Smith Technology & Resource Advisor

USING THE MAILMERGE TOOLBAR IN MICROSOFT WORD XP

Many people find the 6-step "Mail Merge Task Pane Wizard" in Word XP both time-consuming and confusing to use. This document describes an alternative to the Mail Merge Wizard, the Mail Merge Toolbar.

We recommend reading the sections below in order the first time you visit this page, as the content of each section builds on the previous sections.

Merge to New Document

Creating Labels

Creating Envelopes

Mail Merge to Email UPDATED

Customizing your Toolbar

Printing Tip UPDATED

Mail Merge Toolbar

There are several ways to place the Mail Merge Toolbar on the screen. Open the View menu and select Toolbars, then Mail Merge. The toolbar will stay on your screen until you choose to remove the check mark. The buttons highlighted below are the ones you will use most often.

Main document setup
Open Data Source
Mail Merge Recipients
Insert Merge Fields

Note: Only the first two buttons on the Mail Merge Toolbar are active at first. The rest of the buttons become active after a data source is opened.

Main Document Setup

The main document can be a letter, envelope, directory listing, labels or an email message.

Note: Proper names and addresses are usually not found in the Dictionary, so Spelling and Grammar should be turned off before you begin to merge. To turn off the spell checker, select Tools/Options/Spelling and Grammar. Remove the check mark in Check Spelling as you type.

Open a previously typed letter or start a new blank document.
Click on the Main Document Setup button in the Mail Merge Toolbar.
Select the appropriate Document Type then click OK.

Note: If you opened a previously typed letter it will still be on the screen. If you start with a blank page and choose Letters, E-Mail Message, or Directory, you still have a blank page to begin the letter or message.

If you choose Envelopes or Labels, an Options dialog box appears for that type of document. (See Labels or Envelopes)
If you need to type a letter or mail message, do so now and save the document.

Note: You must connect to a data source before you can insert the matching merge fields into a Main Document.

Data Source

Think of a data source as a table. Each column is considered a data field. The name of each data field is listed in the first row of cells, which is called the header record. Each subsequent row contains one complete data record. This data table can be as simple as First Name, Last Name, Salutation, and Address, or more complex data from an Excel spreadsheet, an Access database, another database, a Word table, or a Banner text files.

Example: Word Table

First Name	Last Name	Salutation	Address
John	Costello	Mr. Costello	36 East Lynn Drive Hampton, MA 98765
Carol	King	Ms. King	P.O. 12345 Warwick, MA 12345

Open Data Source: Click on the second button in the Mail Merge Toolbar. The Select Data Source window appears. Locate the data file.

Excel Data Files: Word does not automatically translate precentages, currency or postoal codes from a Spreadsheet to Word Mail Merge. From the Word Menu bar select Tools. Click Options and from the General Tab, check the "Confirm Conversion at Open."

When your data file is an Excel Spreadsheet you will receive the Confirm Data Source dialog box. Select Excel Files via ODBC (*.xls) and click OK.

If there is more than one worksheet in your Workbook, you will be prompted to pick the appropriate sheet. Your first row in Excel must be the row that contains the column heading information, as in the sample table above. If row one contains any other information, the merge will not work.

If you need to view, edit, filter or sort the data after opening the data source, see Managing Data List, below.

Managing Data List

The third button on the Mail Merge toolbar allows you to view and manage the data source in the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box.

The check mark to the left of each record is the default that all records be included in the merge. Clicking the Clear All button will remove the check mark from all data records. You can manually remove a check mark by clicking on the check box in front of the appropriate record.

Editing Data

If the Edit button is not available, you must return to the software used to create the data list in order to edit the records. If the Edit button is available, clicking on it will bring up the Data Form dialog box. You are now able to add, edit or delete records one at a time.

Select by Criteria (Filter Records)

To filter the data before merging,

Open the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box.
Click on the drop-down arrow next to any column heading.
Select Advanced.
The Query Options dialog box will open.

Filter Records: Word will merge only the data records that meet the criteria you specify in the Filter Options.

Field: Select the a data field from the drop-down for which you want to specify a selection. Example below: State

Comparison: Select the Comparison Phrase (operator) to use that will evaluate the data in the selected field.

Compare to: Type the value to compare to the field. Examples below:

Only records where the State field is MA will be merged.

Records where the State field is MA will not be merged.

Sort Records: Word will sort the data records by the field selected in the Sort by drop-down list. Select to have the records in an Ascending or Descending order.

Insert Merge Fields

Now that a data source is connected to the main document, Word needs to know which data fields to use.

Start by placing the cursor where the first merge field should be inserted. Example: In a letter, the inside address would start two returns below the date.
Click on the Insert Merge Field button
The Insert Merge Field dialog box appears.
Select the appropriate field to insert according to the location of the cursor in the main document. Example: Name would be the first field for an inside address of a letter.
Click the Insert button followed by the Close button. <<Name>> will appear in the main document.
Press the Enter key on the keyboard to place a return between the Name and the first line of the address.
Open the Insert Merge Field dialog box again. Select the next field to be inserted. Close the dialog box. You must place returns and or spaces between the fields as needed. Example: Here is a completed inside address.

Previewing the Merged Fields

As with Print Preview, you can preview the merged data. This is only for the purpose of previewing; it is not the completed merge and will not print correctly.

On the Mail Merge Toolbar, locate the following group of buttons:

View Merge Data (Toggles between Merge and Main Document)
First Merged Record
Previous Merged Record
Go To Record
Next Merged Record
Last Merged Record

Start and finish viewing the Merged Document by clicking on the View Merge Data button. Using the buttons described allows you to see several pages of the merged data.

Note: What if you discover an error? If the error is a typing error in an address or name, edit the data source. If the typing error is in the body of the Main Document, edit the Main Document. If a data field has been placed incorrectly, edit the Main Document by replacing the fields as needed.

Merge to a New Document

If everything looks good after previewing your data, you are ready to merge to a new document and print the results.

Towards the end of the Mail Merge Toolbar, locate the Merge to New Document button.

The dialog box lets you to choose the number of records to be merged. The default is All records.

If you have a large data source, you should still be able to merge all records, but it is suggested you print them in groups. Example: 2000 letters grouped 1-500, 501-1000, 1001-1500, etc.

Creating Labels

Before you begin, be sure you are familiar with the Mail Merge Toolbar, Main Document Setup, Data Source, and Insert Merge Fields instructions.

Start with a blank document on your screen.
Click the Main Document Setup button on the Mail Merge Toolbar.
Select Labels. The Label Options dialog box appears.
From the Printer Information area, choose between Dot matrix or Laser and inkjet. Select the tray you will be using to print the labels.

From the Label Information area, select the label product and corresponding number. The Label Information data will change according to the product number.
Click OK. Word will fill the page with a grid to match the label layout.
Open your data source. (see Data Source). After opening the data source, Word places the cursor in the first label with the "Next Record" field in all the other labels.
Insert the merge fields. (see Insert Merge Fields)
To copy the merge fields to all the other labels, click the Propagate Labels button. This places the merge fields in every label.
You are now ready to either Manage Data, Preview Merge, or Merge to New Document.

Creating Envelopes

Before you begin, be sure you are familiar with the Mail Merge Toolbar, Main Document Setup, Data Source, and Insert Merge Fields instructions.

Start with a blank document on your screen.
Click the Main Document Setup button on the Mail Merge Toolbar.
Select Envelopes. The Envelope Options dialog box appears.
On the Envelope Options tab, select the your envelope size from the drop-down menu. Size 10 in the normal Com10.
Click the Font button under Delivery address to check or change the delivery font to match a corresponding letter. The incremental arrows in the From left: and From top: change the margin of the delivery address, as shown in the Preview envelope.
Click on the Print Options tab. Word has used your default printer settings to manual feed the envelopes. Go to your printer, open the manual feed tray, and select the corresponding Feed method to match your printer.

Note: You can change the Face up to Face down, or check the Clockwise rotation for a variety of feed options.
Click OK when done.
Open your data source (see Data Source). After opening the data source, Word places the cursor in the return address area. Click in the address delivery area to place the merge fields.
Insert the merge fields. (see Insert Merge Fields)
Preview Merge your envelopes to be sure they are correct or Merge to New Document.

Mail Merge to Email

One of the options in the Main Document Setup is E-mail messages. Your data list must contain a field with the email address, not just their email name. For example, lhartman@smith.edu, not lhartman. Select this document type.

Type the mail message you would like to send. Remember, this is going to be an e-mail message, so you don't need the date, and you don't need a salutation if you don't want to use one. You should type the closing, as the system does not pause so you can say add or a signature add.

Now open the data source. (see: Open Data Source )

Please refer to "Sort or Select by Criteria" if need be. Insert the merge fields by following the Insert Merge Fields instructions.

UPDATED Note: If you are including a hyper link to a website as one of the data fields you have a little more to do. After inserting the data merge field, select the data field, from the Style drop-down look for and select Hyperlink. You may have to show more styles to actually find Hyperlink. When you merge the website address will now stay as a hyperlink and not revert to plain text.

When you are ready to merge the email messages, there is a button located towards the end of the mail merge toolbar. Click Merge to E-mail.

The Merge to Email Dialog box appears.

The TO: must match the field that contains the email addresses. Click the dropdown to select that field.

Subject Line: Type the subject of the mail message.

Mail format: Plain Text should be selected. Click the dropdown to select Plain Text if need be.

Send records make the choice to send All, Current or from record to record.

Click OK when complete.

Customizing your Toolbar

If you used Mail Merge in Word 97 or Word 2000 and have reviewed the Mail Merge Toolbar in XP, you will have noticed several changes. The Mail Merge Helper window is gone, and the Insert Merge Field button became a window that does not interact smoothly with the main document.

Depending on how you create your data source, XP saves to an Access database, while the older versions saved to a Word Document (table). If you prefer the look and feel of the older version, you can customize the Mail Merge Toolbar.

The Mail Merge Toolbar needs to be visible. If it is not, click View, Toolbars and select Mail Merge.
Select Tools, Customize from the menu bar.
Select the Commands tab.
Select All Commands from the Categories list on the left side of the window.
In the Commands: area on the right side of the window, locate and select InsertMergeField.
Click, hold, and drag Insert Merge Field to the left of the Insert Word Field button on the Mail Merge Toolbar.
From the Commands: area on the right side of the window, locate and select MailMergeHelper.
Click hold and drag Mail Merge Helper to the end of the Mail Merge Toolbar.
Click the Close button on the Customize window.

Printing Tip UPDATED

When we send a completed merge to the printer several things could happen from a paper jam, an error in proof reading or a flaw in the paper. Mail merge pages are actual Sections. You can not print pages 1-11 or pages 2,3,7,9.

Instead you must print pages s1-s11 or s2,s3,s7,s9. The s stands for sections.