You can teach an old dog new tricks - telling Notes how to launch specific databases at startup.
There have been several conversations going on around me with regard to
the Notes UI, particularly around what you see when you first launch Notes
and how its gotten better in Notes/Domino 6. Like many old time Notes users
I'm hopelessly stuck on the Workspace. I've flirted with a custom Welcome
Page or two, but I've always returned to the Workspace. I'm generally pretty
consistent in my habits when I launch Notes for the first time. I check
my mail, check the Penumbra database for new postings, and also check the
Lotus Business Partner forum. These are also databases that I check several
times during the course of the day. Sometimes I just leave them open and
go to their tabs and do a refresh when I want to see what's new.
Today I was reading the thread in the partner forum about how to open a
specific database when launching the Notes client. One of the old ways
to do this was to add the database name to the Notes shortcut. There were
one or two other suggestions - use and NDL file; create a shortcut for
the database - clicking this will open the database in Notes; and then
there was this - use the Startup Folder. This last suggestion wasn't appropriate
for the person originally asking the question, but it caught my eye. I'm
not sure if I ever knew of this option, or it just slipped my mind. I make
extensive use of Bookmarks in the Domino Designer, but generally ignore
them in the Notes client. Like I said at the beginning, I'm hopelessly
attached to the Workspace.
The Startup folder is located in the More Bookmarks bookmark and
works just like the Startup folder in the Microsoft OS. To put databases
in the folder follow these steps:
- Click on More Bookmarks
- Click the little thumb tack in the upper right hand corner
- Go to the Workspace
- Drag and Drop the appropriate database icons into the folder
- Close the bookmark pane
The next time you launch Notes, the tabs for the databases you selected will be visible across the top. This is true regardless of whether you have set the Workspace as your home page or one of the Welcome Pages. Another option is to use the Workplace Welcome Page and the Workplace Launcher. The Workplace Launcher folder is just below the Startup Folder in More Bookmarks. You can place databases there in the same way I described for the Startup folder, or you can bookmark them in either folder using the File Database Open command. The icons of Databases you place in the Workplace Launcher will be visible in the Launcher pane of the Workplace page for easy open.
I think I could get used to using the Workplace Welcome Page with the Launcher and the Startup folder if only I could see my follow ups and my To Do's. Right now I have to choose one or the other, which means that I need to have my mail database fully open and in my face at all times. As for the rest of the Workplace Welcome Page - let's just say that Lotus' idea of what should be on my Collabation and Team tabs doesn't fit how I work at all.
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