Entourage email import

[explorz]

According to the manual, in order to import Entourage addresses I can just drag a group or individual contacts from my address book to my recipients list.

However, when I do that it does not import first and last name. Just the email address.

I am a paid and registered user of 4.4.4 Now I have downloaded 5.0.2 and have not yet paid for the upgrade. Before I do, I need to know if this is a general error OR if this is a limitation of a non-registered version.

 

[stanbusk]

Try the following:

1.- Select the recipients you need to export.
2.- Drag and drop them to your desktop or to a folder.
3.- Drag and drop resulting vcard files to MaxBulk Mailer list.

 

[explorz]

When I drag first to the desktop and then into Maxbulk Mailer the Firstname is empty, the Surname is: 'String Mailto:[email protected] String'
email is correctly imported.

This is when I drag from a group, which of course is what one needs to do when using a program like Maxbulk Mailer. We use this program to personalize emails to large a database.

When groups or members of groups are dragged directly into MBM, they don't import first or surname.

When individual emails are dragged over directly from the address book (not from group) they don't import at all. When they are dragged first to a folder, they create a vcf file and then are dragged into MBM successfully.

However, the documentation with MBM says that Groups can be dragged directly over to MBM for a successful import.

 

[stanbusk]

Problem with groups is an Entourage bug. Just try to drag and drop a group to a text editor. You will find out what MaxBulk has to deal with. No standard format is used so MaxBulk has no way to know where each field has to go. Actually, Entourage doesn't use the VCF standard for drag and drop on groups, just plain text data. It does the same when you drag and drop to the desktop. You can open the file to find out. However if you drag and drop single entries Entourage creates a standard VCF file. Such file can be used without problems.

One solution is to do the following: select a group and use the 'File | Export menu, select 'Local contacts to a list (tab-delimited text'. Then use MaxBulk Import from a file menu.

 

[explorz]

Thanks for the update. So, I would suggest that the documentation that comes with MBM not say that it can do what you are saying it clearly cannot do. It would save the user time and frustration.

ONe CANNOT drag and drop from Entourage groups directly into MBM with success.

thanks

 

[explorz]

Just for clarification. You cannot use the file/ export/Local Contacts to List function with specific groups. It just exports your entire contact database.

 

[stanbusk]

Good, another Entourage bug. Note that at some time our FAQ was working properly. Last Entourage versions are the one with problems.

 

[explorz]

The latest version of Entourage has been out for some time and you've had a major release since then for which you are asking me to pay, yet without the glaring bug fixed.

 

[stanbusk]

Not sure I understand. What bug are you waiting a fix for?

 

[explorz]

Hi Stan,

Thanks for following through on this. I appreciate that you're looking at working this through.

I am speaking about the fact that MBM can't import successfully from a group Drag and Drop. I hear you when you say that it's an Entourage bug, but I'm wondering if its really just MBM learning how to work with how Entourage Drags and drops contacts from a group.

I imagine its always a game of seek and conform or seek and adjust. It can't be easy. Hope that a fix is possible since this would make paying for an upgrade much more palatable.

 

[stanbusk]

Well, actually Microsoft should fix it first. Have you tried to drag and drop a group to BBEdit? Have you seen how Entourage prepares group data for drag and drop? How can I get data inserted to MaxBulk if it doesn't exist in the dragged data or it is not formatted following any known standard? Currently there is nothing I can do. Just wait for next Entourage release praying they will finally adopt VCARD standard for group exports.

 

[explorz]

I hear you. Not being a tech guy, I was just looking at the end experience.

Do developers like you supply feedback to Microsoft about such things that affect your product? Just curious.

Thanks for the info.

 

[explorz]

Here's an idea. I know that there are scripts out there for successfully exporting Entourage groups into text files which can then be imported into MBM. Any chance of incorporating some of those directly into the MBM experience so instead of using the script to import from an Entourage mailbox (mostly unusable), how about adding a more robust script to mine the appropriate date from an entourage group and filling in the appropriate fields in MBM. I can send you a sample script if you like that exports successfully to a text file that MBM can use.

 

[stanbusk]

Yes, please send me that script. I am curious to see it.