NewsGator Inbox – Options (Synchronization)

Today we will focus on the NewsGator Synchronization tool and the features included under the NewsGator Inbox options. As you will see, I found that some of these tools were lumped together, but at first glance seem out of place.

Once you select the Options from the NewsGator Inbox drop down list you will find the heading NewsGator Synchronization which is towards the bottom of the window. In similar fashion to the tools that I have recently reviewed, the NewsGator Synchronization tool will launch a new window when you select the “Synchronization” button. The first thing you will notice is the information in the fields is populated. Your username, the password (that you setup when you downloaded NewsGator Inbox or setup you online account), and lastly your location will all be present. Your location will usually be Inbox:”computername” where computername is whatever you (or your system administrator if using a work computer) have named your computer. You will also see a check box directly under “Location:” where you can tell NewsGator Inbox to sync when you close Outlook. Please note this will add additional time to your shutdown process when you close Outlook.

From here there are a number of additional options that you can use to customize the sync function. On the right side of the window you will see 3 buttons listed vertically. The first says “Update Account…”. When you select this button a new window will open and you will be able to enter you password (you will be asked to re-enter it) and then you can update your email address. Lastly you can tell the system if you want to receive NewsGator news via email. When you select “OK” it will update and sync with NewsGator Online. The next button down “Verify Account” basically pings the NewsGator server to verify that your user name and password are active. It will return a message in another window stating either that the username and password are verified or that it was unable to verify your information.

The third button “Change Location” launches another window with a listing of all the possible locations that you can select from. So for me I have multiple Inboxes, one on the Dell and one on the Gateway. I also have an inbox setup for FeedDemon since it will be the next RSS Service that I plan to review. Then there is a list of all the NewsGator options, like online, mobile, etc. You simply select one of the locations and click “OK”. You will be returned to the original Sync window. Select “OK” again and the Sync window will close, then you have to select “OK” again to close the options window. Once you have closed all the windows, it will appear that nothing has changed. To be honest, I am not sure what should have changed. If you are sync-ing with NewsGator Online then all of your feeds should be the same across all of the different locations (for me that would be on the Dell, the Gateway and Online). The only difference that I have based on location is the Linux feed from the NNTP Newsgroup is active on the Gateway, but it is setup not to sync with NewsGator Online as I pointed out in an earlier post. When I tried changing locations to the Gateway I expected to find the Linux feed. However it does not seem to work this way.

The next option is a button listed below the location and the checkbox, to Sync when Outlook closes, and says Reset Synchronization. This button basically does as expected and re-syncs your Inbox with the Online version. The last Synchronization Option is the “Advanced…” button. This button launches a new window called Attention Options which has a list of all of the different activities which you can track or record your attention. These include, clicking on a folder for a subscription, clipping posts, emailing posts, flagging posts, sending posts to a blog or unclipping posts. As I stated in the post about My Reading Attention I am not sure what this is for. I was unable to get the My Reading Attention to provide any reports other than the attention, so to track these items does not seem necessary. Maybe you will have better luck.

The next post will finish up the Options section and will hopefully be something interesting as I will attempt to utilize the Post to Blog function. So cross your fingers that there is something good in the news tomorrow.