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10 Minute Guide to Lotus Notes Mail 4.5

- 3 -
Using the Workspace

In this lesson, you learn how to move around the Lotus Notes workspace. You also learn how to read the status bar and customize workspace page tabs. To start Lotus Notes and access the workspace, double-click the Lotus Notes icon in your Windows Program Manager, or select Lotus Notes from your Programs menu in Windows 95. The Notes workspace appears, similar to the one shown in Figure 3.1.

Your workspace probably looks like the workspace in Figure 3.1. This is what a workspace would look like if you just installed Lotus Notes. You would see your Lotus Notes Mail database icon and icons for your Public and Private Address Books.



Figure 3.1
The Lotus Notes workspace.

The Lotus Notes workspace in Figure 3.1 looks similar to and acts much like other programs you use in Windows:

  • The title bar shows the current location page and the program name.

  • The menu bar has all of the menu selections for this window, so the menu bar will change, depending upon the Notes window that is active. When you click a menu name, a submenu displays all the commands associated with that menu item. As in Windows, if a command is dimmed or gray, it is not currently available.

  • The toolbar contains icons you can use in lieu of using the menu; Lotus calls these icons SmartIcons (more about these icons later in the lesson).

  • The workspace has several tabbed pages. This helps you organize your work. You can put different database icons on different pages (you'll learn how later in this lesson). To move from one tabbed page to another, simply click the tab of the page you want to see. The page moves to the front and becomes the "active" workspace page.

  • The status bar appears at the bottom of the screen. It contains information such as your location (in Figure 3.1, this is home) and gives you access to your mail, which you'll learn more about in Lesson 4.

Timesaver Tip: Shortcut Keys You can quickly access commands in the menu bar by pressing the Alt key and the underlined letter of the menu or command name. For example, Alt+F will have the same effect as clicking with your mouse on the word File.



Timesaver Tip: Working on the Road? If you use Lotus Notes remotely (away from the office on your laptop or your PC at home), you must change your location. See Lesson 23 to learn how to set up Notes to work remotely.

Customizing Workspace Pages

One of the first things you might want to do in planning the organization of your workspace is to give names to your workspace pages. There are probably eight workspace pages on your workspace right now. You can put names on the tabs, select the color for the tab, and add new tabbed pages whenever you need more. To further organize your information, you can also move database icons from one workspace page to another.

Naming Tabs and Changing Tab Colors

To name a tab or change its color, follow these steps:

1. With your right mouse button click the tab of the current page (see Figure 3.2).



Figure 3.2
Workspace tab of current page.

2. A pop-up menu appears. Select Workspace Properties.

3. The Properties box appears, as shown in Figure 3.3. In the Workspace page name: text box, type the name of the database. For this example, type Mail. (Reserve this page strictly for your Mail database and your Address Book databases during the rest of the lessons in this book.)



Figure 3.3
The Properties box.

4. To change the color of the tab, click the Tab color: drop-down menu. Click a color you like.

5. To close this dialog box and save your changes, click the Close (X) button in the upper right corner of the Properties box. You can now see your newly named tab.

Even though you have changed the color of a tab, the page itself does not change color. The page that is active, or in front, is always gray; it's the tab colors that help differentiate between pages.

If you do have other databases and you want to organize them into separate workspace pages, simply name the tabs on your other workspace pages in preparation for moving your database icons to those pages (you'll learn how to move database icons next).

Moving a Database Icon to a Different Workspace Page

If you have no other database icons on your workspace, you can experiment with moving database icons by using your Mail icon. However, when you finish moving the icon, move it back to the original workspace page. To move a database icon follow these steps:

1. Click the database icon to select it.

2. Drag the icon to the tab of the new workspace page where you want this icon to appear.

3. When a square appears around the tab of the new workspace page, release the mouse button (see Figure 3.4).



Figure 3.4
Moving a database icon.

4. Your icon should no longer appear on your current workspace page.

5. Click the new workspace page tab, and you will see your database icon.

Adding Tabs to the Workspace

1. Select Create, Workspace page from the menu.

2. The new workspace tab is added to your workspace.

3. With your right mouse button, click the new workspace tab.

4. Select Workspace Properties from the pop-up menu.

5. Name the page and select a color for the tab in the Properties box.

6. Close the Properties box and save your changes.

Changing the Information Displayed on a Database Icon

Your database icons can provide information about how many unread documents you have in the database, the name of the database and where you can find the database (on the Domino server or on your hard drive, "on local").

  • To display the number of unread documents, choose View, Show Unread from the menu.

  • To display the location of the database, choose View, Show Server Names. If the database is on your server, your server name will appear on the icon. If the database is on your hard drive (likely if you are a remote or mobile user), on Local appears on the icon as its location.

  • To display the file name of the database, hold down the Shift key while selecting View, Show Server Names. This will turn off the server name and display the file name.

  • To display both the location of the database and the file name, hold down the Shift key while selecting View, Show Server Names.

Using SmartIcons

SmartIcons (a Lotus term) are the icons located on the toolbar. Most of your Windows products contain a toolbar with icons that act as shortcuts or alternatives to using the menu. Some people find it faster to click a SmartIcon than to look through the menus to find choices such as opening a database or bolding text. The SmartIcons change as you work in different parts of Lotus Notes.

Lotus Notes helps you to understand the function of each SmartIcon with a feature that shows the SmartIcons description. To see this brief description, hold your mouse over a SmartIcon. If you do not see the description appear, you may need to turn this feature on. Here's how to turn on the SmartIcon descriptions:

1. From your workspace, open the File and click Tools and SmartIcons. The SmartIcons dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3.5.



Figure 3.5
The SmartIcon dialog box.

2. Under Show, select Descriptions.

3. Click OK.

To find out the purpose of each SmartIcon, place your cursor on the SmartIcon and a bubble appears listing the description of the SmartIcon (see Figure 3.6).



Figure 3.6
SmartIcon descriptions.

You can change the default SmartIcon set (called the Universal Set), by customizing it for your needs. For example, you might find it convenient to have the Print icon on your toolbar. To add or remove the Print icon:

1. From your workspace, open the File menu and choose Tools and SmartIcons from the menu.

2. The SmartIcon dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3.7. The left panel shows available icons; the right panel shows icons that are currently selected for your "Universal Set" (the set in use). Scroll through the left panel of available icons until you locate the Printer icon.

3. Drag the Printer icon from the left panel to the right panel. Position it on the right panel in the exact position you want it to appear on your toolbar. For example, placing this icon first on the list will result in it appearing first (on the far left) on the toolbar.

4. This causes the icons to move down in the list so that your Printer icon is first on the list.

5. (Optional) To remove a SmartIcon from the toolbar, select it from the icons in the right panel and drag it to the left panel.

6. Click OK to save your changes and close the window. The Printer icon appears on the toolbar.

You can also change the size of your SmartIcons. To do so:

1. From your workspace, open the File menu; choose Tools, SmartIcons from the menu.

2. The SmartIcon dialog box appears (see Figure 3.7). Click the Icon Size button. The Icon Size dialog box appears (see Figure 3.8).



Figure 3.7
Customizing the SmartIcon set.

3. The default size for icons is small. Select large to change the icon size.

4. Click OK to close the Icon Size dialog box.

5. Click OK in the SmartIcon dialog box to save your changes and close the window.

You may want to change the position of your SmartIcon palette. The default position for your SmartIcon set is at the top of the screen. You can select Left, Right, Top, Bottom, or Floating.



Figure 3.8
The Icon Size dialog box.

Plain English: Floating Palette A palette that appears in its own window rather than being anchored on the edge of the screen (as in Right, Left, Top, or Bottom). You can move the floating window around the screen by dragging its title bar; you can resize the window by dragging its borders.

To change the position of your SmartIcon set:

1. From your workspace, open the File menu, and click Tools, SmartIcons from the menu.

2. The SmartIcon dialog box appears (see Figure 3.7). Click the Position drop-down menu.

Select the position you want for your SmartIcon set.

3. Click OK in the SmartIcon dialog box to save your changes and close the window.

4. The SmartIcon set now appears in its new position (see Figure 3.9).



Figure 3.9
SmartIcon set with "Right" selected as position.

In this lesson, you learned about the standard elements of the Notes workspace and how to customize your workspace pages. You also worked with the database icons and SmartIcons. In the next lesson, you'll learn how to work in the Lotus Notes Mail database window.

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