I have an important writing assignment, and I need some feedback.
If you have time - read below and let me know if these instructions make sense to you (or don't make sense - that is kind of the point!
).
Thank you for any feedback!
Mare
A Mail Merge is a quick and efficient way to create customized documents for mailings. Using a main document and a data sheet of recipients, Microsoft Word will customize one document per recipient in the data sheet.
Open Microsoft Word 2007. Start > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Word 2007
Set up your Main Document. This can be a letter, an email message, an envelope, a label sheet, or a directory.
If you already have a document you want to use as your Main Document, open it by left-clicking on the Office button (round button with a multi-colored symbol in the upper left corner of the window), select Open, and then navigate to where you saved the document. Left-click on the document name, and then left-click on the Open button at the bottom of the selection window.
If you are creating the document from scratch, please refer to the Single Point Lesson Plan concerning the type of document you are creating.
Once your Main Document is open or complete, left-click on the Mailings tab at the top of the window, and left-click on Start Mail Merge. Select the type of document from the drop-down menu by left-clicking on your selection.
Next, click on Select Recipients and choose the data source you will select the Recipients from. You can create a new list of recipients, you can open a previously created list of recipients, or you can pull recipients from your saved Outlook Contacts.
- If Type New List is chosen, a data entry window will open. Enter in the data for your recipients, using the tab key to move to the next field. When all recipients are entered, save your file with an appropriate file name. Once saved, you will return to your Main Document screen. Left click on Select Recipients again and select Use Existing List from the drop-down menu.
- If Select From Outlook Contacts is chosen, a window will appear that lists the available Outlook Contact folders. Select the appropriate folder, and left-click on OK. This then brings up the Mail Merge Recipients window.
Open your Data Source by browsing to the folder within which you saved your Data Source file, left-clicking on the file name you saved your data file under, then left-clicking on the Open button at the bottom of the window.
Left-click on Edit Recipient List to open the Mail Merge Recipients window. This window allows you to organize, review, and make corrections to the recipients from your Data Source.
Sort the data by clicking on the name of the column you would like to sort the recipients by. If you would like to sort by last name, click on the column name LastName.
The next step is to insert the Merge Fields into your document.
Place the cursor in the document where you would like the data to appear by left-clicking at the insertion point.
On the Mailings tab in the Write & Insert Fields group click the bottom half of the Insert Merge Field button to activate the drop-down menu that contains the field names from your data source.
Select the name of the field from the drop-down menu that you want to insert at the chosen point. The field will appear in your document as <FieldName>. Repeat this step until all of the desired fields are entered into your Main document.
Now left-click on Finish & Merge to create your merged document. Look over your merged document carefully. If the merged document is incorrect, close the window without saving and return to your Main Document. Make the necessary adjustments to your Main Document and then left-click Finish & Merge again to create your Merged Document. When the merged document is exactly how you want it to be, save, then print as desired.