Did you know that there are five (5) ways to file your email through Newforma?  All of them utilize Newforma’s email de-duplication code, but each has a potentially different use-case.

1. Drag and drop into “Newforma – Items to File” (Autofile)

Emails can be dragged and dropped into any number of “Newforma – Items to file” sub-folders.  A sub-folder is created for each project identified in each users “My Projects” list.  Selecting the “File Items” option from the Newforma plug-in in Outlook populates the list of project sub-folders but does not file the emails if the “Automatically File Items” check-box is selected.



If the option to Autofile these mails is selected, mails in these folders will periodically be filed into that project’s default email folder.  Emails are automatically moved to the Deleted Items folder using this method. If you would like the emails to be filed to a specific folder after filing use the Drag and drop into “Newforma – Items to File” (Manual) method (see below).



Use-case:  This method of filing project email provides the ease of dragging emails to file without the additional manual step of selecting “File Items”.  This method can also be used for filing emails when you are away from the office and accessing your mail via a web-mail interface or even from a smart-phone.

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2. Drag and drop into “Newforma – Items to File” (Manual)

Some people like to control exactly when the email gets filed or prefer their filed emails to be moved to a folder other than the “Deleted Item” folder.  The Drag and drop into “Newforma – Items to file” can still be utilized with the “Automatically file Items” option unchecked.



Using this method, the emails are only filed from the project sub-folders when the “File Items” option is selected from the toolbar.
Use-case:  This method can be leveraged by users who want to more closely control exactly when the emails are to be filed into a project, but enjoy the convenience of the “Newforma – Items to File” project sub-folders.

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3. File in Project

The method which provides the most flexibility in terms of where the email is filed (and into what object) is to select one or more emails to be file and then select “File in Project” from the Newforma toolbar in Outlook.



Use-case:  This method allows you to select the project into which the emails are to be filed, as well as the location (“Default” or “Another project location”).  If “Another project location” is selected, a different folder or object can be selected into which the email will be filed.  Objects like Action Items, Submittals and RFIs can be selected.

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4. File as

If a new Newforma object like an Action Item or RFI, etc. needs to be created from a single email, that email can be selected and the “File as” option selected.  Newforma will prompt you for a project in which this new object is to be created and then begins the creation of that item with the email attached. You should also use this option to file previously tagged items to create a Submittal Reviewer Response and RFI Answer.



Use-case:  Use this method to file an email to create Newforma objects.

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5. Drag and drop from outlook directly into a Newforma “Project Email”

One of the simplest ways to move a large number of project related email into a project is to have that project open in Newforma and the Project Email activity center selected.  By selecting one or more (perhaps many more) emails in Outlook and dragging and dropping them into the Project Email activity center, the mails are de-duped and filed into the projects default email folder.  When filed this way, the emails are NOT deleted or moved in Outlook.



Use-case:  This method has been designed to allow for a large number of emails (perhaps from public folders) to be filed into a project quickly and easily.

NOTE: There is a known limitation with this method - when selecting a group of mails from Outlook to be dragged and dropped into the Newforma Project Email activity center, make sure the mails are from the same month (or quarter or year, depending on how the emails will be separated by sub-folder in the project - see image below).  Filing emails via this method will force ALL of the emails to be filed into one sub-folder under the default project email folder.  If mails from multiple months are selected for filing with this method there is a small chance that one of those mails could be filed again by a user and it could end-up in a different folder which prevents Newforma from being able to identify it as a duplicate and eliminate it.

For more information on the method and benefits of Project Email, the following resources can be used:

• On-line Help – Project Email Overview
• Take 5s – Project Email
• Flash Overviews – Email Management