Outlook - Open on Public Calendar

[maniac]

Hello!

We use a public calendar in Outlook for a school calendar, which is all very well and good except public folders are so damned awkward to access in Outlook. I've made it as easy as I can by making the folder list button available at the top of the shortcuts list for all staff, but you still have to expand the public folders tree to actually see it.

What I'd really like to do is make Outlook open on the school calendar page every time a member of staff opens it, thus forcing them to see it. I know you can choose any local folder you like for outlook to open on, but you can't select public folders.

Anyone know of a registry hack or simelar which might allow me to do this?

Mike.

[mb2k01]

To show the users calendar on startup you can go to Tools > Options > Other > Advanced and browse to the folder you want to be shown on startup. I'm not sure if it is possible to do this for a public folder though (I would hazzard a guess that it isn't).

I use a similar system (although a shared calendar rather than a public calendar) but ran a very quick bit of inset (at the end of someone else's session) to explain to staff how to get to it (I.E click on their calendar and then open a shared calendar). They all know it's there, but it's completely down to them to check it.

[SYNACK]

I made a shortcut to the public folder that I put on the desktop for all users with outlook 2003. Worked quite well having an ocon that opened the calander right off. Can't remember the exact procedure now as it was ages ago but it was not hard. Something along the lines of right clicking and creating a shortcut or dragging the folder icon from outlook onto the desktop.

[localzuk]

You could use a macro... Something like this:

Sub OpenCalendar()
    Set Application.ActiveExplorer.CurrentFolder = Session.Folders("Public Folders"). _
        Folders("All Public folders").Folders("Calendar")
End Sub

[Cache]

I made a shortcut to the public folder that I put on the desktop for all users with outlook 2003. Worked quite well having an ocon that opened the calander right off. Can't remember the exact procedure now as it was ages ago but it was not hard. Something along the lines of right clicking and creating a shortcut or dragging the folder icon from outlook onto the desktop.

Only problem with that (as I found out last year somewhere else) is that if you then deploy Outlook 2007 Microsoft removed the ability to do this.

[SYNACK]

Only problem with that (as I found out last year somewhere else) is that if you then deploy Outlook 2007 Microsoft removed the ability to do this.

Yes that is correct but there again they have pretty much phased out public folders as well with Exchange 2007 so the best long term solution is not to use outlook public folders at all but rather migrate to a calander webpart on Windows Sharepoint Services or full sharepoint as these are likely to become the only supported options. It all depends on their deployment plan as to what makes sence for them.

The WSS ones can be opened and edited in Outlook 2007 as well which makes them a nice alternative if you are going that way.