Map e-mail headers to SharePoint metadata

When uploading e-mail messages to SharePoint using harmon.ie, you can automatically map the e-mail headers (From, To, CC, Subject, Date, etc.) to SharePoint document properties. To enable this mapping, the SharePoint document library needs to be set up with e-mail specific columns.

There are two ways to do this:

1. The recommended way is to install the optional SharePoint feature package and library template provided by harmon.ie on your SharePoint Server. This package adds a new e-mail document library, including e-mail columns, an e-mail content type, and an e-mail view.
2. Alternatively, configure the SharePoint document library to receive incoming e-mails. It will include the To, From, and Subject columns. The compatible e-mail headers will be automatically mapped to these columns when uploading e-mail messages with harmon.ie. This approach gives a partial solution of mapping e-mail headers to SharePoint columns:
   • There is no e-mail content type, and the e-mail header columns are not read-only.
   • There is no e-mail view for an Inbox-style display of items.

This article explains the e-mail feature package and how to install and uninstall it.

What metadata is added to SharePoint?

The e-mail content type includes the following fields, which are added to SharePoint:

The e-mail view provides an Inbox-like display of e-mail messages - including the e-mail headers - stored on SharePoint. The view hides non-e-mail messages from the list, and allows messages to be sorted and filtered by any column.

Installation

To download and install the optional e-mail feature package and template, do the following:

1. Download the e-mail feature package for SharePoint (the same package is used in SharePoint 2013, SharePoint 2010 or MOSS 2007).
2. Extract the contents of the downloaded archive to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\14\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\emailfeature on the SharePoint server, preserving the folder structure.
3. Open a Command Prompt and run the following commands to install and activate the e-mail feature of the SharePoint Server:
   1. cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\14\BIN
   2. STSADM.EXE -o installfeature -name emailfeature
      (The command prompt will respond with Operation completed successfully.)
   3. STSADM.EXE -o activatefeature -name emailfeature -url <SharePoint URL>
      (The command prompt will respond with Operation completed successfully.)
4. Download the EMailDocumentLibrary.stp template for SharePoint 2013 or SharePoint 2010 or MOSS 2007, depending on your SharePoint server version.
5. From the SharePoint Web interface, select Site Actions > Site Settings > Galleries > List templates.
6. In the List Template Gallery, select Upload > Upload Document, and browse to the STP file you downloaded in step 4. Then, click OK.

Note: Depending on your SharePoint Server version, the number “14” in the paths above will differ (15 for SharePoint 2013, 14 for SharePoint 2010 or 12 for MOSS 2007).

The e-mail columns, e-mail content type, and e-mail view are now deployed and activated on the SharePoint Server.

Configuring the Mapping

The mapping between e-mail headers and SharePoint columns is configurable from the mappings list in the harmon.ie Options. To learn more, read:

• harmon.ie for Outlook, Enterprise Edition: Saving e-mail headers in SharePoint columns.
• harmon.ie for Notes: Saving e-mail headers in SharePoint columns.

Upgrading the e-mail content type

Follow the steps below to upgrade an existing e-mail content type and add the OriginalSubject field:

1. Navigate to Site Settings > Site Columns and add the site column OriginalSubject (single line of text) to the E-mail Columns group.
2. Navigate to Site Settings > Site Content Types and select E-mail content type.
3. Change the type of the To and Cc columns to Multiple lines of text.
4. Add the site column OriginalSubject you created in step 1 to the E-mail content type (will be used when creating a new e-mail document library).
5. Add the site column OriginalSubject to your existing e-mail document library/s.

Uninstalling

To remove the e-mail feature from a SharePoint Server, open a command line interface and run the following commands to deactivate and uninstall the feature:

1. cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\14\BIN
2. STSADM -o deactivatefeature -name emailfeature -url <SharePoint URL>
3. STSADM -o uninstallfeature -name emailfeature
4. IISRESET (This restarts the Web server.)

Note: Depending on your SharePoint Server version, the number “14” in the path above will differ (15 for SharePoint 2013, 14 for SharePoint 2010 or 12 for MOSS 2007).

If the e-mail feature needs to be reinstalled or updated, you first have to deactivate and uninstall the feature before installing it again.

Grouping e-mail messages

E-mail messages uploaded to SharePoint through harmon.ie can be grouped by the OriginalSubject field in the SharePoint web interface. This feature allows you to view e-mail messages in a pseudo-conversation view.

During the upload process, the email Subject field is stripped from the common prefixes to the core text, and the stripped subject is saved in the field OriginalSubject.

You can configure which e-mail prefixes will be trimmed from the subject line. To do this add or edit the registry key EmailPrefixes under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mainsoft\Prefs, and write the prefixes you want to trim in the Value data of (default). Use comma to sepearate the list.

Read also:

• Set mail content type when uploading e-mail messages to SharePoint.