Xobni User Manual

Table of Contents
1. General Overview .................................................................................................................... 3
2. System Requirements ............................................................................................................. 4
2.1.1. Cached Exchange Mode ............................................................................................ 4
2.1.2. Using Skype with Xobni .............................................................................................. 4
3. Installation and Setup .............................................................................................................. 5
4. Tour of the Xobni Sidebar ....................................................................................................... 7
4.1.1. Search Bar ................................................................................................................ 10
4.1.2. Person Profile ........................................................................................................... 13
4.1.3. Gadgets .................................................................................................................... 15
4.1.4. Managing Gadgets ................................................................................................... 20
4.1.5. Interactions ............................................................................................................... 21
4.1.5.1. Summary Tab ........................................................................................................... 21
4.1.5.2. Conversations Tab ................................................................................................... 21
4.1.5.3. Files Exchanged Tab ................................................................................................ 23
4.1.5.4. Network Tab ............................................................................................................. 24
4.1.5.5. Links Tab [PRO] ........................................................................................................... 25
4.1.6. Invitations & the Invite Window ................................................................................ 26
4.1.7. Share Fun Facts ....................................................................................................... 27
4.1.8. Problem Notifier ........................................................................................................ 27
4.1.9. Shortcuts Bar ............................................................................................................ 27
5. Xobni Options ........................................................................................................................ 28
5.1.1. General ..................................................................................................................... 28
5.1.2. Integration ................................................................................................................. 29
5.1.3. Schedule Time.......................................................................................................... 30
5.1.4. Folders ...................................................................................................................... 31
5.1.5. Indexing .................................................................................................................... 32
5.1.6. Xobni Pro .................................................................................................................. 34
6. Xobni Menu ........................................................................................................................... 35
7. Other Outlook Windows ........................................................................................................ 38
8. Keyboard Shortcuts ............................................................................................................... 38
9. Xobni Analytics ...................................................................................................................... 39
10. Xobni Data Files .................................................................................................................... 40
11. Xobni Service ........................................................................................................................ 40
12. Repair and Uninstall Options ................................................................................................. 41
13. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 41
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1. General Overview
Xobni is an Add-in for Microsoft Outlook that:
Performs lightning-fast as-you-type searches
Reveals previously hidden information about your email interactions with people
Allows you to explore your emails by person and conversation
Gives you immediate access to files exchanged with people in your email
network
Creates a bridge between Outlook and online social networks and data services
such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Xing, Huddle, and Hoover‟s
Indexes your personal Yahoo! mail for integrated searching
Illuminates the overall flow of your email traffic via Xobni Analytics
Recovers incorrectly filed Junk Mail
Synchronizes Xobni Profiles to any computer or phone that you use to access
Xobni. (Xobni Pro subscription required)
Suggests email addresses as you compose mail, based on comprehensive,
ranked Xobni Profiles
The mail window in Outlook with the Xobni sidebar on the right
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2. System Requirements
Operating Systems:
o Windows XP SP3 (32-bit only)
o Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit or 64-bit)
o Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Outlook 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, or 2010 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 (Windows XP only. All other supported OSes
have .NET 2.0 built-in)
Minimum of 1GB RAM. 2GB strongly recommended
Minimum 2GHz single core or 1.6 GHz dual core processor or faster.
Minimum recommended monitor resolution: 1280x1024
2.1.1. Cached Exchange Mode
Xobni recommends that users running Microsoft Exchange accounts should enable
„Cached Exchange Mode‟ when using Xobni. While this is not a required setting for use
with Xobni, if „Cached Exchange Mode‟ is disabled, you may experience degraded
performance within Outlook. For further information on „Cached Exchange Mode‟, please
visit our online Support Page at http://www.xobni.com/support.
2.1.2. Using Skype with Xobni
If you are a Skype user, please upgrade to the latest version (at least Skype 3.2).
Furthermore, please make sure the Skype setting „Show Outlook Contacts‟ (pictured
below) is unchecked. You will need to do this for all Skype accounts. Please launch
Skype and select the menu pictured below to verify that the setting is correct. Not doing
so can impede Outlook‟s ability to shutdown properly, and is a general good practice
regardless of whether or not Xobni is installed.
(Skype 3.x) (Skype 4.x) (Skype 5.x)
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3. Installation and Setup
Installation
Please make sure that you meet the system requirements listed above before you start.
Then download the Xobni installer from our website. Double-click the „XobniSetup.exe‟ icon
to launch the installer. Installation will begin after you agree to the Xobni End User License
Agreement by clicking the “I Agree” button. You can also change your language preference
at this time should you wish to do so.
After which you will be prompted for a location in which to install the application. After
clicking “OK”, the application will install its components, and you‟ll be taken to the „Setup
Complete‟ screen.
If you do not currently have the Microsoft .NET Framework installed, our installer will display
a warning message and automatically attempt to download this component from Microsoft.
You‟ll need to be connected to the Internet during this time, or the installation will fail.
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From the „Setup Complete‟ screen, you have the option to
launch Outlook upon hitting exit. Most people leave this
turned on so they can check out Xobni right away. You‟ll also
see Zoe, the company dog.
When you launch Outlook for the first time, you will be asked
to log into xobni.com. If you do not have an account you can
create one. If you are offline or prefer not to create an
account at this time you can skip this step. Please note that
an account is required in order to receive technical support.
If you take a look at the Outlook menu bar, you will also see
a „Xobni‟ menu (or ribbon in Outlook 2010). You will also
notice that Xobni immediately begins indexing your email.
The initial indexing is designed to index as much mail as
possible within a reasonable amount of time (about 20
minutes) so that you can begin enjoying the benefits of Xobni
right away. As a result, some of your older email might not
have been indexed.
During the initial indexing you will be shown a brief informative video about some of the main
features of Xobni. This will be followed by a series of statistical facts about your email
relationships that you can to the people you communicate with most frequently. Clicking on
the “Tell…” button will create an email send that person with a link to download Xobni for
themselves. You can edit the message body of the invitation if you so desire. This
information can be reviewed at any time later by selecting the „Share Fun Facts‟ menu item.
Depending on how much email you have within Outlook, the initial indexing often takes less
than ten minutes. If you have an IMAP email account or have multiple large PST files, this
can take up to twenty-five minutes. Finally, you‟ll arrive at the “Ready to Rock” screen,
indicating that Xobni has indexed enough of your email to get started. You can run the „Index
Outlook Mail‟ command from the Xobni Menu bar to complete the full indexing, or leave your
computer on overnight and this will happen automatically.
Click the “Let‟s Go” button to start using Xobni and its many powerful yet easy-to-use
features.
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4. Tour of the Xobni Sidebar
The Xobni Sidebar is comprised of many components, many of which are instantly
updated to reflect the currently selected Outlook email.
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Search Bar – Our search gives you insanely fast results from your Outlook data;
of people, conversations, and email attachments. Xobni Pro users will enjoy
creating complex searches using the advanced query builder.
Person Profile – The person profile area displays the information of the sender
of the currently selected email.
Gadgets – Various modules that display additional information or perform an
action in relation to the currently displayed profile.
Interactions Panel – A tabbed view of the various interactions between you and
the person in the currently selected email. Interactions are organized by
Conversations, Network, Files Exchanged, Links [PRO]1 , and Appointments [PRO] .
The Summary tab is combination of all of these interaction types.
Conversations – A chronological list of threaded email exchanges you‟ve had with
the person in the currently displayed profile.
Network – This is a list of all the people you have in common with the person whose
profile is currently displayed. The Network panel is an easy way to maintain
connections and keep track of who knows whom within your social network.
Files Exchanged – A listing of all email attachments sent between you and the
currently selected profile.
Links [PRO] – Displays all links that have been exchanged with the currently selected
profile.
Appointments [PRO] – Displays upcoming appointments scheduled with the currently
selected profile.
Shortcuts Bar – This section of the Sidebar contains some useful shortcuts to
the Xobni Menu, the Mail Indexer, Invite Window, and Support Info.
Panels that appear occasionally:
Invitations – This interactive panel allows you to invite your friends and coworkers
to download and check out Xobni.
Share Fun Facts – Another interactive panel that shows interesting information
about your email relationships.
Problem Notifier – You will only see this panel if Xobni detects a problem in
which case you will be notified of the suggested remedy.
Xobni‟s default skin is grey. If you have a paid subscription you will notice that the
sidebar has a blue skin.
1 The [PRO] notation is used throughout this manual to refer to features that are only available in
Xobni Pro, premium version of Xobni that is available via a monthly or annual subscription. More
information is available at http://www.xobni.com/learnmore/pro/
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Two navigation controls, „Back‟ and „Start Over‟, can appear as you click on items within
the Sidebar. As you continue to click through items, you‟ll notice that the number to the
right of the Back button will increment indicating the depth of your current view. Clicking
this button will reveal the steps you have taken to arrive at this view. You can use „Back‟
to return to the last selected item. The „Start Over‟ button can be used to return to the
profile for the currently selected email.
Specific information on an individual item within the panel can be revealed by hovering
the mouse pointer over it. You can also click on any item should you require additional
detail
Let‟s take a closer look at each of these sections and get a little more information on
exactly how they work.
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4.1.1. Search Bar
When you begin typing in the Search bar, a search results frame will instantly slide over.
Xobni‟s search feature identifies words that start with the letter you initially type, and
refines the results as you continue typing.
Search results are divided in to the following categories:
People: Contacts whose first name, last name,
email address, or email address
domain name begin with the search
string
Messages: Messages containing a word that
begins with the search string
Files Exchanged: Files whose names begin with the
search string
In addition, Xobni Pro users will see:
Appointments: Appointments that you have with the
People contained in the search results,
or with descriptions that contain a word
that starts with the search string
Tasks: Tasks containing a word that begins
with the search string
Links: Links that appear in the messages that
contain the search string
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Advanced Search
Xobni Pro users have the ability to perform advanced searches.
When you start typing a new search, you will notice that an “Advanced” button appears
below. Clicking on it will open up the “Advanced Search Builder”. Alternatively, you can
click on the + icon that appears when you mouse over the search bar.
You can use the Advanced Search Builder to help you create complex searches but you
are not required to use it once you learn its syntax. You can search using any of the
criteria listed in the menu below.
Subject: search the “Subject:” line
From: search the “From:” line
Has Attachment(s): find mail based on whether or not it has attachments using the
constants true, false, yes, and no.
Folder: search any folder whose name has a word in it that matches the search string
Date: Search the date the email was sent. You are able to specify “before, after, and
between” as well as use constants such as “today, yesterday, thisweek, lastweek,
thismonth, and lastmonth.”
All: search every part of the email
To: search the “To:” line
CC’d: search the “CC:” line
With: search the “To:”, “From:”, “CC:”, and “BCC:” lines
Body: search the body of the email
Type: restrict search to mail, appointments, or tasks
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As you create search terms they are added to the search bar and the results appear
immediately. Each term is separated by a space and joined by an implied AND operator
so that the search “from:me attachments:yes” really means all the emails that you have
sent that contain attachments which is the same as “from:me and attachments:yes”.
Please note the use of the constant “ME” which is the easiest way to refer to yourself in
a search. Additionally you can use the operators OR and NOT. These are not case
sensitive. Let‟s try a few more.
I would like to find all the mail I sent to Matt in the last two days. In this case we will need
to use parenthesis so that the OR takes precedence.
from:me to:matt (date:today or date:yesterday)
Let‟s try one more. I would like to see all emails I‟ve received with attachments prior to
the 4 th of July.
to:me attachments:true before:7/4/09
Troubleshooting Advanced Search
If you are not getting the search results you expect you may be having one or more of
the following problems.
1) Your index may be out of date. Please update your index by select “Index
Outlook Mail” from the Xobni menu
2) You order of operations may be incorrect. If you are using OR in your search,
you may need to use parenthesis in order to get the correct result. The order of
operations is parenthesis first then left to right.
3) You may have spelled a search term incorrectly. The Advanced Search Builder
takes most of the work out of generating searches but if you are feeling
adventurous and have begun creating your own from scratch, you might need to
double-check your syntax from time to time.
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4.1.2. Person Profile
The Person Profile panel is updated when you select an email within Outlook‟s main Mail
view. Here you can view their name, picture, email address(es), and phone number(s).
In addition, you can view their company and position.
If you have the Skype application installed on your computer, a Skype logo will appear
to the right of the person‟s phone number. Clicking on the phone number will place a
voice call to that person through Skype. Clicking on the Skype logo will give you the
option to call, chat, or send a SMS to that person. Clicking on the photo will cycle
through all of their available photos.
4.1.2.1. Xobni Profiles and Outlook Contacts
Xobni Pro users have the ability to create an Outlook Contact from a Xobni Profile.
Simply click the button above their picture to create a new Contact. If the person is
already an Outlook Contacts, you can click the button to open their Contact card.
You can also copy the profile info by right-clicking to the right of their name, which is
handy if you need to paste that into a message to another friend or co-worker.
4.1.2.2. Profile Editor
You can open Xobni‟s Profile Editor by clicking the „Pencil‟ icon located in the upper
right-hand corner of the Person Profile panel. Use the Profile Editor to add or modify a
person‟s information that appears in Xobni.
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You can add or modify phone and fax information. You can change the phone number
type using the pull-down menu left of the number field. If the person has a Skype ID, you
can enter it as well.
With Xobni, you can choose the preferred source of a person‟s picture. Xobni
automatically retrieves the photo from Outlook‟s Contacts, LinkedIn, Facebook, or
Twitter. You can also provide your own. To add your own photo, just click the “Change”
button and navigate to the photo on your computer. A new window will pop up, allowing
you to reframe the area you‟d like to display. Once this is correct, hit the “OK” button.
Your changes will not be completed until you hit the „Update‟ button. In a similar fashion,
you can choose from where a person‟s title and company are retrieved. Your choices are
Outlook, LinkedIn, Facebook or manual entry.
Merging and Unmerging Profiles
Xobni will automatically merge a person that uses different email addresses. For
example, if you have a friend that emails you from both their personal and work
accounts, both addresses will be merged into a single profile. This makes it easy to
manage their profile and analyze mail traffic from them. If Xobni fails to merge a person‟s
multiple email addresses into the same profile you can perform this task manually.
Simply select a profile and open the profile editor. Type the email address of the profile
that you would like to merge with the current profile. The „Update‟ button will become
active upon completion. Clicking „Update‟ will finalize the merge.
If you want to split a profile into two or more profiles, open the desired profile and hover
over any non-primary email address. Doing so will reveal an „x‟ (remove) button. After
clicking the remove button, click „Update‟ to complete the unmerge.
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4.1.3. Gadgets
Gadgets enhance the Xobni user experience by providing additional information and
interactivity. There are two types of Gadgets; Sidebar and Message Body. Sidebar
Gadgets display information related to the currently selected contact. This information
appears in the Xobni sidebar immediately below the business card panel. Message Body
Gadgets appear at the bottom of the email window or preview pane. The information
displayed reflects the contents of the email that you are viewing. You can learn more
about the individual Gadgets that Xobni has to offer by referring to the appropriate
section below.
Sidebar Gadgets
The Gadgets pane can be hidden by simply double-clicking on the icon for the currently
active gadget. This can also be accomplished by selecting “Hide Gadgets Pane” from
the pulldown menu to the right of extensions.
4.1.3.1. Xobni Statistics
The Statistics Gadget displays useful information about the
currently selected person such as the number of emails
sent and received. It also shows a histogram of the times
of day that a person has emailed you. Lastly, you can see
that person‟s ranking which is determined by the level of
email activity between you and that person. Clicking on
“Share This” creates an email with this statistical
information.
4.1.3.2. Xobni Actions
The Actions Gadget helps you to perform common interactions with the currently
selected profile effortlessly.
The “Request phone number” action creates a new email to
the person, asking them for their phone number. When they
respond, Xobni will extract the phone number and
automatically add it to their profile. Phone numbers can also
be extracted from signature files, or message bodies within
an email. There are some instances when Xobni cannot
accurately detect the number, in these cases you can
manually edit the number to correct it.
The “Schedule time with…” action extracts data from your
Outlook Calendar and auto-fills an email with times that you
are available throughout the day. Xobni pulls schedule data from the Outlook Calendar
to make sure you don‟t overbook yourself. For additional configuration options, go to the
Xobni menu > Options > Schedule Time panel.
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The “Email...” action creates a new email to the person whose profile is loaded. This is
more convenient than using the “New Message” button, as it auto-populates the „To:‟
field with the email address of the person you want to contact. You can also use a
keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + Alt +N) for this.
4.1.3.3. LinkedIn
The LinkedIn Gadget retrieves the currently selected
person‟s public LinkedIn profile based on their email
address. If one exists, Xobni will display their current job
title and place of employment. The panel also displays their
number of connections from LinkedIn. You can click on the
“View Profile” link to open a web browser with the person‟s
current public LinkedIn profile if you wish to learn more
about them. If you yourself have a LinkedIn account, you
can enter your login information into the panel giving you
access to more profile information. The „+ Add‟ button will
take you to LinkedIn‟s „Add Connections‟ screen using your
default web browser. Clicking on „Linkedin‟ in the lower
right-hand corner logs you out.
4.1.3.4. Facebook
The Facebook Gadget retrieves the currently selected
person‟s Facebook profile. If one exists, Xobni will display
their general information and photos in which they appear.
You must have a Facebook account to view this data. You
can click on the “View Profile” link to open a web browser
with the person‟s current Facebook profile if you wish to
learn more about them. The „+ Add‟ button will take you to
Facebook‟s „Add a Friend‟ screen using your default web
browser. If you are already friends you can view their wall
posts. Clicking on „facebook‟ in the lower right-hand corner
logs you out.
4.1.3.5. Hoover’s
The Hoovers Gadget retrieves the currently selected person‟s
company profile from Hoovers based on their email domain
(e.g., xobni.com). If such a profile exists, Xobni will display the
name of their company, their company summary, their location
and phone number, and their revenue. Hovering over the
company summary will reveal it in its entirety. Clicking on “View
Profile” will open the company‟s Hoovers profile in your default
browser.
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4.1.3.6. Twitter
The Twitter Gadget allows you to view Twitter feeds. Xobni
will automatically suggest Twitter names based on the
name. You can select from the suggestions, enter a name
manually, or request a Twitter name via email. Once a
Twitter name is entered it is stored in their profile.
If you accidentally enter the wrong Twitter name you can
click on the small triangle in the lower left-hand corner of the
pane. In addition, you can update your Twitter status, Send
a Direct Message, view their Twitter Profile online, and
Unfollow by using the buttons at the bottom of the pane.
You have the option to either reply or retweet to any
individual tweet by clicking the appropriate button that
appears when you hover over a status message.
4.1.3.7. Xing
The Xing Gadget shows you an overview of a contact‟s
Xing Profile. If you do not see the Xing Gadget, you
can enable it using Xobni‟s Gadget Manager (please
refer to the section on Managing Gadgets). The gadget
will attempt to automatically locate the corresponding
Xing profile. If an exact match cannot be found, you
will be provided with some suggestions. Selecting one
of the suggestions will permanently associate the
Xobni profile with the Xobni Profile. You can click on
the small triangle in the lower left-hand corner of the
gadget if you wish to remove that association.
Clicking the “Add” button will send a request to that
Xing user to join your network. If the contact is not a Xing user, you can send them an
invitation to join.
4.1.3.8. Huddle
The Huddle Gadget shows you the Huddle information
for the currently selected contact who is a member of a
workspace that you belong to. The gadget has two
views, Recent Activity and Workspaces. The Recent
Activity view shows all updates listed in reverse
chronological order. The Workspace view does exactly
the same thing but organizes those activities by
workspace. Clicking on an activity link will open that
activity using your default web browser.
If a contact is not currently sharing a workspace with
you, you can invite them to do so by clicking the “Invite
to workspace” button at the bottom of the Gadget.
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Message Body Gadgets
Message Body Gadgets appear within the body of your email and will display specific
types of linked information contained within your email directly within Outlook.
Clicking on the Xobni logo in the lower left-hand corner will reveal a pulldown menu to
help you manage Gadgets and their default behavior.
Message Body Gadgets are disabled by default. If you need to use a particular gadget or
gadgets, please refer to the section on Managing Gadgets.
Please read on to learn more about each individual Message body Gadget. There are
three in total but there will be many more to come.
4.1.3.9. YouTube
The YouTube Gadget will display
thumbnails of YouTube videos at the
bottom of the email window if someone
has emailed you a YouTube link. Click on
the thumbnail to play the video.
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4.1.3.10. Yelp
The Yelp Gadget displays the rating and
business information from Yelp if your
email contains a link to Yelp.
4.1.3.11. Flickr
The Flickr Gadget display photos from Flickr
at the bottom of the email window if
someone has emailed you a link to Flickr.
Clicking the image will take you to that image
on Flickr.com using your default web
browser.
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4.1.4. Managing Gadgets
In addition to hiding the Gadgets panel, you can enable and disable individual Gadgets
using Xobni‟s Gadget Manager. Simply select „Manage Gadgets…‟ from the pull-down
menu to do so. Alternatively, you can open the Gadget Manager by selecting Options in
the Xobni menu and switching to the Integration tab. Please see Chapter 5 for more
information on the Xobni‟s Options window.
In Xobni‟s Gadget Manager, you will see a list of all available gadgets and whether the
gadget appears in the sidebar or within the email message. Simply select a gadget to
learn more about what it does and to see its enable status. Finally, at the bottom of the
window you can enable or disable all message body gadgets at once by
checking/unchecking Enable Message Body Gadgets.
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4.1.5. Interactions
The Interactions panel is where you will find everything you‟ve ever wanted to know and
much more. Interactions are organized by type and are accessible using a simple yet
elegant tabbed interface. Individual tabs can be hidden if not needed by going to the
Xobni Options window.
4.1.5.1. Summary Tab
The Summary tab summarizes all of your interactions with the currently selected
profile into a single tab. The next five sections describe in more detail the
different types of interactions that are displayed and what you can do with them.
4.1.5.2. Conversations Tab
The Conversations tab displays a list of correspondences that you have had with
a particular contact. Emails with the same topic and recipients are combined into
“threads” so that you can easily follow the course of any email based discussion.
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You can search the topics of conversations by typing a search string at the top of the
panel. In addition, you have two search options that can be used individually or together.
Search Full Message Bodies: This option expands your search to the entire
contents of the email.
Show Only Direct Conversations: This option will only show messages that are
sent from you to the contact or from the contact to you. Messages where the
contact is simply CC‟d by someone else are removed.
Xobni displays conversations using a “threaded” style
similar to Google‟s Gmail. Emails are grouped into
“conversations” if they contain the same subject and
the same set of people in the „To‟ and „CC‟ header
fields. Each entry in the Conversations panel will
show the subject line of the email thread, a count of
the emails the thread contains, as well as an
approximate time that the last email in the
conversation was sent. If the conversation contains
an attached file, a small paper clip icon appears to
the right of the subject line. The title bar also totals
the number of unique conversations. Clicking on the
Conversations bar expands the viewable area of
conversations and gives you the option to filter the
results. Right-clicking on any conversation allows you
to open the most recent email in that conversation.
Xobni Pro users can use complex Boolean searches
using “and, or & not” if they so choose. Checking off
„Direct Conversations Only‟ will remove all
conversations where you are not in the “from:” or the
“to:” line.
Clicking on any conversation entry consisting of more
than one email will bring up a new Sidebar frame
showing the conversation thread. The entry info will
be shown at the top of the Sidebar, and the emails in
the conversation are displayed below that. If the email thread is longer than the Sidebar
can contain, there‟s a detail slider, which can change the visible size of each email entry.
This way you can quickly find the right email that you‟re looking for. If the conversation
thread includes multiple people, they‟re listed below in a panel called „People in
Conversation‟. Likewise, if there were any email attachments in that thread, these will be
shown at the bottom of the Sidebar, in the „Files Exchanged‟ panel.
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Each email entry in this view can be clicked on to further reveal the entire message.
From here, you‟re given the option to do standard email actions such as „Reply‟ and
„Forward‟. The „Open‟ button will open the original email from your Outlook folders, and
the „View Conversation‟ button will take you back to the previous view of the entire
conversation. Aside from the standard email header info, we also show you exactly
where in your folder structure this email resides.
In the various email views, you can position the pointer over the message entry to see
the first few lines of the message body. This is especially useful on long email threads
whose detail is reduced within the thread view.
4.1.5.3. Files Exchanged Tab
The Files Exchanged tab displays all attached files that have been sent to you
by the person in the profile, or from you to them. We‟ve all had times when we
just can‟t find a specific file in our email, even when you know the sender. The
Files Exchanged panel fixes that by displaying the files within the Sidebar.
Common file extensions, such as .jpeg, or .doc, are indicated by the icons associated
with the applications used to view the attachments. You can use the right-click menu to
open the attachment directly from within the panel, save the attachment, or open the
email containing the attachment, allowing you to read the original message body. You
can also grab an attachment from within the panel, and drag it to an email, to the
desktop, or to any open folder. Simply right-click to open the email that contains the
attachment.
Clicking on the Files Exchanged bar will allow you to filter results using the text of your
choice. For example you could type “pdf” to narrow the results down to just PDF files
that you sent or received.
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4.1.5.4. Network Tab
Your network is based on the people you‟ve communicated with using Outlook.
Clicking on a person‟s name will load their profile into the Sidebar, making it fast
and easy to find emails or attachments from that person. Xobni totals your list of
contacts and displays it in the title bar. Clicking on the bar expands the network panel to
the size of the entire Sidebar. You can then filter the results by name. The „Direct
Contacts Only‟ check box will eliminate contacts that have only been included in CCs or
BCCs.
People contained within the Network panel are ranked according to how often they are
included in conversations between you and the person whose profile is loaded. As
always, Xobni is focused on your perspective within Outlook.
Despite the name, the Network panel does not use your computer‟s network connection.
There is no actual communication between Xobni enabled machines and your personal
data (such as your list of contacts) is never shared with anyone else.
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4.1.5.5. Links Tab [PRO]
The Links tab displays all the weblinks (http, https, and www) that have been
exchanged between you and the currently selected contact. Clicking on an
individual link will open that URL in your default web browser. Furthermore, you
can search within the Links tab by entering a search string in the search field at the top
of the panel. Simply right-click to open the email that contains the link.
4.1.5.6. Appointments Tab [PRO]
The Appointments tab displays all appointments past and future that have
scheduled with the person in the profile.
You can click on the appointment to reveal more information. Right clicking on an
appointment will open the appointment. Clicking on the Appointments bar will allow you
to filter appointments.
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4.1.6. Invitations & the Invite Window
This panel appears after installation and allows you to invite friends to download Xobni.
If you click anywhere inside the panel, the Invite Window will pop open, displaying a list
of email addresses of people you communicate with. You can close this panel by hitting
the „X‟ button in the title bar, and reopen it at any time by using the Options tab in the
Xobni menu (provided that you still have invites remaining).
In the „Choose Friends‟ panel, you can click the checkboxes on the left to select people
to invite. The list that‟s displayed is based on your 50 most frequent contacts who also
happen to be Outlook users. If Xobni does not detect any Outlook users when we index
your email, then the window will appear empty. Likewise, if we detect less than 50
contacts, then we‟ll only display the number detected.
If you don‟t see a person‟s email address in the list, you can enter it in the field below,
click „Add‟, and they‟ll be added to the list. If you want to personalize the message before
sending it, you can do that in the „Add a note‟ field. Once you‟ve taken all these steps,
you can hit the „Send Invites‟ button to share Xobni with your friends!
It is possible, in some cases, that the Invite window will be disabled. You may have run
out of invitations, or Xobni may have stopped shipping invitations from our server. It
does not indicate that there is a problem with Xobni.
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4.1.7. Share Fun Facts
The „Share Fun Facts‟ panel will appear from time to time. Xobni combs your Outlook
data for unique information about your communication relationships, and presents it in a
series of slides within the Sidebar. This is the same information that appears when Xobni
performs the first index after installation. From here, you can send emails to your friends
and invite them to try Xobni for themselves. At any time you wish, you can reopen the
slideshow by selecting „Share Fun Facts‟ from the Xobni menu.
4.1.8. Problem Notifier
Xobni monitors your computer for common issues that may affect Outlook‟s compatibility
and reliability. In the case that a problem is detected the Problem Notifier panel will
appear to alert you to the problem as well as suggesting a solution. Clicking on “Learn
How” will take you to Xobni‟s online FAQ item for the particular problem that was
detected.
4.1.9. Shortcuts Bar
Near the bottom of the Xobni Sidebar, you‟ll see a few buttons which serve as shortcuts
to different functions in Xobni. The “>>” button collapses the Sidebar, which is helpful
when you don‟t need to immediately view Xobni data. The “Gear” button replicates the
Xobni menu from the Outlook Toolbar. The “Indexing” button serves multiple purposes. It
shows you the freshness of your index and clicking it updates your index. The “Heart”
button opens the Invite Window, provided that you still have invites left to send. This
button is disabled if your invite count is zero. The “?” button launches a web browser and
loads our Support FAQ so that you can easily find answers to any issues that you may
be having with Xobni.
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5. Xobni Options
Selecting „Xobni Options‟ from the Xobni menu opens the following window with six tabs
that contains all of Xobni‟s settings.
5.1.1. General
Start Xobni when I start Outlook: Enabled by default, this option allows you to
temporarily disable Xobni without uninstalling. Uncheck this only if Xobni is adversely
affecting Outlook‟s launch time. Please keep in mind that changing this setting does not
take effect until the next time you start Outlook.
Participate in the Product Improvement Program: Xobni‟s installer allows you to opt-out
of this feature that allows Xobni to report anonymous statistics back to the mother ship
about which features you use regularly. There is no personal data that is transmitted to
us or anyone else. Basically, this helps us determine which features are popular and
which ones may be confusing, and in turn makes Xobni a more useful tool!
Only start searching once I press the Enter Key: Disabled by default at install time;
checking this option turns off Xobni‟s as-you-type search capability in the Xobni
searchbar. Instead you will be required to press enter when you are satisfied with the
query you have created.
AutoSuggest email addresses in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields [PRO] : Xobni‟s AutoSuggest
feature greatly enhances entering email addresses by suggesting email addresses from
your entire mail repository as you type.
Profile Panels: The first check box „Use Tabbed Interface‟ allows you to switch between
the new tabbed Interactions panel and the classic Xobni user interface. The remaining
five check boxes allow you to show/hide the respective panel/tab in the Xobni sidebar.
Please note that Appointments and Links are only available for Xobni Pro subscribers.
International: Xobni will automatically detect during installation what language your
system is using. If you would like to change this to another language simply choose one
from the pull-down menu.
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5.1.2. Integration
Yahoo! Mail:
With this option enabled your Yahoo! Mail can be indexed alongside your Outlook mail.
Please keep in mind that you are not be able to send and receive Yahoo! mail from
Outlook. This feature does however make searching your Yahoo! Mail way simpler. Most
importantly, you can now view your Yahoo! Mail in the Xobni sidebar without upgrading
to a premium Yahoo! Mail account.
Gadgets:
Clicking on the “Customize...” button brings up the Gadgets Manager window. Here you
can show and hide individual gadgets as well as change the order in which they appear.
Other Settings:
Show Skype actions for each contact:: With this option enabled, you can use your Skype
account to communicate with the people in your Outlook mail in various ways including
chat (text or video), phone, and SMS.
Show LinkedIn details for each contact: Check this option to show LinkedIn information
for the sender of the currently selected email in Xobni‟s Person Profile.
Show Facebook details for each contact: Check this option to show Facebook
information for the sender of the currently selected email in Xobni‟s Person Profile.
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5.1.3. Schedule Time
As you may remember, Xobni‟s „Actions‟ Gadget offers a „Schedule Time With...‟ feature
to easily schedule meetings with friends or co-workers. Using this tab, you can
customize the days and times that you‟re available. This should hopefully deter
coworkers from attempting to get together at 9am on a Sunday morning! There‟s also a
drop-down menu for setting the minimum amount of time between your appointments,
which is helpful for people who need a mandatory 15 minutes (or longer!) of downtime
before heading into their next meeting. For those who require 24 hour time formatting,
this is also an option in this tab. This is handled independently of your system time
settings, so you can easily schedule meetings with people in foreign countries without
altering your system setting.
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5.1.4. Folders
This tab allows you to tell Xobni which folders to index or ignore. The folder tree will
present all your email accounts and mail folders, with a check box next to each of them.
If the box is checked, Xobni will index that folder. If the box is unchecked, Xobni will skip
this folder when indexing. Holding Shift will select all folders within a parent folder. Hold
CTRL to select all folders at the same level of the folder tree. Holding CTRL-Shift will
combine those two modifiers. Hitting „Cancel‟ will discard your changes, so you can
experiment with this feature.
Keep in mind that if you choose to index your „Deleted Items‟ folder, then empty it, Xobni
will lose those messages and they will no longer be displayed in the Sidebar.
Additionally, if you make changes to the settings in this panel, you will have to wait for
Xobni to completely index your mail before you will see the changes. You can force this
process by selecting „Index Outlook Mail‟ from the Xobni menu.
The Spam Rescue sub-tab shows where Xobni looks misfiled Junk Mail.
Limitations of free version: Xobni users without a Xobni Pro subscription will only be
able to index one PST file. They will however be able to choose which PST that is using
the pop-up menu at the bottom of the Folders tab.
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5.1.5. Indexing
The Indexing tab is where you schedule Xobni‟s mail indexer as well as configure
Xobni‟s CPU and disk utilization in order to optimize Outlook‟s performance while using
Xobni.
Index Scheduling
By default, Xobni will index all of your mail folders after you have been idle for a few
hours. If you come back to the computer when this is happening, sometimes it may take
a while for everything to become fast and responsive. Because of this, you may want to
tell Xobni when to schedule its index. Pick a time when you can leave your computer on,
but you won't generally be using it.
If you choose "never" then you can start an index manually by selecting "Index Outlook
Mail" from the Xobni menu.
Performance Settings
The Performance Settings slider has the following three options:
Default Performance - The “Default Performance” setting maintains all of the features
and settings that are already configured for you. You should keep these settings unless
you suspect that Xobni is running slowly or causing Outlook to respond slowly.
For Slower Computers - This setting usually works very well when your computer is a
little older and Xobni seems to be running slowly or causing Outlook to respond slowly.
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This setting disables all of our automatic real-time indexing. This means that when you
get new mail, or move messages to different folders, Xobni will not update its indexes
right away. Xobni will wait until you have stepped away from your computer (been “idle”)
for a while before indexing at all.
Bare Bones - This setting is only recommended if you are experiencing severe
performance problems. This setting disables all automatic real-time indexing, disables
Skype integration, disables Xobni‟s Gadgets (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn and Hoovers),
and disables the ability to search for mail text. This means that when you perform a
search from Xobni's top search bar, there will be no results from your mail data. Only
people you know will come up as a search result.
You can further customize Xobni‟s performance by clicking the “Custom Level…” button.
The Performance Options screen allows you to make adjustments to Xobni‟s
performance that go beyond the three levels provided by the Performance Settings
slider. The options here are rather self-explanatory.
Xobni Cloud [PRO]
The final option in the Indexing tab allows you to update your Outlook data residing in
the Xobni Cloud automatically every time Xobni has completed a full re-indexing.
Clicking the “Delete Xobni Cloud data” button will clear all of your Cloud data.
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5.1.6. Xobni Pro
The Xobni Pro tab of the Options window is where you can upgrade to the enhanced
version of Xobni. By doing so you will gain the following features:
Advanced Search: Search specific parts of emails like header lines, body, and even
attachments. Use Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT. Use parenthesis to
specify order of operations when needed.
AutoSuggest: Save time addressing emails by having recipients‟ names suggested to
as you begin to type their name.
Multiple PST Support: Be able to index and search multiple PST files.
Appointments: See scheduled appointments in relation to the currently selected profile
and be able to search appointments for content.
Tasks: Outlook tasks can be found within the Xobni search results
Links: Weblinks (URLs) in emails be found within the Xobni search results
Xobni Cloud Backup: Your Xobni Profiles are backed up are accessible from multiple
computers and Xobni for Blackberry.
Subscribing to Pro
Adding Pro features to Xobni is easy and can be accomplished at any time. No
installation is required if you already have Xobni 2.0. Simply go to the Xobni Menu and
select “Upgrade to Xobni Pro”. A window will open where you can enter your billing
information or start a free trial. You can then immediately begin to experience the
enhanced features of Xobni Pro.
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6. Xobni Menu
Xobni installs a drop-down menu between the “Action” and “Help” menus in Outlook. The
menu looks like this:
Let‟s take a closer look:
About Xobni: This window contains useful information about your Xobni version. If
you ever need to contact our Support Team, they may ask you for your build number
or XMID number. The build number can be found in the top line of this window, and
indicates the revision of Xobni that you‟re using. The XMID is a unique number,
specific to your system that helps us keep track of support incidents that you may
have. Only Xobni Pro users will have an XPID. This window also contains clickable
links to our Privacy Policy, End User License Agreement, as well as the Xobni
homepage.
Xobni Analytics: Opens Xobni Analytics, a program that lets you explore and
visualize data about your email communication behavior.
Share Fun Facts: Selecting this will restart the slideshow that appears during the
first indexing after installing Xobni. This is another way to access the information
presented by the „Share Fun Facts‟ panel.
Product Video: This will launch the short instructional video that highlights the
various features of Xobni. This video is also available at the end of the initial indexing
after you first install Xobni.
Help: While we hope that your Xobni experience is always perfect, selecting this
option will launch your default web browser, and load the Xobni Support FAQ. The
FAQ has loads of answers to typical user questions, and is a good starting point for
finding information. If you don‟t find the answer you‟re looking for, you can also
contact our Support Team from that page via our online troubleshooter.
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Index Outlook Mail: Select „Index Outlook Mail‟ if you wish to index all mail that is
accessible within Outlook. This process can take quite a while, depending on how
much email you have. Generally, we recommend that you use this feature when you
won‟t be using Outlook for a while, especially if there are several gigabytes of email
to index. However, once this is complete, all data in the Sidebar should be complete
and accurate. Xobni will index any Archive folders and any additional PST files
attached to Outlook during this process. At this time, Xobni does not index „Public‟ or
„Shared‟ Folders.
Log In…/Log Out…: Opens a window so that you can log in to Xobni.com.
Update Xobni Cloud [Pro]: Updates your Xobni Profiles residing on the Xobni Cloud
servers.
Options: Opens the Options window where you can set your preferences. Please
see the previous chapter for more information.
Upgrade to Xobni Pro: Select this item to upgrade to the full-featured version of
Xobni.
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Spam Rescue: Occasionally Outlook will misidentify an incoming email as Junk
even when it isn‟t. Xobni‟s Spam Rescue makes sure you never miss an email using
its built-in intelligence.
You have the following three options:
Automatically rescue the email – Xobni will automatically move the misfiled email
back to your inbox.
Send me an email alert – Xobni will send you an email with a list of all the misfiled
emails. Users with a paid subscription to Xobni Pro will receive a daily email alert.
Everyone else will receive a monthly report.
Don’t do anything – Xobni keeps track of misfiled emails but it is up to you to check
manually by selecting “Spam Rescue” from the Xobni menu.
Outlook 2010 Ribbon
If you are using Outlook 2010, you will see these additional
ribbon controls. You can type a search directly into this area.
The only difference is that you will need to press return at the
end of your search regardless of your search setting in the
General tab of the Options window..
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7. Other Outlook Windows
Xobni will slide over the “Last Viewed Email” frame to show the contents of the currently
selected email anytime you leave the email view in Outlook (e.g. clicking on “Calendar”
in the bottom-left).
This is useful because you may need to reference something contained in the email you
were last viewing. For example, a coworker asks if you can go out to lunch between 1
and 2pm on Tuesday. You can check your calendar to make sure you‟re available, and
reply to the email, without having to leave the Sidebar.
8. Keyboard Shortcuts
Xobni provides the following keyboard shortcuts whenever the Sidebar is visible, and
Outlook has keyboard focus:
Focus on the Search Box: Ctrl + ~
Collapse and Expand the Sidebar: Ctrl + Shift + ~
Compose email to the currently loaded person: Ctrl + Alt + N
Xobni provides the following keyboard shortcuts when the Sidebar has keyboard focus:
Go back one level from search results or navigation history: Backspace
Go back (when a filter bar is open): Ctrl + Backspace
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9. Xobni Analytics
Xobni Analytics is a powerful overview of your Outlook email traffic. Whether you want to
see your total email volume on an annual basis, or just find out how many times your
boss has emailed you today, Analytics is the place to find out.
The most obvious place where you‟ll see our Analytics at work is within the Person
Profile panel. The data that‟s displayed for the persons In and Out mail count, Rank, and
Emails Received graph are all powered behind the scenes by Analytics. One of the most
widely used features within the Analytics window is the ability to determine your own
network rankings. Go to the „Mail Traffic‟ Report, and click the „Rank‟ column in the data
grid at the bottom of the window. This should rank your network based on your email
frequency with specific people.
Let‟s take a look at one report in particular. Select “Mail Traffic” from the list of reports in
the upper left-hand corner of the Xobni Analytics window. The Mail Traffic report is a
graph of the number of emails you have sent and received. You can pick Day, Week,
Month, and Year from the View panel to change the level of detail in the graph.
Choosing Hourly, Daily, or Monthly Average from the view panel shows you the number
of emails you have sent and received in respect to the time of day, day of the week, or
month of the year respectively. This is an extremely useful feature. Furthermore, you can
refine the detail of the report by limiting the date range of the emails being analyzed.
The table below the graph has virtually limitless capabilities. It is a display of all the
aggregated data that Xobni computes from your email. You can view your email by
person, domain, folder, subject, recipient type, flag, status, context, and action. Within
each one of these view you can sort both ascending and descending by clicking on a
column header. In addition you can use the table as a report filter by checking of one or
more rows in the “Use?” column.
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Don‟t let the complexity of Xobni Analytics overwhelm you. Instead take some time to
explore its numerous features in order to explore a wealth of information hiding inside
your inbox.
10. Xobni Data Files
The Xobni application maintains its own database for the information it collects from
Outlook. These files are stored locally. In addition to these data files, Xobni writes error
messages to log files which are useful to our Support Team if you ever run into an issue
where Xobni is behaving badly.
The data files can be found in these locations. Be sure to replace "Username" with your
username:
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\"Username"\
Local Settings\Application Data\Xobni\”Profile Name”
Windows Vista/7: C:\Users\"Username"\App Data\Local\Xobni\”Profile Name”
11. Xobni Service
After Xobni is installed, you may notice a new entry in your Windows Task Manager
called “XobniService.exe”. This is a discreet background process that Xobni uses to
notify you of any available updates. Please keep in mind that XobniService.exe is
launched upon startup of your computer and will run until shutdown regardless of
whether or not Outlook is running.
The Xobni Sidebar runs within the “outlook.exe” process, so there is no way to stop the
Sidebar via the Task Manager.
No personal data is transmitted to Xobni or any 3 rd parties by Xobni Service.
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12. Repair and Uninstall Options
In the rare event that experiencing problems with Xobni, you can launch the Repair and
Uninstall Wizard which can be found:
Windows XP: Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs -> Xobni
Vista/7: Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Xobni
From here you can update Xobni if necessary, repair your data files, temporarily disable
the Xobni Sidebar from loading, or completely remove Xobni from your machine. Please
keep in mind that administrator privileges are required to uninstall Xobni.
13. Conclusion
On behalf of the entire team, thank you again for using Xobni. Hopefully you‟ve found
this McLovingly hand-crafted user manual helpful! If you have any further questions,
please visit the Xobni Support website and Community Forum:
http://www.xobni.com/support
http://www.xobni.com/community
Xobni User Manual © 2011 Xobni Corp. All rights reserved.
(Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, Skype, Hoovers, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, Xing, Huddle, Twitter, and Gmail
are trademarks of their respective companies)
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