How to Customize the Details Template
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.
Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3
This topic explains how to use the Details Templates Editor to customize details templates.
You can use the default details template or you can customize the template to better suit the needs of your users. You can use the Details Templates Editor to customize the following Microsoft Outlook objects:
Contacts
Users
Groups
Mailbox agents
Public folders
Search dialog boxes
You can customize these objects by changing field sizes, adding or removing fields, adding or removing tabs, and rearranging fields. The layout of these templates can vary by language.
The following languages are supported: Arabic, Basque, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, German, Greek, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
Before You Begin
To perform this procedure, the account you use must be delegated the following:
- Exchange Organization Administrator role
For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.
Also, before you perform this procedure, be aware of the following:
In the release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Exchange 2007, you must add the Details Templates Editor snap-in to a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) before you can perform any other details template management tasks. For detailed instructions, see How to Add the Details Templates Editor to the Microsoft Management Console.
In Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1), you can access the Details Templates Editor from the Toolbox node in the Exchange Management Console.
Procedure
Exchange 2007 RTM
To use the Microsoft Management Console to customize the details template
In the Details Templates Editor, in the console root, click Details Template.
In the details pane, the following columns are displayed:
Template Type This column lists the type of template that you can customize.
Language This column lists the language in which the template was created.
Identity This column lists the unique identity of the template.
Created This column lists the date and time that the template was created.
Modified This column lists the date and time that the template was last modified.
To edit the template, right-click the template, and then click Edit. For example, the English contacts details template is shown in the following figure.
Default details template as viewed from Outlook 2007
.gif "Default details template in Outlook 2007")
After you click Edit, there are several tasks you can perform to customize a details template:
To move an object in the designer pane, select the object, and then drag it to its new location on the template. As you move the object, you are provided with alignment lines.
To change a label's text, select the label in the design pane. In the properties pane, type the new text in the Text box. To create keyboard shortcuts, you can use the ampersand (&) symbol. Place the ampersand (&) before the letter that you want to use as the shortcut.
To change the size of an object, select the object, and then drag the sizing handles until the object is the shape and size you want.
To delete an object, select the object, and then press the DELETE key.
Note
The Details Templates Editor does not contain an Undo button, nor can you use a keyboard shortcut to undo an action. To undo an addition you made to the template, you must use the DELETE key. To undo a deletion, you must reapply the setting. You can also revert to the original settings by exiting the Details Templates Editor without saving your changes. If you want to undo changes after you have saved, you can restore the template. When you restore a template, all customization is lost, and the template is restored to its original configuration. For more information about how to restore the details template, see How to Restore a Details Template to the Default Configuration.
To add an Edit text box, Listbox, MultiValued Dropdown box, or MultiValued Listbox, in the toolbox pane, drag the object to the design pane. Set the attribute of the object by clicking the attribute drop-down box in the properties pane, and then selecting the attribute that will be used by Exchange.
Note
You must link the object to an attribute for it to be used by Exchange. In addition, the attribute also determines the content that is displayed to the end user in Outlook. If you do not select an attribute, a random attribute is selected automatically.
To add a Groupbox, drag the object to the design pane, and then in the properties pane, type a name in the Text box. Use the Groupbox to group similar objects.
To add a tab to the template, right-click an existing tab, and then click Add Tab. A blank tab appears. To name the tab, type the name in the Text box in the properties pane.
To remove a tab from the template, right-click the tab, and then click Remove Tab. A warning appears. Click OK to confirm that you want to remove the tab.
To change the tabbing order of the objects on a tab so that users can use the TAB key to navigate the objects in the order you want, select the object in the design pane, and then in the properties pane, use the TabIndex box to change the order.
Note
To make sure that users are not able to use the TAB key to access the labels of an object (for example Name or Alias), change the order of the labels so that they are last in the tabbing order.
To save changes to the details template, on the File menu, click Save.
To close the template, click X in the upper-right corner.
Exchange 2007 SP1
To use the Microsoft Management Console to customize the details template
Start the Exchange Management Console.
In the console tree, click Toolbox.
In the result pane, click Details Templates Editor, and then in the action pane, click Open Tool.
In the Details Templates Editor, in the console root, click Details Template.
In the details pane, the following columns are displayed:
Language This column lists the language in which the template was created.
Template Type This column lists the type of template that you can customize.
Identity This column lists the unique identity of the template.
Created This column lists the date and time that the template was created.
Modified This column lists the date and time that the template was last modified.
To edit the template, right-click the template, and then in the action pane, click Edit. For example, the English (United States) contacts details template is shown in the following figure.
Default details template as viewed from Outlook 2007
After you click Edit, there are several tasks you can perform to customize a details template:
To move an object in the designer pane, select the object, and then drag it to its new location on the template. As you move the object, you are provided with alignment lines.
To change a label's text, select the label in the design pane. In the properties pane, type the new text in the Text box. To create keyboard shortcuts, you can use the ampersand (&) symbol. Place the ampersand (&) before the letter that you want to use as the shortcut.
To change the size of an object, select the object, and then drag the sizing handles until the object is the shape and size you want.
To delete an object, select the object, and then press the DELETE key.
Note
The Details Templates Editor does not contain an Undo button, nor can you use a keyboard shortcut to undo an action. To undo an addition you made to the template, you must use the DELETE key. To undo a deletion, you must reapply the setting. You can also revert to the original settings by exiting the Details Templates Editor without saving your changes. If you want to undo changes after you have saved, you can restore the template. When you restore a template, all customization is lost, and the template is restored to its original configuration. For more information about how to restore the details template, see How to Restore a Details Template to the Default Configuration.
To add an Edit text box, Listbox, MultiValued Dropdown box, or MultiValued Listbox, in the toolbox pane, drag the object to the design pane. Set the attribute of the object by clicking the attribute drop-down box in the properties pane, and then selecting the attribute that will be used by Exchange.
Note
You must link the object to an attribute for it to be used by Exchange. In addition, the attribute also determines the content that is displayed to the end user in Outlook. If you do not select an attribute, a random attribute is selected automatically.
To add a Groupbox, drag the object to the design pane, and then in the properties pane, type a name in the Text box. Use the Groupbox to group similar objects.
To add a tab to the template, right-click an existing tab, and then click Add Tab. A blank tab appears. To name the tab, type the name in the Text box in the properties pane.
To remove a tab from the template, right-click the tab, and then click Remove Tab. A warning appears. Click OK to confirm that you want to remove the tab.
To change the tabbing order of the objects on a tab so that users can use the TAB key to navigate the objects in the order you want, select the object in the design pane, and then in the properties pane, use the TabIndex box to change the order.
Note
To make sure that users are not able to use the TAB key to access the labels of an object (for example Name or Alias), change the order of the labels so that they are last in the tabbing order.
To save changes to the details template, on the File menu, click Save.
To close the template, click X in the upper-right corner.
For More Information
For more information about the Details Templates Editor, see the following topics:
For more information about how to use the Toolbox, see Using the Toolbox.