Since Sidekick 98 is the only version that Starfish updated for Y2K (with the SK98 patch) and it is available from the Sidreal website everyone should upgrade (yes even for SK99 users SK98 is an upgrade) to SK98. There are a couple of features in SK98's Memos that are not documented and make it the #1 correspondence manager I have ever used.
Everyone knows about the simple system of mail merge used on SK98 memos. The mailmerge codes can be added to the body of the letter and replaced with the individual values from the database. What is not documented is that the merge also works on the title line. A memo template named
"Memo to (First Name) (Last Name) with (Company) about (Current Subject)"
will substitute in the title after merging to produce
"Memo to John Doe with Anycompany about Widgets"
Since SK98 keeps the date of the memo automatically the result is a dated and descriptive record of your correspondence better than anything I have been able to produce with separate word processors and document management programs.
I keep a yearly list (1998 Business,2001 Personal etc.) that contains all of the important correspondence for the year. This correspondence list is contained in only one file, not hundreds, has a descriptive title for each memo, and can be easily searched on numerous criteria using the SK98 Find function.
This title merge method also works with the "Quick Letter" feature by simply naming the template in the templates directory as described above.
"Memo to (First Name) (Last Name) with (Company) about (Current Subject).rtf"
This is the method I use most frequently since I am usually composing a single letter to an individual listed in the database. I keep the "Current Subject" field updated to reflect the last letter/memo produced. A simple way to manage your templates on disk in to keep them in the Template memo file under the correct names and simply export them as RTF files to the Template directory in the SK98 folder.
There are about five or six key features of Sidekick 98 that make it the best PIM in the world, if the P in PIM really means personal. The lack of networking support is a plus for me!
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In addition you can drag text from the body of the memo to the title line. If you are pasting articles into a SK98 memo file you can simply create a new memo, paste the article into the memo body, and then select and drag the title to the title line. All done!
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If you find this tip helpful let me know and I'll proceed to the other four or five areas that make SK98 indispensable for me...
-ronnie-
Everyone knows about the simple system of mail merge used on SK98 memos. The mailmerge codes can be added to the body of the letter and replaced with the individual values from the database. What is not documented is that the merge also works on the title line. A memo template named
"Memo to (First Name) (Last Name) with (Company) about (Current Subject)"
will substitute in the title after merging to produce
"Memo to John Doe with Anycompany about Widgets"
Since SK98 keeps the date of the memo automatically the result is a dated and descriptive record of your correspondence better than anything I have been able to produce with separate word processors and document management programs.
I keep a yearly list (1998 Business,2001 Personal etc.) that contains all of the important correspondence for the year. This correspondence list is contained in only one file, not hundreds, has a descriptive title for each memo, and can be easily searched on numerous criteria using the SK98 Find function.
This title merge method also works with the "Quick Letter" feature by simply naming the template in the templates directory as described above.
"Memo to (First Name) (Last Name) with (Company) about (Current Subject).rtf"
This is the method I use most frequently since I am usually composing a single letter to an individual listed in the database. I keep the "Current Subject" field updated to reflect the last letter/memo produced. A simple way to manage your templates on disk in to keep them in the Template memo file under the correct names and simply export them as RTF files to the Template directory in the SK98 folder.
There are about five or six key features of Sidekick 98 that make it the best PIM in the world, if the P in PIM really means personal. The lack of networking support is a plus for me!
-----
In addition you can drag text from the body of the memo to the title line. If you are pasting articles into a SK98 memo file you can simply create a new memo, paste the article into the memo body, and then select and drag the title to the title line. All done!
-----
If you find this tip helpful let me know and I'll proceed to the other four or five areas that make SK98 indispensable for me...
-ronnie-
