Microsoft Word: Mail Merge I

Microsoft Word 2000 Mail Merge I

Email: [email protected] Web Page: http://training.health.ufl.edu Microsoft Word: Mail Merge I 2 hours

This workshop assumes experience with Word. Topics include how to create a main document, create a data source, prepare envelopes and labels, inserting date and time, sorting records, merging main document and data source, merging with alternate data sources and using the Mail Merge Toolbar.

Worksheets: Mail Merge Chart, Mail Merge, and Mail Merge Toolbar

Topics: - Mail Merge Helper - Creating a Source Document - Form Letter - Catalog - Mailing Labels - Envelopes - Getting a data source - Creating in Word - Word - Excel - Inserting fields - Previewing Data - Moving through Records - Editing Data Source

Pandora Rose Cowart Training Specialist Information Technology Center

Health Science Center 352-273-5051 PO Box 100152 [email protected] Gainesville, FL 32610-0152 http://training.health.ufl.edu Microsoft Word – Mail Merge Page 1 Mail Merge is a term used for the process of taking a list of information (the Data Source) and a specified format, such as a letter (the Main Document) and merging the two into one file (the Merged Document). The Merged Document will consist of one format (Main Document) for each Data Source item. Merged Document Data Source

NAMEADDRESSCITYJack Jackson123 August 10, 2001 Main StGainesvilleJerry Jacks321 W Palm StGainesvilleJeff Johns1243 NS Jack Jackson RoadGainesvilleJasmine JeaPO Box 123 Main St 1235GainesvilleJill JulesRR 123 Box Gainesville,August FL 32601 10, 2001 2Gainesville

Dear Jack Jackson,Jerry Jacks Main 321 W Palm St You owe meGainesville, money youAugust FL 32601 10, 2001 dirty bum. Send me the Document dough or else.Dear Jack Jackson,Jeff Johns 1243 NS Road August 10, 2001 Love, You owe me Gainesville, money you FL 32601 dirty bum. Send me theAugust 10, 2001 J.J. Jays dough or else.Dear Jack Jackson,

J.J. Jays

To create your mail merge document there are several specific steps that Word’s Mail Merge Helper will walk you through. From the Tools choose Mail Merge… You will get this dialog box: The three main steps are listed here, (1) Main Document, (2) Data Source and (3) Merge the data with the document.

Word tells you “Use this checklist to set up a mail merge. Begin by choosing the Create button.”

Notice the only choices at this phase are to either create the main document or cancel.

Let’s take a closer look at the options listed under the Create button. Microsoft Word: Mail Merge Page 2 Form Letters… – “When you create a form letter, the main document contains the text, punctuation, spaces, graphics and other information you want to be the same in each form letter.” Contrary to its name, this option does not have to be a letter. Each page in the Main Document will be duplicated with each Record from the Source Document.

Mailing Labels… – This option allows you to put each record from the Data Source in a preformatted sheet of labels. Word has many built in formats for labels, but you can customize your own label sheet. Although it’s called “Mailing Labels” this option can be also be used to create nametags, business cards, place cards, disk labels or any other preset format under Word’s label option.

Envelopes… – This option allows you to put each record from the Data Source into a preformatted envelope. Word has many built in formats for envelopes, but you can customize your own.

Catalog… – This option allows you to have a continuos flow of text, where each record from the Data Source merged with each preset format from the Main Document in a continuous list.

Restore to Normal Word Document… – This option is only available after a Main Document has been created. It will change your main document back into just a normal Word Document. The option will not remove the merge fields, but it will sever their link. If you choose this option and then later make it a Main Document again, you will need to delete and re-add the fields placed in the document.

No matter which of the Create Main Document options you choose, Word will ask you:

Active Window is the document you were in when you opened the mail merge helper.

New Main Document will create a new document. Microsoft Word – Mail Merge Page 3 Once the Main Document type is chosen you will get a screen similar to this:

“ The next step in setting up the mail merge is to specify a data source. Choose the Get Data button.”

Notice that under the create button Word shows what Merge type you chose for the Main Document, as well as the file name of this document.

If you chose Form Letter or Catalog then the button next to Create will show Edit, to allow you to edit the Main Document. You cannot Insert Merge Fields until you have chosen your data source.

Let’s take a closer look at the options listed under the Get Data button.

Create Data Source… – This option allows you to make your list of data if it does not exist yet. It will open this window: Word is very descriptive in its explanation of this screen. This option will create a new document containing a table, with the Field names in header row: as the first row of this table.

Since mail merge is most often used for business letters and mailing labels/envelopes, Word provides you with fields along those lines.

Notice the Add Field Name  button is grayed out. As soon as you begin to type in the Field name: blank, the button will light up. You cannot use spaces or hyphens ( - ) in field names, but you can use underscores ( _ ). When you add a field name it will place it at the bottom of the list.

To move a field, click on it so that it is highlighted, and click the Move up and down arrows to place the field name where you want it.

To remove a field, click on it so that it is highlighted, and click the Remove Field Name button. This will remove it from the list and place the name in the Field Name: blank. Microsoft Word: Mail Merge Page 4 Once you have the field names setup the way you want them, click the OK button and Word will ask you to save the data source you are creating. Make sure you put it where you can find it, and give it a descriptive file name. Word will then give you this option:

If you are using the form letters or catalog options, this screen will read Edit Main Document, instead of Set Up Main Document (used with envelopes and labels).

If you choose to Set Up Main Document first, you can always come back to the Mail Merge Helper and Edit Data Source, but I recommend editing your data source first.

When you edit a “created” data source Word gives you this data form to complete. This is why the order of the fields was important.

The OK button will accept the current record, close the Data Form window, and put you into your Main Document. The Add New button will accept the current record, and take you to a new record. The Delete button will delete the current record. The Restore button will undo any changes you have made in this record. The Find… button will allow you to search through each record that has been created. The View Source button will open the document you have placed this data in. It will be a Word document with a table containing the data. The Record buttons along the bottom of the screen allow you to move between the records. The fill-in between the buttons allows you to type in a record number and press enter and Word will take you directly to that record.

Go to the First Record Go to the Next Record

Go to the Previous Record Go to the Last Record Microsoft Word – Mail Merge Page 5 Microsoft Word: Mail Merge Page 6 Next on the Get Data button list is Open Data Source. This option allows Word use a list of data that already exists. It opens a window that looks just like an Open Document dialog box.

Just as if you were opening a document, you need to know where this data source lives, and change your Look in: box to reflect the proper directory. Once you are in the right place you need to set what type of file you are looking for. By default, Word assumes you are looking for a Word Document, but if this is not the case, change your Files of type: to the right file type. Once you have your file just click OK.

If you are pulling from an Excel spreadsheet, Word will ask you where you want to pull the data from within the worksheet. Usually you want the Entire Spreadsheet, but you can use a Named cell range.

If you are pulling from an Access database, Word will ask you which table or query you wish to pull the information from. Just choose the table, or switch to the Query tab and choose the query that has your data. Microsoft Word – Mail Merge Page 7 Next on the Get Data button list is Use Address Book…. This option allows you to pull data from an electronic address book built into Windows.

Microsoft likes to stay with it’s own products so it places Outlook and Schedule+ on this list. If you are using another program such as GroupWise, you may be able to use your “Personal Address Book” which will pull the information from your GroupWise Business Address Book.

**WARNING** - If you don’t have an address book set up this option will cause errors, and possibly crash Microsoft Word.

Lastly is the Header Options… Word gives a brief description of this feature.

This is best used when you use several data sources. Remember the Header is the first line in your data, where Word gets the field names from. By using a single header source, you won't have to repeat or change the header row in each data source or change the merge fields in the main document. This is also a good feature for when a data source from another program might not contain a header record, or when field names in the header record might not match the merge fields in your main document.

The number of field names in the header source must be the same as the number of data fields in the data source, and field names must be listed in the same order as the corresponding information in the data source. Field names in the header source must match any merge fields you've inserted in the main document. If the field names and merge fields do not match, change the field names in the header source or replace the merge fields in the main document.

You can Create, or Open a header source just like you would data. Microsoft Word: Mail Merge Page 8 Now that you have the Main Document and Source Document setup, Word will give you one of two messages.

If you are making a form letter or catalog, Word will ask you:

If you are making a form envelopes or labels, Word will ask you:

In either case if you click the X in the corner it will just cancel the screen and leave you in the Mail Merge Helper.

Form Letter And Catalog Setup When you click on the Edit Main Document button, the mail merge helper closes and word puts you back to you Source Document. Here is where you create your letter and insert your fields.

Just type the letter or list as you would if you were writing for just one person, but every where there is a place that will change on each letter, insert the appropriate field, by going to the Insert Merge Field button, the first button on your mail merge toolbar.

August 10, 2001 <> <

Dear <>,

You owe me money you dirty bum. Send me the dough or else.

J.J. Jays Microsoft Word – Mail Merge Page 9 Mailing Labels and Envelopes Setup When you click on the Set Up Main Document button, Word will open one of the following screens:

Choose the Label or Envelope format you wish you use in your mail merge. You can change the font of the envelopes on this screen. If you wish to change the font of the labels you have to do it from the source document, or wait until the document is merged.

Once you click the OK button, Word will give you this window: Insert the Merge Fields. Remember to include the punctuation and spaces.

If you want Word can insert a Postal Bar Code… This bar code is mathematically created using the zip code.

Graphics cannot be inserted on this screen. If you want a graphic to appear on your document you will need to finish this, close the mail merge helper and insert the graphic on the Main Document.

Once everything is set up, click OK. If you have no changes to make to the envelopes or labels on the main document you are ready to merge. Microsoft Word: Mail Merge Page 10 The third and final step on the mail merge helper is Merge. If you push the Merge button on the mail merge helper, or if you click on this button: on the mail merge toolbar, you will see this window:

You can merge this document to a New document ( ), the Printer ( ), or Email (which is not usually set up in Word).

You can merge all the records (the default and what the buttons on the toolbar will do), or a range of records.

When merging records you usually want it to skip blank lines when it merges, such that if you have an Address2 field, but only some addresses have an Address2, you won’t end up with blank lines in your merged documents.

When you Merge, Word will create a new document consisting of your merged data.

FORM LETTER CATALOG August 10, 2001 ENVELOPES LABELS

Dear ,

You owe me money you dirty bum. Send me the dough or

J.J. Jays

August 10, 2001 Jack Jackson August 10, 2001 123 Main St Jack Jackson

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

(1) Insert Merge Field  - List the field names, pulled from the header (first) row of your data source (or header source).

(2) Insert Word Field  - List of built in fields such as If…Then… Else.

(3) View Merged Data – Preview’s what the data will look like for the current record.

(4) First Record – Moves to the first record.

(5) Previous Record – Moves back one record.

(6) Go To Record – Tells you what record you are currently on. You can type a record number in this box and press Enter and Word will take you to that record.

(7) Next Record – Moves forward one record.

(8) Last Record – Moves to the last record.

(9) Mail Merge Helper – Opens the Mail Merge Helper dialog box.

(10) Checks for Errors – Reports errors in the Main Document or Data Source that prevent merging.

(11) Merge to New Document – Runs the Mail Merge for all records and places the results in a new document.

(12) Merge to Printer – Runs the Mail Merge for all records and sends the results to the printer.

(13) Mail Merge – Opens the Merge dialog box.

(14) Find a Record – Search the records by field for specific data.

(15) Edit Data Source – Opens the Data Source. Microsoft Word: Mail Merge Page 12

Create a Main Document

Do you want to use this document or a new one?

Create/Get a Data Source

Choose Header Row Names (Field Names) Open an existing data source & Save

Forms/Catalog OR Envelopes/Labels

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE Microsoft Word – Mail Merge Page 13

Setup Labels Setup Envelopes

punctuation and other text

August 10, 2001

Dear ,

Love, J.J. Jays Punctuation and other text

FORM LETTER CATALOG August 10, 2001 ENVELOPES LABELS

Dear ,

J.J. Jays

August 10, 2001 Jack Jackson Jack Jackson 123 Main St August 10, 2001 123 Main St Gainesville, FL 32601

J.J. Jays