Download Mail Merge - IIS Windows Server

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAIL MERGE
LANG AND MKT STAGE 2
To create a personalised letter to be sent to all the students in our College database informing
them of how they have done on their Course in the college and signed by the student's Mentor, and
inviting them to the graduation ceremony
There are 3 steps
1. We must create a letter - called a form letter.
2. We must either create or open our data source - called the data source (the file from which
we are going to draw data ie names, addresses etc)
3. We must merge the 2 files ie the form letter and the data source
STEP 1 - CREATE FORM LETTER
(i)
Start up Ms Word
(ii) Create a new blank document
(iii) Go to View/Toolbars and ensure the Mail Merge toolbar is ticked on. It contains the tools
you see below. Each will be explained as needed
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
Click on the leftmost button
in the toolbar
You will see the Main Document window
Choose Letters as the document type
Click OK
STEP 2 - OPEN DATA SOURCE
Our data source is the Exam database we have been working on.
(i)
(ii)
Click on the Open Data Source button
Go to where you have saved the database, probably your H
drive. Select the file you want to use by double-clicking on
it.
(iii) You will now see the tables and queries that are in your database
(iv) Choose the table or query that contains the fields you want
(v) Note - if the fields you want are not contained in a single table or query then you may
need to do a special query to ensure that they are all available. In this case we have no
table or query that gives us Student's firstname, lastname, address, course and mentor
name so we should go and do such a query now and save it as qryResults. The list below is
what we have at present but what we want is not there.
Instructions for Mail Merge
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© Una Dooney, 2006
If you do
NOT see
the query
qryResults
then you
will have to
create it
(vi)
Create the relevant query and then go back and Open your Data Source again and choose
the query that you just created as the source. Notice in the second Select Table below you
will see the item Results Letters which you will now select as your Data Source
(vii) Now you can continue and create the letter
(viii) Create the Letter as follows:
(i) Type the college name and address on the right side of the page followed by today's date
(basically create a letterhead if you want for the college)
(ii) Return to the left side of the page and click on the
Insert Merge Field from the
toolbar
(iii) This will give you a list of fields to choose from as shown here
(iv) Select Title, Firstname, then Surname, then Address 1 etc, etc
(NOTE - Pressing the Insert button puts the field
onto the page. Pressing Enter also puts the field
onto the page so you may find you are putting too
many fields on the page. Pressing Enter twice puts
the selected field in twice. Just be careful and get
only the fields you want in your letter. You can
rearrange their position when you are finished
inserting all the fields you want. You can also
delete a field if you put in too many. Leave the
Course and Mentor Name fields until you want them
further down the letter)
(v)
When you have finished the letter it should look like the one shown below:
Instructions for Mail Merge
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© Una Dooney, 2006
STEP - 3 MERGE THE FORM LETTER AND DATA SOURCE
(ix)
(x)
(xi)
(xii)
(xiii)
(xiv)
(xv)
We will select Merge to New Document by clicking on
We will get this screen which allows us to choose if we
want to merge all records or just some
Choose All
You will now get a document that has a letter
addressed personally to each student showing the
Course and Mentor name for each student
Below you will see examples of the letters
The merged document is a new document which can
be printed now or saved to be printed in the future.
You can limit the number of records to be merged
using numbers in the From and To boxes above for example you could print from record 1
to record 5 and you will just get letters to the first 5 students
Instructions for Mail Merge
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© Una Dooney, 2006
CREATE A NEW DATA SOURCE
If the names and addresses of recipients of your letters do not exist in a database or spreadsheet or
other source then you will need to create a new source or list of names, addresses etc
To do this you need the Mail Merge Wizard
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Go to Tools/Letters and Mailings/Mail Merge Wizard
Select Letters
Click on Next Step
Select Use the current document (if there is a blank document or indeed a partially prepared
letter on your screen at this point
Click on Select recipients
Select Type a new list
Click on Create
The following screen will appear into which you will type the names, addresses and other details
you want in your letters
9 Scrolling up/down will show you the available fields.
If you want to add a field that is not there click on
Customize.
10 Key in the field name you want to add in the dialog
box provided. You can move the fields up or down in
the list
11 Enter details for your contacts in the field boxes
12 Click New Entry to add another contact
13 When you are finished keying in your address list click
on Close
14 You will be prompted to save your data source. By
default this is saved in My Data Sources. If you want
to save to a different location change it here. Name
your data source and click Save
Instructions for Mail Merge
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© Una Dooney, 2006
15 Your list of recipients will all appear in the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. You can refine the
list here.
16 In the Mail Merge Recipients dialog select the recipients you want to include in the mailing. If a
recipient is ticked then it is included
17 Click Next: Write your letter. If you have a blank page on your screen you can type your letter
on this using the proper business letter format required for the situation
18 Complete the letter adding the merge fields by clicking on the Insert Merge Fields
button
and selecting the appropriate field
19 Click Next: Preview your letters
20 You will see the letter to Recipient 1. Click on the forward arrows to view the letter to the next
recipient. You can also go back to look at an earlier letter by choosing the back arrows
21 When you are satisfied that all is in order, print out your letters by selecting the Print option
22 Alternatively, if you wish to save the merged document or perhaps edit one or two letters you
need to select the Edit individual letters option. This gives you the following screen:
23 This allows you to merge a selection of the records or all the records
24 It also gives you a chance to save the merged document with all letters as a new file
Instructions for Mail Merge
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© Una Dooney, 2006