Outlook 2010 starts up in offline mode [Solved]

I spent hours looking for a setting in MS Outlook 2010 to make it start up in online mode ie: not connected to the MS Exchange Server… I (sort of) remember wanting it to startup in offline mode so that it wouldn’t download all the emails on startup, but now I wanted to turn that off.  But, I couldn’t find the setting – I even looked in the Windows Registry using regedit but decided to stop and look again in the options screens – I eventually found it.
 
Here’s the settings – in case I ever forget:
File->Info->Account Settings->Account Settings->Change->More Settings->General->Manually control connection state->Connect with network

Solved! Integrating Bugzilla with MS project 2007

I have been battling for weeks trying to integrate Bugzilla items with Microsoft Project, and finally I’ve got something working.  Truth be said, I had it working a long time ago, but suddenly it stopped working – so it somehow got broken.  I couldn’t figure out what had changed and it was driving me crazy – even my colleagues around me were starting to feel the pain and could see my hair getting pulled out!

Let’s start at the beginning, and explain what I needed and how I got it done:
We use Bugzilla as a bug tracking tool and with each release we need to figure out which features and fixes will make it into the next release.  While Bugzilla is a great fault tracking tool, it doesn’t have the ability (AFAIK) to show when all targeted bugs will be fixed.  In other words, it shows what needs to be done, but doesn’t show when they will be fixed by the assigned developers.

 
We use Microsoft Project to show load on resources (levelling) and for release planning ie: which features and bug fixes will be put into the next release.  So, it’s obvious that importing Bugzilla’s bugs into the project plan will allow us to see what can be done, by who, and by when.

Entering the constantly changing list of bugs into MS Project manually is possible, but extremely tedious, so it becomes an impossible task.  I am still looking for an automated way of doing this… but, we’ve found the next best solution:

Importing Bugzilla into MS Project:
Instead of doing the manual update thing… the next best solution is to import the list of bugs into the project plan as follows:
*) In Bugzilla: change the bugs that need to be fixed in the next release to have a common TargetMilestone.
*) In each bug, update the “Hours Left” field to the estimated number of hours that the fix will take to resolve.  Note: the “Hours Left” field is only visible if the user is a member of the Bugzilla “timetrackinggroup”.  Add peoples’ logins to the group using the “Edit groups” page: eg: @yourcompany.com$|@gmail.com$*) create a view that lists all bugs that need to be imported into the plan ie: all bugs with a TargetMilestone set to “EndJulyRelease” for component “Widget” that have been modified since 2010-06-01 (the last time the bug import was done).
*) Add columns to the results screen (use the “Change columns” link) to add columns that you want to import into the project plan.
*) Export the resulting list by clicking on the “CSV” link (at the bottom of Bugzilla’s results page).  Save the .csv file to your computer – this is the file that will be imported (actually, merged) into the project plan.

*) In MS Project: open your .mpp file, click File->Open, select the .csv file that was exported from Bugzilla; the “Import Wizard” will open.  Click “Next”, then “New map” and define how the fields (in the .csv file) map to the MS project fields as follows:  On the following screens select the following:  “Merge the data into the active project”, then “Tasks”, tick “Import includes headers”, then (in the “Task mapping” screen): Click on the pull down arrows and map each field in the text file to each of the MS project fields.  The key to this import (and subsequent imports that update already imported bugs) is the “MERGE KEY”.  Make the bug_id field the merge key by clicking on the “Set merge key” button.  This will ensure that the next imports of the updated .csv file will not insert duplicate tasks, but rather update the project tasks as identified by the Bugzilla number.
*) Ensure that the “remaining_time” field from the .csv file is mapped to MS project’s “Duration” field, and “short_desc” to “Name”.
*) Save the map so that subsequent imports will be faster since the saved map can be used to import the data.  Click “Finish” and the data from the .csv file will be imported into MS project.  Any existing tasks with a Bugzilla number in the “Text1” field will be updated, while new tasks will be add to the end of the MS project file.
*) Add columns “Text 1” thru to “Text 14” to your Gant chart, and by showing the Bugzilla priority field next (eg: Text5) to the MS Project’s “Priority” field one can see which tasks should have a high MS Project priority that can be used for levelling.

OK, so the above description shows the mechanics for integrating Bugzilla with MS Project, but what got broken?  What changed that was driving me crazy and making me pull my hair out?  The merging the .csv file stopped working – it just imported the Bugzilla tasks over the other project tasks – ie: somehow it was ignoring the merge key! 
I managed to isolate the problem by creating a new, empty project, then pasting the original MS Project’s tasks into the new Gant chart, then the merge of the csv file worked!
This led me to the cause of the problem: I found that by deleting some of the columns in the Gant chart fixed the problem and the merge worked again…

So, if your import of .csv file stops working all of a sudden, then you can try the two solutions above (create a new .mpp file or delete some unused columns).

Update on 16Jan2011: I have now upgraded my MS Project to MS Project 2010 (version 14.0.4751.1000) and the merge from the Bugzilla CSV file imports fine and there are no problems – so no need for me to use a new, empty project :)  Hoooray!


Update 23 March 2011: If you prefer to import Bugzilla bugs into a spreadsheet directly without having to do the following:
1) go to the Bugzilla web page,
2) open (or create) the view of the bugs you are interested in,
3) export the file to a .csv file or copy and paste it into an Excel spreadsheet.
In other words, if you don’t want to do the above each and every time you want an update, then this can be automated by using some Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) script in Excel that will download the content of a view via its CSV file, and display its content in Excel (almost like an API).  Omar BELKHODJA explains what to do – thanks for writing the blog post and for sharing!: http://blog.sos-company.com/?p=3

Two simple tips to prevent those emails that are sent too early

How often have you pressed the ‘Send’ button by mistake and have to scramble to unplug your Internet connection to prevent that email from being sent?  Well, here are two ways that I use to prevent those mistakes. The most common mistakes that I make when sending an email are to forget to add the attachment, and to add/remove addresses to/from the address fields.

Here are the 2 tips:
1) When replying to an important email I always put an invalid email address (e.g. ‘xxxx’) in the ‘cc’ field.  So, if I do happen to press the ‘Send’ button by mistake, then my email client will complain that it doesn’t know who ‘xxxx’ is.  So, once I’ve checked the email content and its attachments, I can then remove the ‘xxxx’ “address”.
2) As another failsafe (yeah, call me paranoid) method of ensuring that the email gets sent to the correct parties, is to turn off Microsoft Outlook’s ‘Send immediately when connected’ setting: UNtick: “Tools->Options->Mail setup->Send immediately when connected”

BTW: did you know that Google Mail’s (labs) feature “Settings->Labs-> Forgotten Attachment Detector” that will warn you if you refer to an attachment in the email but there isn’t an attached file? Note: obviously you need to be using an Internet browser for sending the email.

Free Excel templates and spreadsheets including calendar, loan, mortgage, budget, invoice, timeline, timesheet, gantt, and schedule templates

Download free Excel templates and spreadsheets from Vertex42 including calendar, loan, mortgage, budget, invoice, timeline, timesheet, gantt, and schedule templates. What's the catch?: Free to download, but there's a fee to get the unlock code to see the formulas and edit the templates.

List of Excel Templates
* The templates marked with the " * " work in Open Office.

Calendars & Schedules
* Excel Calendar Template
* Yearly Calendar
* Monthly Calendar
* Weekly Calendar Template
* Work Schedule *
* Weekly Schedule *
* Shift Schedule *
* Daily Planner
* Weekly Planner
* Monthly Planner Template
* New Year's Resolution Calendar

Budgets
* Personal Budget *
* Personal Monthly Budget *
* Family Budget Planner *
* Household Budget Worksheet (monthly) *
* Home Budget Worksheet (yearly)
* Wedding Budget Template *
* Checkbook *
* Expense Tracker

Invoice & Inventory
* Service Invoice Template *
* Sales Invoice Template *
* Purchase Order *
* Billing Statement *
* Asset Tracking
* Home Inventory *

Timesheets & HR
* Employee Time Sheet *
* Timesheet with Breaks *
* Timecard *
* Expense Report *
* Vacation Tracking

Education
* Class Schedule *
* Class Attendance Tracking *
* School Calendar
* Academic Calendar

Project Management
* Gantt Chart
* To Do List*
* Timeline Template
* Timeline Examples

Loan Calculators
* Amortization Schedule
* Car Loan Calculator
* Simple Loan Calculator *
* Amortization Table
* Simple Interest Calculator
* Interest Only Loan
* Balloon Loan Mortgage Calculator
* Boat Loan Calculator

Mortgage Calculators
* Home Mortgage Calculator
* Mortgage Payment Calculator *
* ARM Loan Calculator
* Home Equity Loan Calculator
* Extra Payments
* Canadian Mortgage Calculator
* Simple Interest Mortgage
* More Mortgage Spreadsheets

Retirement & Savings
* Simple Savings Interest Calculator
* Retirement Savings Calculator

Personal Finance
* Debt Reduction Snowball Calculator
* Credit Card Payoff Calculator
* Home Expense Calculator
* Stock Quotes

Financial Statements
* Balance Sheet *
* Income Statement *
* Cash Flow Statement *
* Break Even Point
* Net Worth Statement *

Exercise / Health
* Weight Loss Log
* Food Log
* Weight Chart
* Exercise Chart
* Exercise Log
* Weight Lifting Chart
* Weight Lifting Log
* Body Mass Index Chart
* Grocery Shopping List
* Menu Planner *

Other Templates
* Gas Mileage Log & Calculator
* Blank Sudoku Grid
* Wedding Checklist Template *
* Sign In Sheet *

Directory of Other Free Excel Templates:

Free Excel Templates - Main Category Accounting and Reporting :: Income statements, balance sheets, expense reports ... Business Finance :: Real option valuation, risk analysis, financial modeling ... Business Plans :: Startup expenses, finance statements, break-even analysis ... Calendars and Planners :: Yearly and weekly calendars, planners ... Education :: Gradebooks, weekly schedules, attendance logs ... Gradebook and Grade Tracking Music and Graph Paper Engineering Templates :: Modeling, units, design ... General Excel Templates :: Templates for demonstrating Excel techniques ... Home and Health :: Home inventory, workout logs, meal planning ... Medicine and Biology :: Diagnostics ... Orders and Inventory :: Invoices, packing slips, price lists ... Payroll and Scheduling :: Timesheets, payroll, shift schedules ... Personal Finance :: Loans, budgets, checkbooks, investments ... Project Management and Planning :: Budgets, cash flow, timelines, projects ... Real Estate :: Amortization, mortgages, renting, closing costs ... Sports :: Scorecards, rosters, tournament brackets ... Statistics :: Data analysis, statistics examples ... Travel :: Mileage logs, expense reports, itineraries ...

Thanks Vertex42

Office 2007 users: are you struggling to find features in the new ribbon menus? Then this is for you:

UBitMenu adds classic menu to Microsoft Office 2007
UBitMenu is a simple way for professional Microsoft® Office users to get accustomed to the new ribbon based interface of Office 2007 without any performance loss.

See here for more info and to download: http://www.ubit.ch/software/ubitmenu-languages/

If it simplifies your work then convince your boss to buy the commercial version! ($13.50 plus ~$0.88 per user)

It will emulate/activate the Office 2003 menu in Word 2007, Excel 2007 and Powerpoint 2007.

If you have spent agonizing minutes trying to find features in Word, Excel or PowerPoint ribbons that would have been at your finger tips in Office 2003 you will soon appreciate UBitMenu, especially when you have to finish an important document under time pressure.

UBitMenu does not hide the ribbon interface, but adds the classic menu as a new ribbon.

Gradually you will realize that many functions are easier to handle using Office 2007 ribbons. Microsoft® has done a good job there.

UBitMenu Advantages:

• based on standard Microsoft® Office-AddIn technology
• contains no active code elements (no virus scanner hassle)
• no VSTO or .NET-environment or configuration needed
• no dependenciesextremely small file size
• no impact on performance