Mail merging s: Word, Excel and Outlook

Transcription

1 Mail merging s: Word, Excel and Outlook

2 TRWD Software Used Word 2010 Excel 2010 Outlook 2010 Windows XP Revision Information Version Date Author Changes made 1.0 July 2012 Pamela Stanworth Created 1.1 January 2013 Pamela Stanworth Updated for IT Services Copyright and Acknowledgements Pamela Stanworth makes this document and the accompanying PowerPoint presentation available under a Creative Commons licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA Screenshots in this document are copyright of Microsoft. The Oxford University crest is copyright of Oxford University and may only be used by Oxford University members in accordance with the University s branding guidelines. IT Learning Programme ii

3 Contents 1 Introduction What Do You Need? What Will You Learn? Where Can I Get A Copy of the Software? Getting Started What You Will Use Using Office Collecting a List of Data... 3 Exercise 1 Creating a list of data Writing the Common Text... 5 Exercise 2 Creating a text for the s Starting the Mail Merge Wizard... 7 Exercise 3 Starting the Mail Merge Wizard Setting the Source of the Document and the Data... 9 Exercise 4 Setting the information sources Finalising the Message Exercise 5 Working on the text Previewing the Messages Exercise 6 Previewing the messages Sending the Messages Exercise 7 Sending out the s Date Formats in Messages What Next? Word-processing Courses Excel Courses Nexus Courses Office Downloadable Course Materials and More the ITLP Portfolio IT Services Help Centre IT Learning Programme

4 1 Introduction Welcome to the Mail merging s session! This booklet accompanies the presentation delivered by IT Services at Oxford University (formerly OUCS), IT Learning Programme What Do You Need? We will assume that you are familiar with the everyday use of a word-processor, a spreadsheet and an client. This includes opening, saving and closing a document, editing text, sending an , and choosing options from a menu, ribbon tab or dialog. These activities use the Microsoft Office suite of software What Will You Learn? This presentation will help you learn to use Excel, Word and Outlook together to create and send a set of personalised s. In this session we will cover the following topics: Organising a data list in Excel Setting up pattern text in Word Including fields for the varying text Merging to create a set of s to send out by Outlook These notes deal with Office 2010 using Windows. Having worked through these notes, you should also be able to adapt to other versions including Office for Mac, since most of the principles hold true regardless of the version of the software. Getting to grips with a package as sophisticated and powerful as Office can be time-consuming, so allow yourself plenty of time for practice. To increase your understanding of Office, make use of the Help facilities available within the software, or attend a taught course in the IT Learning Programme Where Can I Get A Copy of the Software? If you are unable to find Microsoft Office 2010 on your computer, it may not have been installed and you should talk to your IT support contact (or the IT Services Help Centre). If you are a member of staff, you can obtain a copy of Microsoft Office from the IT Services on-line shop. Students can obtain a Microsoft Student Licence, but this must be bought through a Microsoft Authorised Education Reseller. 2 Getting Started 2.1. What You Will Use In this demonstration, we will suppose that you need to send s to a number of people, with slightly different content in each case. The mail merge tool in Word helps you do this, taking names and addresses and other details from a list in an Excel workbook, and sending the s using Outlook. IT Learning Programme 2

5 The method described here requires you to have MAPI mail client software. So it works most neatly with Microsoft Outlook, and may adapt to work with other software such as Thunderbird, but will not be suitable if you use a web-based tool such as Nexus/OWA/OutlookWebAccess Using Office 2010 If you have previously used another version of Office, you may find Office 2010 looks rather unfamiliar. Office 2010: What s New is a self-study guide covering the Ribbon, Quick Access Toolbar and so on. This can be downloaded from the ITLP Portfolio at For anyone who prefers not to use the mouse to control software, or who finds a keyboard method more convenient, it is possible to control Office 2010 applications without using a mouse. Pressing ALT once displays a white box with a letter or character next to each visible item on the Ribbon and title bar (shown in Figure 1). Figure 1 Keystrokes to Control Ribbon Tabs and Title Bar (Press ALT to Show These) After you have typed one of the letters/characters shown, the relevant Ribbon tab or detail appears, with further letters/characters for operating the buttons and controls. The elements of a dialog can be controlled, as usual with Windows applications, by using TAB to navigate between items or typing the underlined character shown beside an item. 3 Collecting a List of Data The names, addresses and any other information or wording which is to vary from to is collected in a list. One convenient tool for this is an Excel worksheet. 3 IT Learning Programme

6 Exercise 1 Creating a list of data Use Excel Collect the data Check the information saved Task 1 Start Excel Look in the Start menu, for an entry for Excel It may appear in a group called something similar to Microsoft Office Or look for an Excel icon on your desktop Task 2 Insert your data in columns Put labels at the tops of the columns, for the information you will use, such as Name, address, DateOfEvent Any column headings will work, however it will be easier to match them into the merge document later, if you use labels that are easy to remember You need a column for each field: each fact that will vary from person to person Insert the text or numbers that will be needed: one row for each recipient Task 3 Make sure the data is complete and correct This is the opportunity to check all the data carefully Correct any spelling mistakes or inaccuracies Complete any gaps Task 4 Save the Excel workbook file, making a note of the filename and the location IT Learning Programme 4

7 4 Writing the Common Text Figure 2 Collecting the data in a worksheet Use Word to write the main text of the document, with markers where the details will be filled in. Exercise 2 Use Word Creating a text for the s Draft the text of the Insert markers at each point where a detail is to go Task 1 Start Word Look in the Start menu, for an entry for Word It may appear in a group called something similar to Microsoft Office Or look for an Word icon on your desktop Task 2 Compose the main part of the text Write your text in a Word document Most of the text is likely to be standard, staying the same for each , so type this carefully 5 IT Learning Programme

8 Task 3 Add markers where the variable data is to go Task 4 Format the text as required Task 5 Make sure the data is complete and correct At a point where one of the variable facts is to be inserted from the Excel workbook, type a marker Any text will do as a marker such as XXX or $% However, you may like to use phrases that remind you where each fact is to be inserted such as FULLNAME and DEPARTMENTNAME Add a marker for every fact that is to be inserted from the Excel workbook Apply any formatting to the text, such as bold text, centred headings This text can be laid out and formatted so that it will be effective as an This is the opportunity to check all the text carefully Correct any spelling mistakes Task 6 Save the Word document file, making a note of the filename and the location Figure 3 Composing the common text IT Learning Programme 6

9 5 Starting the Mail Merge Wizard The Mailings tab of the Ribbon includes. Although this menu offers the elements of the mail merge process separately, it is easiest to use the Wizard which takes you through the process, step by step. Figure 4 Starting the Mail Merge Wizard 7 IT Learning Programme

10 Exercise 3 Starting the Mail Merge Wizard Use Word Start the Mail Merge Wizard Choose to produce s Task 1 Start the Wizard Click the Mailings tab of the Ribbon Click to see the Mail Merge menu Click Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard Task 2 Select the document type, in The instructions appear in the grey Mail Merge pane at the side of the Word window At any point while working through the Wizard, you can page back to an earlier step and change your choices In of the Wizard, read the list of document types available Choose messages Step 4 At the bottom of the Wizard pane, click Next, to move to of the Wizard Task 3 If you chose document in of the Wizard, then in the is displayed in Web Layout View The edges of the paper are hidden and the content is re-arranged to fill the window size this is more similar to the way an client will display a message IT Learning Programme 8

11 Figure 5 Selecting to send s 6 Setting the Source of the Document and the Data Exercise 4 Setting the information sources Specify which document is to be used Specify which data is to be used Task 1 In, select a starting document In of the Wizard, you specify the document where the main text of your document is to be found If your document from Exercise 2 is still open, choose to Use the current document If your document has been closed, choose to Start from existing document, and use the Open button to browse to the document you require 9 IT Learning Programme

12 Figure 6 Taking the text from the current document Task 2 Click Next to go to of the Wizard Task 3 In, select Use an existing list and browse to where the list of recipients has already been saved In of the Wizard, you select where the people s details are to be found, who will receive the s If your list of recipient information has not already been made up, choose to Type a new list If your Excel workbook contains the information about your recipients, choose Use an existing list Step 4 Click Navigate to where your Excel workbook was saved in Exercise 1 Step 5 Select the worksheet where the relevant data is, within the workbook IT Learning Programme 10

13 Task 4 Select from the list which of the data is to be used in this mail merge Figure 7 Locating the data source The list of recipients can be filtered to include only some of the records, by setting criteria Used the arrows at the top of the columns to show a menu for filtering the records by matching values Tick or clear the checkboxes on individual rows, to include or exclude specific records in the merge Task 5 If, later, you need to make further changes to the choice of data, click to display this dialog again Task 6 Click Next to go to Step 4 of the Wizard 11 IT Learning Programme

14 Figure 8 Filtering and ad-hoc-selecting to choose recipients 7 Finalising the Message In the next Step, markers called merge fields are needed to show where each person s details are to be inserted from the Excel workbook. Exercise 5 Working on the text Revise the text of the if necessary Insert merge fields for the variable data Task 1 In Step 4 of the Wizard, check over the text once more Task 2 Replace each marker that you typed in the text, with a merge field code Locate a marker that you typed earlier, showing a position where one of the variable facts is to be inserted eg. FULLNAME Delete the marker text Click Step 4 The fields offered in the More Items dialog are the column headings from the Excel worksheet IT Learning Programme 12

15 Task 3 Click Next to go to Step 5 of the Wizard Step 5 Insert the field that matches the marker you deleted Step 6 Continue replacing each marker text with the relevant merge field Step 7 Note that the addresses of the recipients must be available in the table of data (Excel), even if they are not shown explicitly in the text of the message Figure 9 Inserting merge fields among the text 13 IT Learning Programme

16 8 Previewing the Messages You can preview the collection of merged messages, to confirm that each one is as you require. Exercise 6 Previewing the messages Look at the first message Check that the variable data from the Excel worksheet has been inserted properly Check each message in turn Task 1 In Step 5 of the Wizard, preview the first merged message Look at the first merged message The merge codes have been replaced with text and numbers from the first record in your worksheet Confirm that the message reads well, and that the merged data appears in the correct places Step 4 If necessary, click Previous to return to an earlier step in the Wizard and make corrections Task 2 Inspect all the merged messages, making changes as necessary Use << and >> buttons to page between the messages and inspect the contents of each one There should be one merged message for each recipient chosen from the worksheet Task 3 If you find a problem with one or all the s, this is the time to abandon the merge. Go back to the original documents, the data in the Excel spreadsheet and the text in the Word document, and correct them, then run the merge again. Task 4 Click Next to go to Step 6 of the Wizard IT Learning Programme 14

17 9 Sending the Messages Figure 10 Previewing the merged messages The next step is to have Word send out the messages, each to the correct recipient, via Outlook. Exercise 7 Sending out the s Specify where the addresses are listed Check the subject line and the formatting for the s Send Task 1 In Step 6, make final settings for sending the s In Step 6 of the Wizard, click In the Merge to dialog, specify which column in your data table contains the addresses where the messages are to be sent Give a suitable phrase which will appear as the Subject line of the s Choose HTML formatting when sending with Outlook (If you choose plain text formatting, you will be challenged to Allow/Deny each individual ) Specify whether to send all the chosen messages or just the current one 15 IT Learning Programme

18 Task 2 The message/s are sent immediately When you click OK, the messages are sent out by Outlook Check in the Sent mail folder of your Outlook, to see the messages that have been sent Task 3 You should save the Excel workbook and the Word text document, but you may not need to keep the document with all the separate s Figure 11 Sending the s 10 Date Formats in Messages 11 What Next? If some of the data from the Excel workbook is dates, and is formatted as Date in the worksheet, you should check carefully how the dates appear in your messages. By default, dates appear in US date format, so 3 rd August 2011 appears as 8/3/2012 which may not be suitable for UK readers. One way to work around this is to type the dates as text in the Excel workbook, in the format required. Alternatively, you can edit the mergefield to force the date format: Press ALT+F9 (to reveal the field as a code) Type inside the {MERGEFIELD} to look like this: {MERGEFIELD EventDate \@"d MMMM, yyyy"}. The conventions about d, m, M and y codes are the same as when creating custom formats using Excel. Use the field name of your dates to replace EventDate, and make sure you enclose it with double quote marks. Courses to help you with word-processing and related topics are described below. In all cases, please refer to the IT Learning Programme web page (via for further details. IT Learning Programme 16

19 11.1. Word-processing Courses Word: Fundamentals Word: Creating Professional Documents Word: Creating Your CV Word: Charts, Pictures and Diagrams Word: Managing Your Thesis Word: Building Your Long Documents Excel Courses Excel: Fundamentals Excel: Functions and cell referencing Excel: 3D formulas, charts, histograms and sharing data Excel: Analysing your spreadsheet data with pivot tables Excel: Analysing spreadsheet lists, external data and what-if-analysis Excel: Working with arrays, macros and VBA Nexus Courses Nexus: An introduction to Outlook 2010 Nexus: Essential features for and calendars Office 2010 What s new booklets for Word 2010, Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, Office There are self-study booklets for you to work on at your own pace, in the ITLP Portfolio at Exercise files are also downloadable from the same website, for you to practice the techniques described Downloadable Course Materials and More the ITLP Portfolio These course materials are available through the ITLP Portfolio, at Each course pack includes the course handbook in pdf form and a zip folder of the exercise files that you need to complete the exercises. Archive versions of the course book may also be useful if you use an earlier version of the software. The ITLP Portfolio helps you find articles, videos, resources and weblinks for further IT study. For some resources, you will be asked for your Oxford (SSO) username and password IT Services Help Centre In the IT Services Help Centre, you can use the facilities to work through the exercises in this booklet, or use any of the applications that are available. The Help Centre is also a good place to get advice about any aspect of using computer software or hardware. 17 IT Learning Programme

20 For Help Centre opening times, visit and follow links to the General Helpdesk, or contact them by on IT Learning Programme 18

21 19/06/2014 Mailmerge for s: using Word, Excel and Outlook together Pamela Stanworth IT Learning Programme More from the IT Learning Programme Word-processing Spreadsheets Mail and Nexus and plenty more This presentation is made available by Pamela Stanworth under a Creative Commons licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA pamela.stanworth@it.ox.ac.uk 1