Detail
Decide which computer will be used as the WorkgroupShare server. This can be any computer on the network, but preferably one that has full network access and that will always be running and available. No synchronizing of data will take place if the WorkgroupShare server is not running. WorkgroupShare can be installed on a workstation computer, but for larger workgroups the synchronization activity may be noticeable to the user. The WorkgroupShare server program can run on any Windows platform (Windows 2000 and above). If you require remote clients to synchronize Outlook folders then install WorkgroupShare on the internet gateway computer or one that can be accessed from the internet.
Download and run the WorkgroupShare setup program . Install the WorkgroupShare server program on this computer only. Follow the simple instructions as prompted, referring to the step by step guide if necessary. Choose to run WorkgroupShare as a Windows service, if possible, using the Local System account. The WorkgroupShare server will then always start up when the computer is booted and will not require a user to log on. (Note, if you intend to use WorkgroupShare with SQL server then you will need to specify an Administrative account that will have permissions to access SQL server.)Once setup is complete, run the WorkgroupShare Administrator and add your users.
Then, go to each Outlook client computer in turn and run the client setup program, which is located on the WorkgroupShare server. You will need to be logged in as the Administrator or a power user. The path to this file is
\WorkgroupShare_server\WorkgroupShare\Client Setup\ClientSetup.exe
The final setup for each client occurs when Outlook is next started up. A wizard will appear prompting for further details such as account name, password and the folders to be shared. Once complete, synchronization of Outlook folders will be automatic, at the interval specified in the Administrator. A Share menu item will appear on the Tools menu in Outlook. Click Tools, Share, Settings to further configure the client.
Once synchronization has completed, the shared folders for the user will be visible in the Administrator and the properties can be edited to set access permissions. (As well as sharing a folder, you must give permissions for other users to access a folder before it will become visible to them). It is also possible to set access permissions in the client through the Tools | Share menu.
A manual synchronization can be performed in Outlook at any time by clicking Tools, Synchronize with WorkgroupShare. A manual synchronization will show a progress bar indicating detailed synchronization activity.
After synchronization, information shared by others will appear in Outlook under a folder called Shared Information. NB. If you use Outlook 2003 you may need to switch to the ‘All Folders’ view before you will see the “Shared Information” folder. To do this click Go, Folder List.