Spotlight on Mail Merge
Mail Merge is the way you can make a standard letter appear as if it has been individually written. Word provides a Wizard to guide you
through the steps but, once you know what they are, there is a toolbar of buttons available for you to use to do it. The stages are:
- Designate a document to become your standard letter;
- Specify where the data comes from;
- Write the letter, using ‘placeholders’ for the data;
- Complete the merge.
The data is usually a list of names and addresses but it can be virtually anything. You can input your data directly into Word but, if you already have it elsewhere, you can easily import it. Word will accept a variety of file formats – Access database, Excel workbooks, dBase & Lotus files. If your data source isn’t directly listed, you will probably find that your data program will be able to export it as a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file and Word will accept this. The important thing is that the very first thing in the file is a list of field names.
It is also possible to use your contact list from Outlook as a data file but, if you do this from Word, it will import every field – and there are many. It is easier to do it the other way round – start in Outlook and select the fields and contacts you wish to use and export them into Word.
Once you have specified the data source, write your letter using the field names as placeholders’. You can use each one once, more than once or not at all (see below). Be creative – for example, use a person’s name or town in the body of the letter to personalise it. In order to do this, the data must be available in the appropriate form so a degree of forward planning will be necessary. Indeed, when doing a Mail Merge, the last thing you do is
switch on the computer. Ask yourself the question, “What do I want to do in the letter.” and design the data accordingly.
Another consideration is that it is possible to do a filtered merge. For example, if you were visiting Devon next month, you could send an invitation to all your contacts in Devon. To do this, the County must be available a separate field, even though you may not use this in the letter itself.
Once these steps are completed, you can perform the merge. It is possible to do this directly to the printer but if the printer misfeeds, you have to start again. It is better to merge to a new document and print that. Other advantages of doing it this way is that you can check that the required number of letters has been produced and it is also possible to edit individual letters – for example, to put a PS on the bottom of the one to Mr Smith saying, “See you on the golf course on Thursday.”
Once you have the printed letters, you can close down the new document without saving. You probably never need these letters again and even if you did, you have the original letter and data documents so you simply run the merge again. Save the other two documents in the usual way. If you have typed the data into Word, it doesn’t offer to save until you are finished. Make a false exit after you have typed the first few records of your data, give it a filename and go back in again to complete entering your data.
