OFF: How to Post Documents to Public Folders

This article outlines the steps you need to follow in order to post a Microsoft Office document to a public folder using Microsoft Exchange for Windows 95, version 4.0.

In addition to e-mail support, Microsoft Exchange Server allows you to post documents to public folders so you can share them with other workgroup members.

Public folders can be configured for different types of programs, such as bulletin boards, discussion forums, and customer tracking systems. Once a document has been posted to a public folder, any user with access rights to that public folder can open the document.

To enable posting capability, you must first install the Microsoft Exchange client included with the Microsoft Exchange Server, and then install Microsoft Office. When these programs are installed in this order, the appropriate command for posting your Office document to a public folder is added to the File menu for each Office program. Public folders are available only when you have access to a Microsoft Exchange Server system.

In Microsoft Office 97

To post a Microsoft Office document to a public folder, use the following steps:

1. Log on to your Microsoft Exchange server.
2. Open the Office document that you want to share with other Microsoft Exchange users.
3. On the File menu, point to Send To, and then click Exchange Folder.
4. Select the public folder to receive the document.
5. Click OK.

In Microsoft Office for Windows 95 version 7.0

To post a Microsoft Office document to a public folder, use the following steps:

1. Log on to your Microsoft Exchange server.
2. Open the document that you want to share with other Microsoft Exchange users.
3. On the File menu, click "Post to Public Folder".
4. Select the public folder to receive the document.
5. Click OK.

When a document is in a public folder, it can be opened by multiple users at the same time. To edit a file, such as a Microsoft Word document, you can double-click the file to open it in the appropriate program, where you can view, edit, or print it. If you do not have editing permission in a public folder, items are opened with read-only permission. In this case, you can select text, and copy and paste it into another item, but you cannot modify the existing text.

NOTE: If you and another user open and edit an item simultaneously, the changes made by the first user to close the document are saved. The second user to close the item is warned that the item has changed and the user can either discard changes or save the item in the Inbox. A conflict message is displayed in the folder if you and the other user are accessing the public folder from different computers.

For information about setting up Microsoft Exchange Server and making public folders available to users, see the documentation accompanying the Microsoft Exchange Server software.

"Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Resource Kit", Chapter 15, "Working with Microsoft Exchange Server"

For more information about public folders, click Index on the Microsoft Exchange Help menu and type: For more information about posting documents, click the Index tab in Help for any Office program and type: