Outlook Add-In tutorial?

Question

Does anyone know of a good example for getting started with Outlook add-ins using C#?

Answer 1

There are two ways to create such an add-in in VS 2008:

1. Managed Add-in (File > New Project > Office > Outlook 2007 Add-in)
2. Shared Add-in (File > New Project > Other Project Types > EXtensibility > Shared Add-in)

For Managed Add-in:

• Getting Started (Office Development in Visual Studio)

An example of a Shared Add-in:

• Creating Custom Task Panes as COM Add-Ins

For comparison:

• Visual Studio Add-ins Versus Shared Add-ins
• Shared Add-in vs. VSTO Add-in: What's the difference between/how can I tell if I'm developing?

Answer 2

MSDN blog article here.

Kindness,

Dan

Answer 3

I recommend the "How Do I" videos on MSDN:

How do I... (Outlook 2013 developer reference)

Forms (Outlook How Do I)

Also - get to know the Outlook Object Model
And the difference between Explorer and Inspector windows.

Along with the other articles, posted, you'll be up and running in no time at all.

Answer 4

I also recommend taking a look at Addin Express.

They have a toolset that

1. offers more features than out-of-the-box Visual Studio, and
2. reduces the amount of required code (i.e. makes it easier).

Here is an overview of the Add-in Express features for Outlook.