Can I create a custom text field in the Compose window of Outlook 2010?

Question

In Outlook, I need to have a custom text field in the "New Email" page.

In addition to To, CC, and Subject, I need a field labeled Keywords.

This Keywords field should be mandatory; it should give a prompt message if I try to send an email without the keyword, similar to sending an email without a message.

The purpose of having a Keywords field is to make my search easier. I will enter tags in the 'keyword' field while sending email so that later when searching I can find my emails easier.

Is there any way to accomplish this?

Answer 1

It's a great idea. Unfortunately, the interface of Outlook is nowhere near flexible to accommodate you I'm afraid.

The nearest you can get is to make use of the Categorize feature. Although the native interface doesn't provide direct access to an individual category, you can write a macro that sets/clears a category from a selected item and then add that to the Ribbon.

You could probably also write a custom Ribbon macro that gave you a text field that you could enter categories into.