How to Create an Email Mailing List and Sending
Out Class Newsletters
Contents
Open Microsoft Outlook ..........................................................................................2
Create a Sub-folder.................................................................................................2
Create a New Contact .............................................................................................3
Create a contact from an e-mail message that you receive ...................................5
Create and work with a distribution list..................................................................5
Create a distribution list by using names already in the Address Book ...............6
Create a distribution list from an email message .................................................8
Add or delete a name in a distribution list ...........................................................8
Add an address from an address book or a contacts folder ..............................8
Add an address that is not in a contacts folder or an address book .................9
Delete a name ..................................................................................................9
Show the names in a distribution list ..................................................................9
Distribution List from Excel Spreadsheet .......................................................... 10
Sending a message to a distribution list ............................................................... 11
Send a message to part of a distribution list...................................................... 12
Add a distribution list from a message to Contacts............................................12
Print a distribution list ...................................................................................... 12
Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) ..................................................................................... 13
Best practices for using Bcc ..............................................................................13
Ideas for using Bcc ............................................................................................ 13
Keep the recipient list private ........................................................................13
Help curb a conversation that has gone wild..................................................14
Reduce spam .................................................................................................14
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Open Microsoft Outlook
Open Microsoft Office Outlook. I would recommend using the full version,
as the web APP or Mobile APP has some limited functionality.
Once Outlook is open, click on the Contacts button at the lower left of
the main page.
This opens the Contacts section of Outlook.
Create a Sub-folder
If you have a lot of contacts, you can use contact folders to organize groups of common contacts.
Create a new folder in the Contacts, name it, and move, copy or create specific contacts. Your
contact folders will be listed in the Navigation Pane under My Contacts.
To create a new folder, click on the
arrow part of the NEW button, found at
the left of the page. Select “Folder . . .”
OR on the File menu, point to New, and
then click Folder . . .
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In the Create New Folder pop-up, enter a name for the new folder
(1)
(recommend including the school year in the name), for fields
“Folder contains:” must be, “Contact Items” (1) and in “Select where
(2)
to place the folder:” must select “Contacts” (2).
The new sub-folder will now be found under the “My
Contacts” section of the Contacts. Select this new sub-folder
and continue . . .
Create a New Contact
You can add new contacts to your Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Contacts by typing all the
information directly in a new contact form or by taking advantage of contact information sent to
you to automatically fill in some or all of the information.
To create a new Contact, click on the
arrow part of the NEW button found at the
left of the page. Select “Contact” OR on the
File menu, point to New, and then click
Contact.
Keyboard shortcut: To create a contact, press Ctrl+Shift+C.
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Start entering the name of the contact, and enter the information that you want to include for the
contact.
Suggestions: (These are just suggestions. Please choose a format that works best for you)
To specify how you want the contact's name to appear in the
To: line of a message, type a name in the Display As box.
Use the Parent’s Name as the main “Full Name”, Child’s Name
in “Company”, Contact’s Relation to Child in the “Job Title” and
choose the Child’s Name
for the “File as”, so if you
have more than one contact for the same child,
i.e. one for the mother & another for the father,
they will show up together in your contact
folder.
To enter multiple entries for a field, such as
more than one phone number or e-mail address, click the down arrow next to the field.
TIP: You can quickly create another contact with the same “company information” (In this case,
second contact such as mother & father). In the current contact, on the Actions menu, click New
Contact from Same Company.
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Create a contact from an e-mail message that you receive
1. Open or preview the e-mail message that contains the name that you want to add to your
contact list.
2. Right-click the name of the sender who you want to make into a contact, and then click Add
to Contacts on the shortcut menu.
3. This will create a new contact into the Main Contact folder, so if you are organizing your
contacts in sub-folders, you will need to click and drag the new contact into the sub-folder.
NOTE: In Outlook 2007, there is no option to add contact information automatically to Contacts or
Address Book when you reply to a contact.
As you create new contacts they will show up as individual vCards (virtual business card) where
you can see the information you have entered.
Create and work with a distribution list
A distribution list is a collection of contacts. It provides an easy way to send messages to a group of
people. For example, if you frequently send messages to the committee team, you can create a
distribution list called Committee Team that contains the names of all members of the committee
team. A message sent to this distribution list goes to all recipients listed in the distribution list. You
can use distribution lists in messages, task requests, meeting requests, and other distribution lists.
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Distribution lists are stored by default in your Contacts folder, but can be saved into sub-folders in
you Contact folder (how to create a sub-folder explained at the beginning of this How-to). We use
Microsoft Exchange for our email account. Your Global Address List contains all employees in the
Pemberton Township School District and can contain global distribution lists (such as our ~PECEC
list), which are available to everyone who uses that network. The personal distribution lists are lists
that you have created in your Contacts folder (or sub-folders) and are available only to you, but
you can share them by copying and sending them to others.
You can easily add and delete names in a distribution list, send it to others, and print it.
Create a distribution list by using names already in the Address Book
To create a new Distribution List, Click on
the arrow part of the NEW button, found at
the left of the page. Select “Distribution
List” OR on the File menu, point to New,
and then click Distribution List.
Keyboard shortcut: To create a contact, press Ctrl+Shift+L.
When the Distribution list screen
(1)
opens, type a name of your new
(2)
distribution list (1), in the Name
box, Then click on the
Distribution List tab, click Select Members button (2).
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This will open the Address Book. In the Address Book dropdown list (3), click the address book that contains the e-mail
addresses you want in your distribution list. For this example,
select book that has the name created for the sub-folder or if
you did not create a sub-folder, you will select Contacts.
In the Search box (4), type a name that you want
to include. In the list below, click the name, and
then click Members (5). Do this for each person
whom you want to add to the distribution list, and
then click OK (6).
All members will be listed and can be
sorted by the names or emails by
clicking on the Titles.
Click on the “Save & Close” button (7) to
save your new distribution list. The
distribution list will be saved in your
Contacts or sub-folder by the name that
you give it.
If you want to add a longer description of the
distribution list, click Notes (8) on the Distribution
List tab, and then type the text.
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Create a distribution list from an email message
In the e-mail message that you want to copy the names from, select the names in the To or Cc box
(To, Cc and Bcc boxes: A message is sent to the recipients in the To box. Recipients in the Cc (carbon
copy) and Bcc (blind carbon copy) boxes also get the message. However, the names of the recipients
in the Bcc box aren’t visible to other recipients.).Right-click your selection, and then click Copy on
the shortcut menu.
1. Open email message
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button
, and under Create New Outlook Item, click
Distribution list.
3. On the Distribution List tab, in the Members group, click Select Members.
4. At the bottom of the Select Members dialog box, in the Members box, right-click and then
click Paste on the shortcut menu.
NOTE: A member does not need to be in your Address Book in order to be added to the
distribution list. The member's name and e-mail address will be included when you copy
and paste from the original e-mail message. BUT these members of the distribution list will
not be able to be selected from individual messages.
5. Click OK.
6. In the Name box, type a name for the distribution list.
7. On the Distribution List tab, in the Actions group, click Save & Close.
Add or delete a name in a distribution list
In your Contacts folder, open the distribution list.
Do one or more of the following:
Add an address from an address book or a contacts folder
1. On the Distribution List tab, click Select Members.
2. In the Address Book drop-down list, click the address book that contains the e-mail
addresses you want in your distribution list.
3. In the Search box, type a name you want to include.
4. In the Name list, click the name, and then click Members. Do this for each person whom
you want to add to the distribution list, and then click OK.
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Add an address that is not in a contacts folder or an address book
1. On the Distribution List tab, click Add New.
2. Type the information for the e-mail address, and then click OK. (see below)
Delete a name
1. Click the name, and then click Remove.
Show the names in a distribution list
If you want to check the members in a distribution list before you send a message, you can do the
following:
1. In a new message, click To.
2. In the Address Book drop-down list, click the address book that contains the distribution
list that you want information about.
3. In the Search box, type the name of the distribution list.
4. In the Name list, right-click the distribution list, and then click Properties on the shortcut
menu.
TIP: To quickly show the names of individuals on the list, you can click the plus sign (+) next to the
name of the distribution list in the To box. After the list is expanded, you can delete some names to
send a message or meeting request to part of the distribution list. You cannot collapse the list again
after it is expanded. Distribution lists in the E-mail field of a contact cannot be expanded.
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Distribution List from Excel Spreadsheet
1. Create the list in Excel. The list should have at least one column (a column for e-mail
addresses) and be titled (the top cell of the column should list what it is). Click on the “File”
menu at the top of the screen and select “Save As.” Type the file name in the space provided.
Click on the drop-down menu after “Save file as type” and select “*.csv.” Click “Save.”
2. Open Outlook. Click on the “Contacts” bar on the left-hand side and click “New.” Scroll down
and click on “Folder.” Name the new Contact folder (You could use something like
“Imported Contacts.”)
3. Click on “File” on the top menu bar and then click on the “Import and Export” command to
open the “Import and Export” wizard.
4. Click on the “Import from another file or program” and click “Next.” Click on “Comma
Separated Values (Windows)” and click “Next” again.
5. Click on the “Browse” button and search the folders for the CSV file you created. Click on it
to select it and then click on the “Open” button. Click on “Next” in the wizard.
6. Click on the contacts folder you created in Step 2 and click on the “Next” button. Click “Map
Custom Fields” on the wizard.
7. Match up the contact fields in Outlook with the column headers. Click on the “Add” button to
add the column name and click-and-drag it to the appropriate field name. Click “OK” when
finished and click “Finish” in the Wizard to import.
8. Click on “New” in the Outlook window and click on “Distribution List” to create a new list.
Type the name of the list in the space provided. Click on “Select Members.” Click on the
drop-down arrow under “Address Book” and select the contact list you just created.
9. Click on the top e-mail address, press and hold the “Shift” key, and click on the last name in
the list to select all of the names. Click on “Add” to add all names. Click “OK” to close the
window. Click on “Save
and Close” in the Distribution List.
Once the Distribution list has been created, you can see it in your contacts. Please notice the
difference between a contact vCard and a Distribution List vCard. (see below)
Contact vCard
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Distribution
List vCard
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Sending a message to a distribution list
Open a new message.
Click on the To button.
This will bring up the Select Names pop-up window. You will
need to change to the Address Book containing your
distribution list. If you created a sub-folder, look for the folder
name; otherwise look for Contact, which will have everything
in the Contacts folder. Once in the correct Address Book, in the
Search box, type the name of the distribution list.
NOTE: Take notice how a regular contact is not BOLD in the
list and how the Distribution list is BOLD, making it easier
for you to find Distribution lists.
In the Name list, click the name, click To (if sending
to more than one person continue clicking until you
have them ALL selected), and then click OK.
**IMPORTANT TIP**: If you are sending a
message to people not connected to each other,
such as parents, best practice is to use BCC and
not To. Please see the BCC section of this Howto.
This will take you back to the email message screen, finish email, attached any attachments and
send the message.
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Send a message to part of a distribution list
1. Open a new message.
2. Click To, and then in the Search box, type the name of the distribution list.
3. In the Name list, click the name, click To, and then click OK.
4. In the message, in the To box, click the plus sign (+) next to the name of the distribution list
to show the individuals on the list, and then delete the names that you do not want the
message sent to.
NOTE: After you expand a distribution list, the distribution list name is replaced with all the
individual names on the list. You cannot collapse the names back to the distribution list name once
it’s expanded.
Add a distribution list from a message to Contacts
If you receive an email message that contains a distribution list that you would like to keep, you can
save the list by adding it to your contracts.
1. Open the message that contains the distribution list.
2. In the header of the message, right-click the distribution list, and then click Add to Outlook
Contacts on the shortcut menu.
Print a distribution list
1. Click Contacts.
2. Open the distribution list that you want to print.
3. Click the Microsoft Office Button
, and then click Print.
4. Choose any additional printing options, and then click OK.
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Blind Carbon Copy (BCC)
Bcc is an abbreviation for blind carbon copy. If you add a recipient's name to the Bcc box in an email message, a copy of the message is sent to the recipient, but the recipient's name is not visible
to the other recipients of the message. If the Bcc box is not visible when you create a new message,
you can add it.
In a new message, on the Message Options tab, in the Fields group, click Show Bcc.
Best practices for using Bcc
Pave the way: Before you add an intended recipient's name to the Bcc box in a message, make sure
that the recipient is expecting your message. That person may need to take steps to establish you as
a safe sender (or a safe recipient, if your name will be in the To box of the message).
Why is this necessary? Using Bcc is a favorite technique of spammers. Therefore, a lot of junk e-mail
filters flag messages that use the Bcc box as junk. So if your intended recipient has not added your
name to the Safe Senders List in Microsoft Office Outlook, your message may go straight to the Junk
E-mail folder or its equivalent.
Think before you include a distribution list in the Bcc box. People who use rules to sort their email into folders will be inconvenienced if you list the name of the distribution list in the Bcc box.
Because their rules depend on the name of the distribution list being in the To box or Cc box, your
message will not be sorted according to their rules.
Ideas for using Bcc
Keep the recipient list private
Bcc can help you to be respectful of others' privacy by keeping them in the loop without disclosing
their identities. For example, some parent may want email from you and the school but not other
parents in the classroom
Tip: You can get fancy, by considering using mail merge in Microsoft Office Word 2007 as an
alternative to Bcc. With mail merge, you can quickly send the same e-mail message to individual
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recipients. Mail merge allows you to do a mass mailing with just one name in the To box of the
message.
Help curb a conversation that has gone wild.
Here is one situation in which using Bcc for a distribution list or a large number of names can be
helpful. Suppose you send a message with a large number of people listed in the To box. If someone
clicks Reply to All instead of just Reply, which could spark lively discussion that might not actually
involve the whole list and not everyone on your list may want to give an opinion or hear other. The
number of messages can increase drastically because many recipients reply with the sentiment
“please stop replying all to this message.” When clicking Reply to All, anyone in the BCC will NOT
get the message.
Reduce spam
Although people who send junk e-mail or spam may like to use Bcc, they won't like it if you use it. If
you hide the recipients' names by listing them in the Bcc box, no one will be able to copy the
recipients' e-mail addresses from your messages.
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