It's almost certainly the Beginning with Outlook 2003 SP2, users can work with most .oft form templates files only by opening the template from the Tools | Forms | Choose Form dialog, browsing for User Templates in File System. This means that if the .oft file is sent as a message attachment, the user must save it to the local hard drive first.

Next time, you might want to publish the form, as well as make an .oft backup.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx

"Teshera" wrote in message ...
I am trying to build a custom tab (form) in Outlook Contacts to handle the
info I need. I saved several times while working on it (for hours) and saved
when I finally exited the program. When I opened the .oft file the next day,
almost all of the changes were missing. The tab was the second tab in
Contacts; I did read somewhere noty to alter the first tab.
Lots of work wasted, unless it's there and i just don't know where. And are
there any shortcuts or tips? I HAVE looked at many articles and websites
mentioned here but I think what I am trying to do is more basic (but still
difficult for me!).
Thanks.