Mail Merge Using Thunderbird. Bob Booth February 2009 AP-Tbird2

Transcription

1 Mail Merge Using Thunderbird. Bob Booth February 2009 AP-Tbird2 University of Sheffield

2 Contents 1. Introduction Installing the Mail Tweak Plug-In DOWNLOADING MAIL TWEAK INSTALLING MAIL TWEAK CONFIGURING MAIL TWEAK Preparing the Data EXCEL DATA ACCESS DATA WORD TABLES Sending Personalized Messages MANAGING CSV FILES Preparing Mail Merge Templates PREPARING A TEMPLATE USING A TEMPLATE IN A MAIL MERGE

3 1. Introduction Thunderbird is designed in a way that makes it easy for software enthusiasts to design extensions that offer additional functionality. There are many such extensions, also known as add-ons and plug-ins, which offer additional functionality including glossaries, calendars and dictionaries. Mail Tweak is a multi-purpose extension that offers a vast array of additional functionality. One component is a mail merge function which lets you send many personalized versions of the same message. This document describes the whole process of downloading and installing Mail Tweak, preparing data sets to be used, and then sending groups of personalized messages. 3

4 2. Installing the Mail Tweak Add-on 2.1 Downloading Mail Tweak To download the Mail Tweak extension, open up your web browser and go to: Part way down the page you will see a link that lets you download Mail Tweak. Right-click this link, then from the menu select Save Link As. In the Save As dialogue box, specify where you wish the file to be saved, then click the Save button. 2.2 Installing Mail Tweak To install Mail Tweak, start Thunderbird. Click the Tools menu and select Add-ons. In the dialogue box that appears, click the Install button. In the next dialogue box, locate and select the Mail Tweak extension that you have just downloaded, then click the Open button. In the warning dialogue box, click the Install Now button, then in the third dialogue box, click the Restart Thunderbird button. 2.3 Configuring Mail Tweak When Thunderbird restarts, and the Mail Tweak dialogue box appears, click the Options button. In the list of tweaks, ensure that the checkbox by Personalize Messages is ticked. Click the OK button, then restart Thunderbird again to complete the installation process. 4

5 3. Preparing the Data Mail Tweak can create personalized messages from two sources only. One is the Thunderbird Address Book, the other is a CSV file with column headings. CSV stands for comma separated values. CSV files are simple text files that have rows of data with each value separated by a comma. An example is below. First Name,Second Name,Department, John,Smith,CiCS,j.x.smith@shef.ac.uk Fred,Bloggs,History,f.k.blogs@shef.ac.uk CSV files can easily be generated from data in Excel, Access and Word. 3.1 Excel Data If you have a sheet of data in an Excel file, and you wish to send personalized messages to every address in the data you can simply save the datasheet as a CSV file. To save as CSV in Excel 2007, click the Office button and select Save as. (To save as CSV in Excel 2003, click the File menu and select Save as.) In the dialogue box specify a name for the file, then in the Save as type menu, scroll down and select CSV (Comma delimited). Click the Save button. Filtering If you only wish to send personalized messages to a specific subset of addresses in the data sheet, you should first filter your data to display only those addresses that you are interested in. To filter in Excel 2007, click the Data tab, then from the Sort & Filter group, click Filter. To filter data in Excel 2003, click the Data menu and select Filter, then from the submenu select Autofilter. You will return to your datasheet with the column headings displayed as menus, and with each menu containing all the values listed in that column. You can use these menus to select subsets of data, perhaps selecting either male or female students only from a Gender column, or perhaps by selecting people interested in a specific course using a Course Title column. When your spreadsheet is displaying the data that you wish to use, select all the visible data including headings and press Ctrl and C to copy. Move to a blank worksheet and press Ctrl and V to paste the filtered data. You can then save this datasheet as a CSV in the usual way. 5

6 3.2 Access Data If you have data in an Access table, and you wish to send personalized messages to every address in the table you can simply export the table as a CSV file. In Access 2007, go to the External Data tab, and from the Export group, click Text File. In the File Name field, note the location, then specify a name with a.csv extension then click the OK button. In Access 2003, click the File menu and select Export. In the dialogue box, select Text Files in the Save as Type field, then specify a name with a.csv extension. Click the Export All button. You will now go through a text export wizard. 1. In the first screen, select the Delimited option, then click the Next button. 2. In the second screen select the Comma option, then tick the box labelled Include Field Names on First Row, finally click the Next button. 3. On the third screen click the Finish button. The data from the table will be saved into a CSV file in the location specified in the first dialogue box. Querying If you only wish to send personalized messages to a specific subset of addresses in the table, you should create a query to display only those addresses that you are interested in. When your query is displaying the required data, you can save this set as a CSV file as described above. 3.3 Word Tables If you have data in a Word table, and you wish to send personalized messages to every address in the table you should select the whole table, including column headings, and press Ctrl and C to copy it, then open Excel and press Ctrl and V to paste the Word table. You can then save this Excel data as a CSV file as described on the previous page. 6

7 4. Sending Personalized Messages Once you have prepared your data, you can send personalized messages. In Thunderbird click the Message menu and select Personalize. A new message window will open. Type your message as normal, but when you wish to input some personal data, such as someone s name, type in the column heading surrounded by doublepercent marks. For example: Dear %%Forename%% %%Surname%% Thank you for expressing an interest in the course %%Course title%%. You may be interested to know that %%Department%% is holding an open day on 12 th April and we would be delighted if you could attend. When you have finished you should save the message as a template that can be used again at a later date. This is discussed in the next section. When you are ready to send the message, click the Personalize button. In the dialog box that appears, locate and select your CSV data file and click the Open button. In the dialogue box that appears, click the Send now button to send a series of personalized messages, or click the Leave unsent button to cancel. Mail Tweak is able to identify the address for each message without you needing to specify which field contains the addresses. 4.1 Managing CSV Files If your job involves sending lots of personalized messages to different groups you will need to ensure that messages are sent to the correct list of people. You may choose to save each CSV file with a long and unambiguous name, describing exactly the subset of people listed within. Alternatively, you may choose to discard all CSV files immediately after use, generating a new one each time you begin a mail merge. Either way, you must establish a safe working practise to ensure the correct messages are sent to the appropriate groups of people. 7

8 5. Preparing Mail Merge Templates If you will be using mail merge to publicise several repetitions of similar events, you should consider developing a series of templates. Each template would be a complete message with all text, apart from variable details such as dates, and all personalized fields already included. Whenever you needed to publicise the next run of an event, you would simply begin a new Personalized message, then open a template and copy and paste all the text. You would then change minor details, indicate the CSV file and send. It would evolve into a very efficient process. 5.1 Preparing a Template To prepare a template in Thunderbird, write a standard message, with all personalized fields included. Supply a descriptive subject and leave gaps for the changeable information such as dates and location. In the new message window, click the arrow on the right of the Save Message button, then from the menu select As a Template. The message will be saved into a Thunderbird folder called Templates. 5.2 Using a Template in a Mail Merge When you are ready to send a standard mail merge, click the Message menu and select Personalize as normal. Next, open the Templates folder then locate and open the template you wish to use. Select and copy all the text from the template, then close it. Paste this text into the personalized message window. Check through the message, supplying all of the variable information such as dates and location. When you are satisfied, click the Personalize button, select the CSV file and click Send. 8