Public Folders: Post or Note?

*** Update: Microsoft released a patch for Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003. The patch is included in Exchange 2003 SP1 and should be used instead of either of the following methods. See KB 817809 for links to the file and instructions on how to enable it. ***

Exchange 2000 users are often frustrated when new mail is delivered to a public folder as a post (IPM.Post), rather than a message (IPM.Note). At this time, Administrators have two ways of converting these posts to notes - using an event sink on Exchange Server or redirecting mail from a mailbox to the public folders.

Each method has pros and cons. Here are some points to consider before deciding which method is best for your company:

Events sinks are a permanent, no-fuss solution. Once setup for each folder, your work is done. To use an event sink, you need to know how to write one... or hire someone to write one for you. Two Exchange programmers have event sinks available for purchase: Siegfried Weber of CDOLive.com and Victor Ivanidze. Their prices are reasonable and a good investment.
Event sinks need to be installed on the server. They are managed on the server too. If you add a new public folder, you need to run the event sink on it.
The Admin only needs to create one mailbox and anyone (with the proper permissions) can add or change the filters from any workstation. Anyone (with the proper permissions) can add a new public folder and create filters for it.
Rules may need to be tweaked to catch all mail and all rules must be server side, unless you plan to remain logged into the mailbox. This can be a problem for some messages, since To and From rules use the display name and not all mail has a keyword in the subject or body you can filter on. Fortunately, "To: person or distribution list" and "subject or body contains" are server side rules.
Using a mailbox and rules, while not perfect, makes list management easier, since all lists use the same address. Managing subscription of public folders to several yahoogroups lists is typically a PITA, but using a mailbox and redirect makes it easier. If you need to take the public folders offline, mail will be held in the mailbox, not bounce.
Do Not use Inbox Assistantto redirect, it's the source of too many problems. Stick with Rules Wizard instead--and as an added plus, you can export the rules for backup. (Both Outlook 2000 and Outlook 2002's Rules Wizard can redirect.)
When redirecting messages, the internet headers get munged, which can create problems if you need to trace the sender. The To: field is changed to the public folder name as well. The level of annoyance isn't all that great and most importantly, replies work correctly. You really don't use the internet header information all that often anyway, do you? If you need it, the original message remains in the inbox or deleted items folder of the mailbox for at least a few days (depending on your server's recipient policy), unless you are deleting them permanently with a rule.
The main advantage of using a mailbox is the convenience of using just one address to subscribe to mailing lists or for publication. One address (info@ for example) can be published and filters redirect the messages to different public folder for action, based on keywords found in the messages. All mailing lists can be subscribed with a lists@poremsky.com address for easy management of all mailing lists. (No more asking "What address did we use to subscribe to this list?")
A user (or group of users) can be given the responsibility to manage the mailbox and the rules.

I'm using both methods - I have Sig Weber's script running on some public folders, and to test using a mailbox and rules, I set up yahoogroups mailing lists to use one address. If you are familiar with yahoogroups and the hassle involved in subscribing and managing several different addresses, you'll appreciate using one mailbox and rules. I plan to continue using Sig's event script for other existing folders, as much because it's already in place as anything.

Mailbox and Rules Method

First you need to create the mailbox and the public folders it's going to redirect to. You don't need to show the public folder in the address book, if you know it's e-mail address. Once this is done, open the mailbox in Outlook and create the rules.

Creating Rules:

Open the Rules Wizard (Tools menu). Create your rules.

Tip: copy the first rule you create and change the information for each additional rule.

The first rules should be based on [listname] or a subject keyword. These rules theoretically process faster since the subject is searched first. Make sure you delete the message too - otherwise they will stay in the inbox. Stop processing rules in not really necessary, since you are deleting the message. You can either delete messages as in "move to delete folder" or permanently delete them. It may be better to move them to the deleted folder and use archiving or recipient policies on the Exchange Server to empty the deleted folder, in case you do need to see the original message. You could leave them in the inbox and use recipient policies to clean it out, but by moving the processed messages out, you can easily see if any rules are not working correctly.

Next create rules based on something either in the subject and body, or if you know it won't be in the subject, use body only. The outlook-users list doesn't have a [listname] subject, but the list address is included in the message footer. Remember to delete this message too.

The last rule catches anything that is missed by the earlier rules. They are moved to a public folder so you can see what messages are missed and manually move them to the correct folder. The messages aren't deleted from the mailbox, allowing you to check them later for keywords that can be used to fine-tune the filters.

Example of a Munged Header