Previous Topic

Next Topic

To mass merge a letter

Note: When using the Letter System, close any other instances of MS Word that you may have open.

  1. From Customers, select Generate reports.
  2. Select Letters.

    Note: The Available Reports list is empty. Letter reports are selected on the Membership Standard Letters window.

  3. Click Letter System to open the Membership Standard Letters window.
  4. Select the letter to merge.
  5. Click Merge to open the second Membership Standard Letters window.
  6. Enable the Create Activity records with merge option to create the LETTER activity for each customer record.
  7. Enable the Create EMAIL Activities with merge option to create the EMAIL activity instead of the LETTER activity.

    Note: If you want to e-mail the letter to customers and create an email activity, you must enable both the e-mail and letter options. An EMAIL activity type must be defined in the database.

  8. Enable the Include Bad Addresses with merge option to include customer records with addresses that are marked with a bad address status.
  9. Click Continue to open the Member/Contact Selections window.
  10. Mark your selections, and click OK to open the Membership Standard Letters. An Activity generator window appears and asks if you wish to write the Activities.
  11. Click Yes on the Activity generator message to process the activities and open MS Word. Clicking No will not process the activities, but it will open MS Word to continue with the merge.
  12. The template opens in MS Word with the text and merged fields displayed.

    Note: An activity is created automatically for a merge completed on the Letters tab (from Customers, select Manage customers, open a customer record, select the Letters tab, click New Letter, and click Merge).

  13. Start the merge process.

    Office XP

    • In MS Word, click the Merge to New Document icon on the toolbar to open the Merge to New Document window.
    • Select All records, or enter a range.
    • Click OK to display the letters.

    Office 97/2000

    • In MS Word, click Merge on the toolbar to open the Merge window.
    • In the Merge to drop-down list, select from the following options:
      • New document - letters are merged to an untitled document
      • Printer - letters are sent to the printer
      • Electronic mail - e-mail of letter is sent to customer (refer to the sections on merging an e-mail letter)
    • Click Merge.

      Note: MS Word erroneously allows blank lines to print even with the Don't print blank lines when data fields are empty option enabled on the Merge window.

    If you selected New document, the letters display as shown in the following example.

  14. Print the form letters.
  15. Close the Form Letters window.
  16. Close the template (.DOC) file.

Sample letter using Merge to New Document option

See Also

Using the MS Word Letter System for Letter Reports

Authorization for the Letter System

To use the Letter System from the Reports menu

To specify a shared folder for MS Word templates

To create a new letter template

To edit a letter template

To add additional fields to a template

To format letter merge data with field switches

To change the sort order of letters created using the Letter System

To mass merge an e-mail letter (Office 97, 2000)

To mass merge an e-mail letter (Office XP)

To delete a letter

To view a letter or e-mail activity

Troubleshooting the Letter System

To disable the Letter System


ASI logo 10.6 Production Release. Updated 1/23/2006 12:13:53 PM
© 2009 by Advanced Solutions International, Inc. All rights reserved.