Add new category "on the fly"

[tskelley]

Is it possible to add a new category from the Category Editor or do you need to resort to Outlook's categories to handle new entries?  Also, a great (simple) feature in the Category Editor is the ability click on a button ("X") to clear the Filter Categories.  Currently, I hit 'Esc' or clear the entry manually, but keeping it to a mousable action would be a great timesaver.

Thanks for a great product,
Tom

[JonZimmerman]

In the Free version of Categorize Plus, the only way to add a new category to the Category Editor is to add the category to the Outlook Master Categories.  To ease this process, the right-click menu in the Category Editor includes a command to "Edit the Outlook Master Categories".  This command can also be executed by pressing "Ctrl+Alt+Z". 

Therefore, to add a new category "on the fly", then I recommend the following ...

  1.  Press "Ctrl+Alt+Z", which will open the Outlook Master Categories dialog
  2.  Press "Alt+N", which will open the Add New Category dialog
  3.  Enter the new category
  4.  Press "Enter" to close the Add New Category dialog
  5.  Press "Enter" again go close the Outlook Master Categories dialog.

-Jon

[tskelley]

Thanks for the quick reply.  Once again, love your product.  I made the transition from Outlook folders to categories a while back, so Categorize Plus has made this much easier to manage.  

You mentioned how this is handled in the Free version.  How does new category adding work in the other versions?

Also, any ideas on an extra toolbar button to clear the search entries "X"?

[JonZimmerman]

In the Professional version of Categorize Plus you can add Categories using the Menu Builder.  The Menu Builder is used to arrange your categories into hierarchical drop down menus and the Menu Builder can also be used to added new categories to these drop down menus without the need to add these categories to the Outlook Master Categories list.  All categories created via the Menu Builder can also be displayed in the Category Editor.

Regarding your other question, since it is currently possible to clear the category filter by pressing the "Esc" key on your keyboard, I do not plan to add a separate mouse button for this action at this time.  I will make note of your request and may possibly consider adding it in the future.

[tskelley]

Thank you, I will definitely check into the Menu Builder and learn more about this feature.  So far, I have not ventured into subcategories and have left my Outlook subfolders in-place.

As for the second item (clearing and resetting the search feature), pressing the "Esc" key does clear the entry; however, you must first click into the search text field, and then click the "Esc" key.  It would be a nice little timesaver to just click an "X" on the toolbar to handle the same sequence of actions.  I know its a small item, so no biggie.  Maybe having a "Save and Clear (Reset)" toolbar button could handle the similar task.  Typically, my workflow is to build up my list of categories for a given email (and usually there are at least two categories), then click in the box, hit "Esc" key to reset the search, and hit Save.