A core set of configuration controls for RSS feeds is available on the seven tabs of the Properties dialog box accessible in the RSS Feeds folder (and all RSS folders created under it). To set these RSS configuration options, right-click the RSS Feeds folder (or the desired subfolder), and then choose Properties.

The General tab is displayed, as shown in Figure 16-17, enabling you to set the name of the RSS folder and the description, as well as whether to display the number of all items or just unread items. In addition, you can configure the form used in posting to the RSS folder, display the folder size (on both the local computer and the server), and specify whether to automatically generate Microsoft Exchange views. Clicking the Clear Offline Items button removes the data from the offline data store.

Figure 16-17. The General tab of the RSS Feeds Properties dialog box enables setting RSS folder properties.

The Home Page tab, shown in Figure 16-18, lets you set the default page URL of the folder and specify whether to Show Home Page By Default For This Folder. Clicking the Browse button opens the File Web Files dialog box, where you can select a new default Web page; clicking the Restore Defaults button resets the default Web page and options to the default values.

Figure 16-18. You can set the default URL and display settings on the Home Page tab.

Clicking the Offline Web Page Settings button lets you configure the offline settings for the RSS feed, including a check box on the Web Document tab that specifies whether Outlook 2007 will make this page available offline. The Schedule tab synchronization setting defaults to Only When I Choose Synchronize From The Tools Menu, as shown in Figure 16-19.

Figure 16-19. Synchronization defaults to manual, but you can schedule synchronization periods.

By selecting Using The Following Schedule(s) and then clicking the Add button, however, you can set the schedule for synchronizing an RSS feed in the New Schedule dialog box. The synchronization can be set to a specific time of day, as shown in Figure 16-20, a descriptive name can be applied, and you can elect to have the computer automatically connect to the network if it is not connected when the synchronization begins.

Figure 16-20. You can schedule the synchronization time of day and set the auto-connect option.

The Download tab, shown in Figure 16-21, lets you configure the depth of content to download, reserved disk space, content change alerts, and site login. Set the Download Pages n Links Deep From This Page option to the number of links deep of content that you want to download for this specific RSS feed. You can select Follow Links Outside Of This Page’s Website to have Outlook 2007 download external content. By configuring the Limit Hard-Disk Usage For This Page To option, you can control how much hard drive space you want to reserve to store this RSS feed’s information. If you want to be alerted about content change, select the When This Page Changes, Send E-Mail To option, and provide your E-Mail Address and Mail Server (SMTP) information. For RSS feeds that require credentials, click the Login button, and then provide your user name and password. Click OK to accept your changes and return to the RSS Feeds Properties dialog box.

Figure 16-21. Set the download, notification, and login settings for this RSS feed.

To control the archiving of RSS feeds, you select the AutoArchive tab in the RSS Feeds Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 16-22, and then configure the archiving settings to your preference. The default is to not archive the RSS items, but you can configure the Archive This Folder Using These Settings option to set the time limit (the point at which Outlook 2007 cleans out items older than the set period). After you have set the archive time limit, you can configure where archived items are moved to.

Figure 16-22. Set the archive option, time limit, and archive location for this RSS feed.

You can set the initial folder view on the Administration tab, configuring the view to Normal (the default), Group By From, Group By Subject, Group By Conversation Topic, Unread By Conversation, or Messages. Other options include specifying whom this folder is available to—either All Users With Access Permissions or Owners Only.

To associate custom forms with this RSS feed, select the Forms tab, shown in Figure 16-23, to configure the Forms Associated With This Folder option. After you have specified one or more custom forms to use with this RSS feed, in the Allow These Forms In This Folder area, select Only Forms List Above, Forms Listed Above And The Standard Forms, or Any Form.

Figure 16-23. You can manage the association of forms with an RSS Feed.

To control who has access to view or modify this RSS feed, click the Permissions tab, shown in Figure 16-24, and then specify the permission levels for the Default, Anonymous, and Owner accounts. The Owner account has full permissions by default; the Anonymous and Default accounts have none. If you want to provide specific users access to this RSS feed, click Add, and then select the appropriate user accounts. To allow anonymous access to this RSS feed, select Anonymous, and then, in the Permission Level drop-down list, select the desired level of access for anonymous users.

Figure 16-24. You can set the permissions to control access to this RSS feed.

The Synchronization tab lets you set the synchronization filter for the RSS feed. Click the Filter button to display the Filter dialog box, and then select the filter criteria to apply to the offline copy of the RSS items associated with this folder.