Hashtag Plugin for MS Outlook

Abstract

This thesis presents the design and implementation of a plugin that adds hashtag functionality to Microsoft Outlook Classic. The plugin allows users to tag emails, appointments, contacts, tasks, and notes with hashtags. It introduces a flexible, cross-item tagging system to enhance organization and retrieval of Outlook, an alternative to traditional folders and categories. Main features are creating, removing, and searching hashtags, as well as tagging and editing hashtags to items. Developed as a VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) add-in using C\# language, integrating into Outlook's Ribbon user interface. All the hashtag data are stored structured JSON files on use's local device,ensure that the user's data is private, without the risk of sending data to external services. In addition, the plugin includes an optional feature AI-based suggestion that use a local hosted language model provided by Ollama, enabling context-aware hashtag suggestions without exposing user content over the internet bases API.