If you use Microsoft Exchange Server, Outlook 2002 has a feature called public folders that allows groups to share information easily. Imagine you're a teacher interested in sharing tools such as lesson plans with other teachers in your school district. You may make calls and write e-mails to set up the project or to schedule meetings. You wait for responses from the other teachers and then share updates with the group. As problems come up, you send more updates and wonder if your messages have become confusing.

In the end you have to contact everyone again to make sure that they have the right information. All this before you even start sharing the lesson plans, which requires more arranging. You sure could use a way to share information in a timely, efficient manner. Public folders may be the answer.

What are public folders?

Public folders provide an effective way to collect, organize, and share information with others in your organization. They are central, shared folders that anyone can view to share information and ideas. Public folders can contain any Outlook item type, such as messages, appointments, contacts, tasks, journal entries, notes, forms, files, and posts. Once you are connected to your Exchange Server, Public Folders appear on your Outlook Folder List.

What can I do with public folders?

Public folders help maintain security while providing a number of ways to collaborate and to track items:

• Share files   You can open and view a Microsoft Office file from directly within a public folder. Or, you can create a file in an Office program and then post it to a public folder by using the Send to command on the File menu of the Microsoft Office program. A copy of the file will be posted, while the original file remains unchanged. You can even copy files from Microsoft Windows® Explorer directly to the public folders.
  
• Share calendars, contacts, and tasks   You can share Outlook calendars, contact lists, and tasks. This allows you to follow schedules, create group contact lists, and track an individual's progress on a project.
  
• Centralize shared information In public folders, any number of people can see the same information if they have been granted permission or access to the public folder. You can post messages to inform, question, discuss, review, and request. Posts can be to the entire group or selected individuals, depending on your needs. The public folder owner can organize the files to best meet the needs of the group, so that users can browse through one or many files at once.
  
• Track and archive information   Using the By Conversation Topic view of public folders, you can track responses to posts and the frequency of those responses. When a post becomes dated, you can archive the information using the AutoArchive feature in Microsoft Outlook.
  
• Help protect information   Security permissions are associated with each public folder, allowing only specific groups or people to have access. This is perfect for sharing encrypted information. The owner of a public folder can grant user permissions, assign rules, and set default views. Typically users can read posts, add new posts, and modify posts that they created. They can also save personal views of the public folder.
  
• Conduct online discussions   You can host e-mail based online discussions similar to Internet newsgroups using public folders. The online discussions can be either moderated (to filter for only pertinent posts) or unmoderated.

How do I set up public folders?

Public folders must be set up on a Microsoft Exchange Server. Your Exchange Server administrator must grant you owner permissions to create the public folder. Once you've created the public folder, you can set options, such as user permissions, rules, and default views. For more information, see the following Outlook 2002 Help topics:

• Create a public folder
• Change the default view for a public folder
• Create or modify a rule for a public folder

How do I use public folders?

For detailed procedures for working with public folders, see the following Outlook 2002 Help topics:

• Open a public folder
• Post information in a public folder
• Reply to information posted in a public folder
• Add an e-mail address for a public folder to your Contacts folder
• Add a public folder shortcut to Favorites
• Permit others to access a folder
• Search for a public folder