Word Level 2 Mail Merge Class Project Practice Activity Ms. Dawn Bieser, M.Ed
Introduction to Mail Merge Mail Merge is used to combine a standardized document with a set of data. It can be used to create personalized form letters, mailing labels, envelopes, and more. The merged document can be previewed, printed, or saved for later. Mail Merge saves time by applying personalized data to a master document. The Mailings tab on the Ribbon provides guidance and tools for conducting a Mail Merge.
Components of Mail Merge There are three components of a Mail Merge: The main document controls the merge. It contains the fixed information that will be in every letter and the merged codes where the variable text will be The data source is a document or database that contains the information that will be different for each letter. It can be a table in Word, an Excel Spreadsheet or a table in Access The merged document is the result of a merge. These are the individual letters that result from the merge. The merge fields are replaced with the actual data from the Data Source file.
Components of a Mail Merge The Main Document The Data Source The Merged Documents
The Main Document Any document may be used as a main document if merge fields are added. Merge fields will be filled in by the data source when the merge is performed. Insert merge fields by using the Write & Insert Fields group on the Mailings tab.
The Data Source Data sources contain names, addresses, telephone numbers, or other information. Data is collected in fields, such as name or city More fields provide more flexibility. For example, a full name field will not allow you to use just the first or last name in a merged document. Instead, use a first name, last name, and salutation field for more flexibility. The New Address List dialog box contains common fields for addresses. It s a good way to create an effective address list for your Mail Merge. Fields in a Data Source
The Merged Documents Merging combines a main document with a data source to produce a merged document. The Review Results group on the Mailings tab allows you to preview letters before performing the merge. Use the Finish Merge command when you are confident that your main document and data source are accurate. If the original main document and data source are saved, you don t need to keep the merged documents after printing. It s possible to edit individual merged documents before printing or saving.
Benefits of using Mail Merge Basically, Mail Merge is a huge time saver. If you need to do a large mailing with hundreds or even thousands of customers or clients, without Mail Merge, you would have to type the same text in hundreds of documents. Mail Merge allows you to create just one main document and use one data source that contains all your clients names and addresses. Microsoft Word makes Mail Merge easy with the Mailings Tab on the Ribbon
The Mailings Tab The Mailings Tab The Mailings Tab Select the type of main document via Start Mail Merge (Letters, envelopes or labels) Select Recipients is where you create a New Address List or use an existing one.
Class Project Seaside Realty Mail Merge Problem Defined Result Our class project is to create a Mail Merge for Seaside Realty, a fictitious Real Estate company located in San Francisco, California. Seaside Realty needs to send out a large mailing each month to clients that their Realtors have contacted regarding selling their homes. The variable information will be the clients name and addresses, the Realtor s Name and the geographical area that they work in. This information will be stored in a Data Source Address List that we will create from scratch. We also need to create a form letter that will contain the variable information that will be propagated with the information
Create your Main Document & Data Source The first step in setting up a Mail Merge is to Create your Main Document and specify a Data Source to use that you will link to your main document. Remember that the Data Source is where you will store the customer names, addresses, telephone numbers, email numbers, etc. For this project, you will open up an existing form letter for Seaside Realty and then you will create a data source from scratch using Mail Merge s Address List feature. The Address List stores the data in an Access Database table. Let s first take a detailed look at the Main Document and Data Source we will be creating for this project.
The Main Document This is the main document we will be creating that contains the standard text and merge codes that have been inserted where the variable text will be. The Merged code fields are highlighted in bold and include the Address Block Greeting Line Realtor Name Area
The Data Source (Cont d) This is the Data Source. To keep our project manageable, we will start out entering just six clients. Keep in mind that you may have hundreds of clients in a real life project. The address list comes with default fields but you can customize it to contain just the information you need for your merge. Let s get started!
Creating the Main Document Please Open the Customer Letter Main from your Lesson 3 folder.. The file contains placeholders where you will be adding in your merge fields. 14
Create the Main Document (Cont d) 1. Click the Mailings tab > Start Mail Merge from the Ribbon 2. Choose Letters from the drop down menu 1 2
Create a New Address List 3. Click the Mailings tab > Start Mail Merge Group > Select Recipients button from the Ribbon 4. Choose Type New List. The New Address List dialog box will appear. 3 4
Remove Fields 5. In the New Address List, click the Customize Columns button to display the Customize Address dialog box 6. In the Customize Address List dialog box, choose the Company Name field 7. Click the Delete button and then click Yes to the pop up message 8. Please also delete the Address Line 2, Country or Region, Home Phone, Work Phone and E-mail address fields 6 7 5
Add a New Field 1. Click on the Zip Code field and then click the Add button in the Customize Address List Dialog Box 2. In the Add Field dialog box, type Realtor Name. It should be added after the Realtor Name field. 3. Click the OK button 1 2 3
Add two More Fields 1. Click on the Title field 2. Click the Add button in the Customize Address List Dialog Box 3. In the Add Field dialog box, type Position 4. Click the Move Down button until the Position field is located under the Realtor Name field 5. Follow the above procedure and add in one more field called Area and then click the OK button 1 3 4 2
Add the Customers 1. With the New Address List dialog box still open, type Ms. And then tap the Tab key to move to the next field 1 2. Type Betty and then tap the Tab key to move to the next field 3. Type Parker and then tap the Tab key to move to the next field 4. Type 16 24 th Street and then tap the Tab key to move to the next field. Finish adding the City, State, Zip Code, Realtor Name, Position and Area from the table below. 2 3 4
Add new Customers (Cont d) 5. After you finish entering the first record, click the New Entry button or tap the Tab key to create a new blank row. 6. Enter the remaining 5 records shown in the table below and click OK. 5 6 7. Your will be prompted to save your data source in the My Documents, My Datasources folder. Name the document Seaside Realty Data Source. Make note of where you saved your file.
Edit the Data Source 1. Click the Mailings Tab > Start Mail Merge Group and click on the Edit Recipient List. The Mail Merge Recipients Dialog box will appear. 2. Click on the Data Source name to select it and then click the Edit button. The Edit Data Source Dialog Box will appear. 1 2
Edit the Data Source (Cont d) 3. In the Edit Data Source dialog box, click to select Scott Fuller in the 6 th record and type Susan Brown. 4. Click OK to close the dialog box. 5. Click Yes to the message asking you if you want to update your recipient list. 6. Click Ok again to close the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. 3 4
Setting up the Form Letter 1. Click the Home Tab > Paragraph Group and click the Show/Hide button to display formatting characters 1 2. Select the [date] placeholder tap the delete key on your keyboard 3. Click the Insert Tab > Insert Date and Time button from the Ribbon. 4. Select the third date option and click the Update Automatically checkbox 5. Click the OK button and then Tab ENTER three times after the date 3 2 4 5
Add the Address Block 1. Select Recipient Name and Address placeholders in the letter and click tap the delete key on your keyboard to delete them. 2. Click the Mailings Tab > Write & Insert Fields Group and click on the Address Block button 3. Choose the first format called Mr. Joshua Randall Jr. Notice the preview in the pane on the right. 4. Click OK to accept the Address Block options 2 1 3 4
Insert the Greeting Line 1. Select the Dear [Name] placeholder in the letter and click the delete key on your keyboard to delete it. 2. Click the Mailings Tab > Write & Insert Fields Group and click the Greeting Line button 3. Click the down arrow and select the colon(:) 4. Select the first greeting style 5. Click OK to insert the greeting line code and the tap ENTER 2 3 4 1 5
Insert Merge Fields 1. Double click the Realtor Name placeholder in the first paragraph and press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete it. 2. Click the Mailings tab > Write & Insert Fields Group and click the Insert Merge Field button. You will see a list of merged fields from your Data Source. 3. Choose Realtor Name from the merge field list 2 3 1
Insert Merge Fields (Cont d) 1. Double click the Geographical placeholder in the second paragraph and press the Delete key on your keyboard. 2. Click the Mailings tab > Write & Insert Fields Group and click the Insert Merge Field button. You will see a list of merged fields from your Data Source. 3. Choose Area from the merge field list 2 3 1
Insert Merged Fields (Cont d) 1. Double click the Realtor Name placeholder in the salutation line and press the Delete key on your keyboard. 2. Click the Mailings tab > Write & Insert Fields Group and click the Insert Merge Field button. You will see a list of merged fields from your Data Source. 3. Choose Realtor Name from the merge field list 2 3 1
Check and Save the Form Letter Check your form letter. It should look like the picture below. Make any necessary adjustments to your form letter. Save the letter in your Demo Exercises Folder, Word Level 2, Lesson 3 folder as Seaside Realty Letter Main
Conducting the Merge 1. Click the Mailings tab > Preview Results Group > Preview Results button. Your merged letters will appear. 2. Use the navigation buttons in the Preview Results group to scroll through your merged documents to check to make sure all your fields propagated properly. 1 2
Conducting the Merge (Cont d) 1. Click the Mailings tab > Finish Group > Finish & Merge button 2. Choose Edit Individual Documents from the menu to merge the letters to a new document 3. Click the OK button in the small pop-up window to merge all records 4. You should have six letters in one file. Scroll through the letters in the document and scan their contents for errors 1 2 3
Results of Merge If your merge executed successfully, you should have one document containing 6 letters. Check the letters for accuracy and make any necessary adjustments to your form letter or data source.
Fixing Main Document Mail Merge Problems Be sure to scan the entire document from beginning to end to check for errors. If you detect errors in all your merged documents, you may need to close the merged file, fix the problem in the main document letter and then run the merge again. If the problem occurs in just one letter such as a comma or space, you can just fix that error on just that page. To re-run the merge, close the merged document file and conduct the Finish & Merge process again.
Editing the Data Source Fixing Data Source Merge Problems Occasionally, you may make a mistake when setting up your Data Source such as a missing field, spelling error, etc. To fix the data source. Click the Mailings tab > Start Mail Merge group and click the Edit Recipient List button When the Mail Merge Recipient Dialog box appears, click the Data Source title in the bottom-left corner of the dialog box and click the Edit button. Fix any errors you have identified and then click OK to close the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. Execute the Merge again. Print or save your merged document.
Creating Envelopes & Labels Mail Merge can generate envelopes and labels from your data source or address list. Word 2010 comes preloaded with many envelope sizes and formats, and you can create custom ones as well. Labels have a vendor code which matches the format number in Word. Envelopes from Mail Merge Creating envelopes or labels is just like creating letters with Mail Merge. The envelope or label is your main document. Therefore, it is possible to create letters, envelopes, and labels from the same data source. Let s try it out! Labels from Mail Merge
Creating Envelopes 1. Click New File button on the Quick Access Toolbar to start a new blank document. 2. Click the Mailings tab > Start Mail Merge Group > Start Mail Merge button 3. Choose Envelopes. The Envelopes Options Dialog Box will appear. 4. Choose Size 10 from the Envelope Size List 5. Click OK to Apply the settings to the document. 1 2 4 3 5
Creating Envelopes (Cont d) 1. Click the Mailings tab > Start Mail Merge group > Select Recipients button 2. Choose Existing List 3. Navigate My Documents/My Data Sources where you saved your Seaside Realty Data Source. Click on the file and then click Open. 1 2 3
Setting up the Main Envelope Document 1. Type the Return Address as shown below 2. Now position the insertion point next to the paragraph symbol you see in the center of the envelop document. The address block placeholder should appear and your document should look like the following: 1 2
Setting up the Main Envelope Document 3. Click the Mailings tab > Write and Insert Fields > Address Block 4. Click Ok to accept the default block settings 1 2
Conducting the Merge 1. Click the Mailings tab > Finish Group > Finish & Merge button 2. Choose Edit Individual Documents from the menu to merge the letters to a new document 3. Click the OK button in the small pop-up window to merge all records 1 2 3
Check your Merged Envelopes 1. Scroll through the envelopes in the documents and scan their contents for errors. If necessary, fix any problems. 2. Save the document as Seaside Realty Envelopes
Creating Labels 1. Click New File on the Quick Access Toolbar to start a new blank document. 2. Click the Mailings tab > Start Mail Merge Group > Start Mail Merge button 3. Choose Labels. The Labels Options Dialog Box will appear. 4. Choose Avery US Letter from the Label Vendors drop-down List 5. Choose 5160 Easy Peel Address Labels from the Product Number List and click OK to Apply the settings to the document. 1 2 3 4 5
Creating Labels (Cont d) 1. Click the Mailings tab > Start Mail Merge group > Select Recipients button 2. Choose Existing List 3. Navigate My Documents/My Data Sources where you saved your Seaside Realty Data Source. Click on the file and then click Open. 1 3
Creating Labels (Cont d) 3. Click the Mailings tab > Write and Insert Fields > Address Block and click Ok to accept the default block settings and insert the address block code in the first label 4. Click the Mailings tab > Write & Insert Fields group > Update Labels button to insert the address block in all labels 3 4
Creating Labels (Cont d) 3. Click the Mailings tab > Finish Group > Finish & Merge button 4. Choose Edit Individual Documents from the menu 5. When the Merge to New Document dialog box appears, click OK to merge all the records 3 4 5
Creating Labels (Cont d) Your Merged Labels Your labels should look like the following picture. Save the labels as Seaside Realty Merge Labels and then close the document.
Summary Congratulations on completing the Mail Merge Class Project for Seaside Realty In this lesson you: Created Main Documents for a letter, envelop and labels Created a Data Source to store the clients information. Conducted a Mail Merge