how is "contacts" menu item in menu builder to be used?

[verlanger]

I am really liking categories plus!  I understand i can apply categories to the contacts i already have in outlook.  But how is this function in the menu builder intended to be used?

my first thought was that categorize plus would sync with my existing contacts so i could in effect use my contacts as a category tag to apply to a task or appointment.  But it doesn't seem to work that way. I can't see that categorize plus synced with my existing contacts.  i'd like to hook them to tasks, but how? 

thanks for the great add-in!

[JonZimmerman]

Hello,

First of all, thank you for your kind words regarding Categorize Plus.  I am glad that you like the program so far. 

Regarding your question, the contact menu items to which you refer are one of four different types of menu items used in Categorize Plus.  Contact menu items are more accurately called Email Address menu items.  This is because the text stored in the criteria field of Email Address menu items is used to find Outlook items that contain a specific email address.  This is done by searching the "To", "From", "CC" or "BCC" address fields in Outlook items for names or addresses that match the text stored in the menu item's criteria field.

Also, since Email Address menu items are not used to categorize Outlook items, they only appear in the Filter and Search drop down menus and do not appear in the Categorize menu.  The main purpose of Email Address menu items is to allow the user to filter and search Outlook emails based on the email address contained in Outlook items, without having to first categorize each item with a Category Tag that is associated with each Contact.  This actually saves a step, since most Outlook items already contain the contact's name, you don't need to first categorize the items with the contacts name to find the item in Outlook.  For more information regarding the use of the different types of menu items in Categorize Plus, the please refer to the follow help topics.

Categorize Plus Help Topics
Menu Items:  http://www.veranosoft.com/reference/scr/html/Menu%20Types.htm
Email Address Criteria Field:  http://www.veranosoft.com/reference/scr/html/Email%20Address.htm
Changing Menu Types:  http://www.veranosoft.com/reference/scr/html/Add%20Menu%20Type.htm