the Outlook task pane. Using this method allows you to test the query before adding it.:

1. On the Insert tab, Microsoft Office group, click Outlook Items.

2. Enable Organize Outlook Queries.

3. In the Outlook task pane, select the query you want to use and drag it to your map, or right-click it and then select Add to Map.

4. If the Query returns tasks, you can choose whether to add the task assignees to your map's Resources list.

Add select Outlook items from query results to your map

You can add specific items from query results to your map:

1. On the Insert tab, Microsoft Office group, click Outlook Items.

2. Enable Organize Outlook Queries.

3. In the Outlook task pane, select the query you want to use and click Run Query.

4. The query results appear in the lower section of the pane.

5. Drag an item from the results onto your map.

6. You can sort the items in the Results list by clicking on the column headers.
   To open an item in Outlook, double-click its name.

Create, edit, and manage queries

You work with Outlook queries by using the Outlook Queries task pane. To see this pane, do one of the following:

• On the Insert tab, Microsoft Office group, click Outlook Items. Enable Organize Outlook Queries.

• Click the Task Panes button on the bottom status bar, and then click Outlook.

• If you do not see these commands, see Troubleshooting Office add-ins.

Change the order of queries in the list

• In the Outlook Queries task pane, drag query names up or down to reorder the list.

Create a new query

1. In the Outlook Queries task pane, click Add Query, or right-click on an empty space in the list of queries, and then click Add Query.

2. Enter information for these fields.

3. Click OK.

MindManager automatically runs the query and displays the matching items in the Results list in the lower section of the pane so you can see if the query works as expected.

• You can sort the items in the Results list by clicking on the column headers.
  To open an item in Outlook, double-click its name.

Edit an existing query

1. Optional If you want to create a new query from an existing query without changing the original, in the Outlook Queries task pane, right click the query and then in the shortcut menu, click Duplicate.

2. In the Outlook Queries task pane, select the query you want to edit, and click Edit Query, or right-click the query you want to edit, and then click Edit.

3. Modify the information in these fields.

4. Click OK.

MindManager automatically runs the query and displays the matching items in the Results list in the lower section of the pane so you can see if the query works as expected.

You can also edit queries that you have already added to your map.

Run a query

• In the Outlook Queries task pane, select the query you want to run, and click Run Query, or right-click the query you want to edit, and then click Test.

The items that the query returns appear in the Results list.

Delete queries

• In the Outlook Queries task pane, select the query you want to delete (press CTRL to select additional queries, or press SHIFT to select a range), and click Delete Query, or right-click the query and then click Delete.

• Deleting a query does not affect queries you have already added to your map. To delete a query on the map, select it and then press DEL.
  
  If you accidentally delete one of the default queries. you can restore it: right-click the queries list background, and then click Restore Default Queries.

Send a topic from your map to Outlook as a task or appointment

When you send a topic to Outlook, a new task or appointment is created in Outlook. The map topic becomes an Outlook topic that is linked to the corresponding Outlook item.

1. (optional) To send multiple topics to Outlook, select them now.

2. Right-click on a topic, click Send to, and then click Microsoft Outlook as Task or Microsoft Outlook as Appointment.

3. If you do not see these commands, see Troubleshooting Office add-ins.

2. If you send a single topic:

• A new Outlook item is created and the appropriate Outlook form pops up to let you enter the necessary item data.

• Click Save and Close to save the new item in Outlook.

• Click Cancel to cancel creating the Outlook item.

If you send multiple topics:

• New Outlook items are created with these default properties. You can then edit the items in Outlook individually to adjust their properties.

  For Outlook appointments

  Start =
  topic start date (if present)
  otherwise, use topic due date (if present)
  otherwise, use today

  Start time =
  current time, rounded up to closest 1/2 hour (as in Outlook)

  Duration =
  topic duration (if present)
  otherwise, 30 minutes

  For Outlook tasks

  Start =
  topic start date (if present)
  otherwise, no start date

  Due=
  topic due date (if present)
  otherwise, topic start date (if present)
  otherwise no due date

Send Outlook items or folders to a map

When you send items from Outlook to a map, new Outlook topics are created on the map. These topics are linked to the corresponding Outlook items.

1. Open the target map in MindManager or, if this is a new map, save it. Select a topic if you want the new Outlook item topics to become its subtopics.

2. In Outlook do one of the following:

• Select one or more items, then click Export selected items to Mindjet MindManager on the Add-ins Ribbon tab or on Standard toolbar.

• Click on a folder and then click Export folder to Mindjet MindManager on the Add-ins Ribbon tab or on Standard toolbar.

• If you do not see these buttons in Outlook, see Troubleshooting Office add-ins.

The Outlook items are added as Outlook topics: as subtopics below the selected topic, or as main topics if nothing is selected.

Edit Outlook queries and items on your map

Edit a query on the map

Once you have added a query to your map, you can edit it.

• This only changes the map query, it does not affect the original query in the Outlook queries task pane.

1. Right-click the Outlook Query topic icon, and then click Edit Query.

2. Modify the information in these fields.

3. Click OK.

MindManager automatically runs the modified query and displays the new results as Outlook subtopics.

• You can add your own subtopics to the Outlook Query results topics. These will be retained on sync, unless the parent is no longer included in the results.

Edit Outlook items

When you edit an item in Outlook that is linked to a map topic, you'll see the changes on your map the next time you sync the item or its parent query topic.

You can also edit Outlook items directly from the map by doing one of the following:

• Edit the item attributes and properties on the map topic. Your changes are sent to Outlook the next time you sync the topic. Some information is read-only in MindManager.

• Open the Outlook item from MindManager and edit it. Your changes are recorded in Outlook immediately, and will show on your map the next time you sync the topic.

Edit item attributes and properties on the map topic

You can edit Outlook topics in the same way that you edit normal map topics. For example, you can change the topic text, or change the task info, and then sync the topic to change the Outlook item's properties.

Some item properties are included as Custom Properties on the topic. To edit this information:

1. Right-click on the Outlook item's icon on the topic.

2. Click Edit Custom Properties.

3. Some attributes and properties of Outlook topics will be read-only: all information that is read-only in Outlook will also be read-only on the topic. For example, an appointment is read-only for everyone but its owner. Some other information on the map topics may be read-only, but can still be edited by opening the item in Outlook. Read-only attributes are shown as grayed on your map and for tasks displayed in Gantt view.

Your changes are sent to Outlook the next time you sync the topic.

Open the Outlook item

1. Right-click on the Outlook item's icon on the topic.

2. Click Open Microsoft Outlook item.

The item opens in Outlook so you can edit it. Your changes will appear on the map when you sync the topic.

Disconnect a topic from Outlook

1. Right-click on the topic's Outlook item icon.

2. Click Disconnect from  Microsoft Outlook.

Sync queries and items with Outlook

You can sync a query that you have added to your map to get updated results, or sync individual results topics in a query, or individual Outlook items that you have added to the map.

Sync a query

• On your map, right-click   the Outlook Query topic icon on the parent topic, and then click Sync query topics with Outlook.

MindManager will re-run the query to show you the most current results.

Sync all Outlook items

• On the Insert tab, in the Microsoft Office group, click Outlook Items, and then click Sync All Outlook Items in Map.

Sync individual items

• Select the topics you want to sync. On the Insert tab, in the Microsoft Office group, click Outlook Items, and then click Sync Selected Outlook Items.

• On the topic, right click the Outlook item icon, and then click Sync with Outlook.

• Press F5

If you have edited the item in MindManager, your changes will be sent to Outlook, and vice versa.

Sync rules

In some cases, if an item has been changed in both Outlook and in MindManager since the last sync, you will be asked to resolve the conflict. Syncing follows these rules.

See also:

Work with Microsoft Office

Task info