Getting Started

Categorize Plus Getting Started Flash Tutorial
If you have an internet link, then select the button below to view a flash tutorial that teaches how to create menu items and how to use the newly created menu items to categorize, filter and search for Outlook items. In addition, the headings listed below outline the basic steps to begin using Categorize Plus to manage Outlook items.

Build the Categorize Plus Menus
There are two options for building the initial Categorize Plus Menu. The first option is to use the Auto Categorize by Folder Wizard to automatically create Menu Items, and the second option is to create new Menu Items directly using the Categorize Plus Menu Builder. Both these options are outlined below.
Note: Before building your first Categorize Plus Menu, it is recommended to first review the Menu Items help topic, which explains the different types of Menu Items used in Categorize Plus. It is also recommended to review the Menu Hierarchy help topic, which explains how to use the Categorize Plus Menu Hierarchy to manage Menu Items that are created using Categorize Plus.

Auto Categorize by Folder Wizard
The Auto Categorize by Folder Wizard is used to automatically categorize Outlook items that are contained in selected Outlook folders. This wizard assists users in converting from using folders to using categories by automatically categorizing items using folder and sub-folder names. This wizard also automatically creates Category Tag Menu Items in the Categorize Plus Menu Hierarchy such that the menu structure mirrors the Outlook folder hierarchy. These Category Tag Menu Items will then be available for use in the Categorize Plus Categorize Menu, Filter Menu and Search Menu. The Auto Categorize by Folder Wizard is initiated by selecting the Run Wizard command from the Auto Categorize Options page inside the Categorize Plus Options Dialog. Please refer to the Categorize Plus Options help topic to learn how to open the Categorize Plus Options dialog.

Menu Builder
The Menu Builder is used to manually create Categorize Plus Menu Items and organize them in the Menu Hierarchy. Please refer to the following help topics to begin using the Menu Builder to create Categorize Plus Menu Items.

Building Menus provides an overview of the Categorize Plus Menus and explains how to open the Menu Builder tool.
Menu Builder explains the main features of the Menu Builder that are used for creating Categorize Plus Menu Items.
Adding Menu Items explains how to use the Menu Builder to create Menu Items.
Editing the Menu Hierarchy explains how to use the Menu Builder to organize the Menu Items into a Menu Hierarchy.

Categorize Outlook Items using the Categorize Menu
There are two options for using the Categorize Menu to categorize Outlook items. The Categorize Menu can be configured to first add Category Combo Boxes to the Categorize Plus Toolbar and then use these combo boxes to categorize selected Outlook items, or it can be configured to categorize selected items directly without adding the combo boxes to the toolbar. To learn how to use both of these options to categorize Outlook items, then please refer to the Categorize Outlook Items help topic.
Note: Before using the Categorize Menu to categorize Outlook items, it is recommended to first review the Categorize Plus Toolbar and the Categorize Menu help topics to become familiar with how these tools are used in Categorize Plus.

Apply Filters and Searches using the Filter and Search Menus
After creating the Categorize Plus Menus and categorizing Outlook items, then both the Filter Menu and the Search Menu can be used to filter and search Outlook Items. Please refer to the following help topics to learn how to use the Filter and Search Menus to filter and search Outlook items.
Filter Menu explains the main features of the Filter Menu that is contained in the Categorize Plus Toolbar.
Filter Combo Boxes explains the different types of Filter Combo Boxes and how to add them to the toolbar to filter Outlook items.
Search Menu explains the main features of the Search Menu that is contained in the Categorize Plus Toolbar.
Search Combo Boxes explains the different types of Search Combo Boxes and how to add them to the toolbar to search for Outlook items

Note: The Categorize Plus Search Menu and Search Combo Boxes are only available when a compatible search engine is installed in Outlook. Please refer to the Search Engines help topic for more information regarding the alternative search engines and their use with Categorize Plus.