Entourage 2008 for Mac includes these six feature group modules:
Mail. In this module, you display, organize, and manage received messages.
Address Book. In this module, you manage contact information for people and groups.
Calendar. In this module, you keep track of appointments, meetings, and all-day events.
Notes. In this module, you store independent bits of information.
Tasks. In this module, you keep track of things you need to do, when tasks need to be completed, and your progress toward completion.
Project Center. In this module, you link Entourage items and files related to a specific project.
Only one of these modules is active within the Entourage program window at a time. You switch between modules by clicking the buttons that appear at the left end of the toolbar in every module.
The Mail module is displayed by default each time you start the program.
Certain program window features remain static regardless of the active module. These include:
Favorites Bar. This bar provides quick links to specific views of your Entourage content. The default links are Inbox, Calendar, To Do List, and Sent Directly To Me. You can add a folder or view to the Favorites Bar by right-clicking it in the Folder list, and then clicking Add To Favorites Bar. You can remove a link by right-clicking the target folder or view, and then clicking Remove From Favorites Bar.
Content pane. This view pane appears in the center of the window, and displays the content of the selected module—your e-mail messages, calendar, contacts, and other such content. You can sort and filter content within the pane.
Mini Calendar. Located in the lower-left corner of the program window, this pane, which is available only when the Folder list is open, displays the calendar for the current month. You can move to other months by clicking the arrows on the left and right sides of the pane header, and return to the current month by clicking the dot in the center of the header. You can change the number of months displayed in the pane by dragging the horizontal divider at the top of the pane or the vertical divider on the right side of the pane.
Status bar. Located at the bottom of the program window, the status bar displays statistics about the number of items displayed and selected in the current view, as well as notifications about upcoming program activities (such as the time until the next scheduled Send/Receive operation).
The following program window features are displayed by default in all modules, but change to reflect the module content:
Menu bar. When working in the Entourage program window, you can access commands from the menus displayed here. The menu bar changes to display menus of commands relevant to the active module:
All modules include the Apple, Entourage, File, Edit, Format, Tools, Window, and Help menus.
The Mail, Notes, Tasks, and Project Center modules include View and Message menus.
The Address Book includes View and Contact menus.
The Calendar includes Calendar and Event menus.
You can’t hide the menu bar, but you can move it, docking it on any side of the program window or floating it anywhere on your screen.
Toolbar. The Entourage program window has only one toolbar, but its contents change depending on the displayed module. The module buttons, Delete button, Categories list, and My Day button are displayed in all modules. You can hide or show the toolbar by clicking the Hide Toolbar Area button or by clicking Hide Toolbar or Show Toolbar on the View menu.
Tip
You can customize the toolbar in each module window by clicking Customize Toolbar on the View menu (or in the Calendar module, on the Calendar menu) and then, from the dialog box that appears, dragging commands to the toolbar. From this same dialog box, you can specify whether the toolbar should display the icon and text for each command (this is the default setting), the icon only, or the text only. When displaying the icon, you can choose the large version (the default) or the small version.
Quick Filter. This area directly above the content pane provides a quick way to filter the module contents based on criteria such as subject, category, project, message sender or recipient, contact name, or task title or content.
Folder list. This pane, which appears on the left side of the Entourage window, displays the module organizational structure and available filtered views. You can tailor the Folder list to suit your preferences:
You can hide or show the pane by clicking Hide Folder List or Show Folder List on the View menu.
You can change the width of the pane by dragging the vertical frame divider separating it from the content pane to its right.
You can change the height of the pane by dragging the horizontal frame divider separating it from the Mini Calendar below.
Preview pane. This pane displays the contents of a selected message or contact record. It is available in only the Mail module, in which you can display it to the right of or below the content pane, and the Address Book, in which you can display it below the content pane.
Tip
You might find that the default window arrangement is ideal for the way you work. But if you’re viewing the program window on a low-resolution screen, don’t need all the available tools, or would like more space for the main work area, you can display or hide workspace elements (other than the menu bar, which can’t be changed) by using the commands on the View menu.