Quick/Visual/Learning:
This is the form that the user sends to the manager:
This is the form the manager receives. Notice I have added a picture box that shows the approving manager where the buttons are for approval.
Here is what the requester and finance department gets when the manager approves the check. Notice that finance has a button that allows them to respond, "Finance Response" button in the upper left corner.
Here is what the finance response looks like, check cut date and any notes:
Here is what the manager response looks like if the check is Not-Approved. This response goes only to the requester and is not seen by finance. Just has place to explain why it was rejected. 
If you do not see your reply buttons on the tool bar check the properties of the Approve and Disapprove actions on the Actions page of the form. The show action box should be checked and the Menu and Tool bar option should be selected.
Go to Outlook Forms Index
27 comments:
Your information has been a tremendous help in a simple form I'm creating to send issues to an internal area looking for resolution. I'm encountering a problem where when I choose the form and enter information and send it, what is received is a blank form, same thing if the receiver replies? Any thoughts on why that's happening?
Check that the form has been installed in the Organizational Forms Library on the Exchange server. If you are sending out someone that is not on the Exchange server you need to check the box "send form definition along with item" under form tab "Properties"
Hi Jimmy,
Thanks for the great effort. One question, do i need to create the button for approval, or it will appear automatically once i have set up the actions ?
Isobel
Automatically.
This has been great! Having an issue (you seem to be the right guy to help): my company not only uses Outlook 2007, but also Outlook Web Access. I've been testing, so I put my published forms in Personal Forms Library, and these forms don't seem to work when I send to someone using OWA only (email is blank). Could you please help me figure out how to get these forms working? Thx a lot! Tutorial is great!
Debbie,
In the past is was not possible to use Outlook forms in OWA and I think that is still the case.
Hello Jimmy,
This tutorial has been awesome, thanks.
But I am facing a problem, I have created the forms and published them in the personal forms library. When i fill the form out and send it, i dont see the accept or reject buttons on the reply even though i have completed the actions as you said on the main form. I am using outlook 2007. Please help!!
Are you sending the form to another person. If so they need to have the form installed in personal folders as well. For testing I would just send the form to myself. Just to be clear the buttons are not on the actual form but in the toolbar area of the message. I have had some people miss the buttons because that is not where they expected the buttons to be.
Hello Jimmy,
I am sending the form to myself for pre testing before i put it in the organisational forms library.
Yes i expect the button to be in the toolbar. I even disabled the other ones(reply, forward) to check the actions were working and it did, but still i cannot see my buttons. Is there some component or add-in missing as im using outlook 2007?
thanks for the support
Hello Jimmy,
I found the buttons there were under Custom Actions in the toolbar. thanks for the great tutorial, your a star!!!!
You should still see it on the tool bar. I found in Actions were you can select to have it on the menu and the tool bar. I added a picture at the bottom of this post so that you can see what that looks like.
subhi, jimmy
I have tried to design a form, and published on personal forms libray, and I can simulate on my own outlook,but I can't access to public form libray,it caused the following problem:it can't show the right form on other computer?how can I solve this problem?
When you say it is not showing the right form. Is it showing an older version of the form? You may need to clear the Form cache.
Tools / Options / Other / Advanced Options / Custom Forms.. / Manage Forms / Clear Cache
hi Jimmy,
can we also use forms to send a message to internet email addresses such as yahoo or gmail or hotmail?
Hello,
This is a fantastic guide; thanks so much!
I have a question. I am using Outlook 2007 and the “Approval” and “Reject” actions I created only show up under the “Custom Actions” button on the Outlook Ribbon. That is workable, but I am wondering if you know of any way to configure the actions so they show up on the Ribbon similar to how “Reply” and “Forward” do? I want to make it as easy as possible for the user to see the buttons. Alternatively, is there a way to design the form with button controls that launch those same “Approval” or “Reject” actions?
I appreciate any suggestions you have.
Bob Derby
rderby@ljcds.org
San Diego, CA
erk,
Not really. You could copy your data into the message box and that might work as far as getting the data to someone but it would not be an Outlook form anymore.
Anonymous,
You should be able to get the buttons to show on the tool bar. It is hard to get people to look in the right spot but you might include a picture in the form to point them to the right area in outlook.
Hi Jimmy,
This is really great guide!
I am trying also to export the data filled in the form to an Access 2007 database and I don't now if it's possible.
The scenario would be like this:
Domain User1 will select the form in Outlook or from the intranet and after filling in the specific data, will send the form to the manager for approval. The manager is receiving the form and on approval is sending the approved form to Finance and a confirmation of approval back to the Domain User1.
This is the moment the data filled in the form is going also in the database, but without any interference of the Manager, Finance or Domain User1.
Do you have any suggestion for this accomplishment?
Many thanks,
Radu
http://www.outlookcode.com/Default.aspx Will have what you are looking for. The problem you might run into is that the person processing will need to have write access to the database.
Jimmy
Thank you very much!
Radu
Your guideline is wonderful. I have created the user account request form and the request has to pass to IT manager for approval. I publish this form at the Organizational Forms Library. Everything seems to work ok except when IT manager approve or reject the request, outlook has sent the email as requester to requester rather than IT manager to requester. Therefore IT manager has got the error message from exchange stated 'You do not have permission to send to this recipient. For assistance, contact your system administrator.'
Any suggestion?
Approval should open up a new form that will come from the managers account. I would check that the new form is getting opened correctly.
From the form design, it can be opened correctly. If I send request to myself, I can open to approve or reject properly but I am not sure why when I tested form with IT manager, she always get the error back from admin as mentioned earlier. She noticed the email when clicking on send again... that the outlook was trying to send using from my email account to mine so obviously she doesn't have permission doing this.
I am looking for a step by step that would explain each control so that I know exactly every capability in building workflow without using Infopath / Sharepoiint.
I am looking for a step by step that would explain each control so that I know exactly every capability in building workflow without using Infopath / Sharepoiint.
Hi,
I have been running through the step up until Step 13. I find although I have added the actions Approved/NotApproved I can't see the button (command??)on my form nor do I have any of the toolbars in your screen shots on my form.
Is there some steps I have missed. I am using Outlook 2010
Cheers,
Lee.
Hi! May i know, when the manager approves and reply back on the form, how to we let the subject header remains the same? Somehow when i click approve for my case, the subject header change to the initial value that i set for subject
Post a Comment