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Performing an Email Mail Merge

Creating • Editing • Adding Fields • Testing • Compiling • Previewing • Sending

When you select the "Mail Merge (Email)" output option in the Create/Open Mailing List dialog and then click on the Output button, the application opens the Email Mail Merge window. This is where you can create, preview and send email messages from your mailing list.

For a detailed list of the tools and features available, see The Email Mail Merge Window.

N.B. Before you can send an email mail merge, you will need to enter your email account settings in the Email Account Settings dialog.

Creating a Message Template

The Email Mail Merge window opens in Compose and Edit mode, which provides an email composing package, including a basic HTML editor. You can use this to create a template for your mail merge from scratch, or you can import and edit an existing file for your message text.

In composing your message template, you can set the following elements:

N.B. All of the above elements can also be customised for individual messages in Preview and Send mode. Please also note that you cannot perform a mail merge if the Subject and Message textboxes are blank.

Editing a Message Template

If you have chosen to send your emails via your default email program, you will only be able to compose and send emails in plain text format. If you are using the application's internal program, then you can compose and send emails in either plain text or HTML format. A variety of tools are provided for editing the message template:

N.B. If you wish to use more advanced HTML formatting options, such as styles, you may prefer to create the message text in a more powerful HTML editor, save it, and then import the file into the message window. You can then insert the necessary mail merge fields into the pre-edited and formatted text.

Adding Mail Merge Fields

To turn your message text into a mail merge template, you will need to add one or more mail merge fields. These act as placeholders for personalised recipient and other details from your mailing list. Mail merge fields can be inserted into the Subject and Message textboxes only. The fields available are:

Name of Institution - the full name of the library or institution
Recipient (Full) - the name and/or title of the recipient, as determined by your mailing list settings
Recipient (Title only) - the title of the recipient
Recipient (Name only) - the name of the recipient (if available)
Salutation - i.e., "Dear ..."
Town - the town in which the library or institution is located
County - the county in which the library or institution is located
Country - the country in which the library or institution is located

To insert a field into either the Subject or Message textboxes, place the cursor where you wish the field to go, and then select one of the above items from the Insert Field menu. The menu can also be opened as a drop-down list by clicking on the Insert Field button on the tool bar. The field is then inserted into the textbox.

Mail merge fields are distinguished from the rest of the text by delimiters before and after the field name. The default delimiters are square brackets (e.g., [Title]), but you can use the Email Preferences dialog to choose curly brackets (e.g., {Title}) or text (e.g., INSERT_Title_HERE) instead. The application requires these delimiters in order to identify the field and to replace it with the appropriate value, so it is important not to alter the field names or the delimiting characters.

To remove a mail merge field, simply select the text of the field, including the delimiters, and delete it.

Sending a Test Email

In order to check that the message can be sent and received properly, you can choose to send it as a test email. This will be sent not to the recipient, but to an email address chosen by you. Click on the Send Test Email button at the bottom of the window or select the Send a Test Email item in the Compose menu. This will open a Send Test Email dialog, prompting you to enter the email to which the message should be sent. The default address will be the sender's address entered in the Email Account Settings dialog. You can either accept this or enter a different address.

In Preview and Send mode, you can also send the currently selected message as a test email. Use the Send a Test Email item in the Mailing List menu.

Compiling an Email Mail Merge

When you have finished composing or editing the message template, and you have entered any mail merge fields required, click on the Perform Merge button at the bottom of the window, or click on the Perform Merge item in the Compose menu. This will create individual, personalised messages for each address in your mailing list. These messages are saved directly to the mailing list table itself, allowing them to be customised individually, or to be sent at a later date.

Before compiling the mail merge, the application performs a number of checks and displays the results in a Mail Merge Fields Checked dialog:

The checks performed are as follows:

If your message template has triggered one or more errors, you can cancel the mail merge so that you can fix any problems. To save the warning messages in order to refer back to them, click on the Save Warnings button.

Previewing an Email Mail Merge

To preview an email mail merge, click on the Preview button at the bottom of the window or select the Preview and Send item in the View menu. When you compile a successful mail merge, the window will switch to Preview and Send mode automatically.

In Preview and Send mode, each message is shown with the mail merge fields replaced by the appropriate address or recipient details. You can preview (and in some cases edit) the following elements of each message:

When you edit a message, use the Save button at the bottom of the window to save any changes.

Initially, the first address in your mailing list is the one displayed. To preview the other addresses, use the navigation buttons at the bottom of the window to move from record to record, or use the options available in the Move menu. The position of the current record out of the total number of records in the mailing list is displayed alongside the navigation buttons. To find a particular message or messages, select Find Message from the Move menu or click on the Find button at the bottom of the window. This will open the Find Address dialog.

If you are sending your mailing in HTML format, you can use the View HTML/Edit HTML button to switch the message textbox between edit mode (showing the HTML code) and view mode (showing the message as it will be displayed). The View HTML/Edit HTML menu item in the View menu performs the same function:

Edit mode

View mode

Additional tools and options include:

To return to Compose and Edit mode, either select Compose and Edit from the View menu, or click on the Compose button at the bottom of the window.

Sending an Email Mail Merge

To send the currently selected message only, click on the Send Message button at the bottom of the window, or select Send Current Message from the Mailing List menu.

To send all messages in the mailing list (except for those that you have specifically excluded), click on the Send All button at the bottom of the window, or select Send All Messages from the Mailing List menu.

Before sending the mailing, the application will check your email account settings and warn you if any of the required settings are missing or incorrectly entered. The application will then run a final series of checks on each message selected for sending, and will display a Messages Checked dialog:

This will indicate if the email or emails are ready to be sent, and will list any errors or problems encountered. Possible errors are:

If your mailing has triggered one or more errors, then you can cancel it so that you can fix any problems. To save the warning messages in order to refer back to them, click on the Save Warnings button. Alternatively, as long as at least one message is ready to send, you can click on the Proceed button to continue with the mailing.

Sending with the Application's Internal Email Program
The application's internal email program will send the emails directly to your email server, bypassing any other email programs on your machine. You will need to have an active network connection to be able send to a local email server, and an active internet connection to send to a remote email server.

Sending with Your Computer's Default Email Program
This will send the emails to the Outbox of your computer's email program. Unless your email program is configured to send new messages automatically, you will still need to send them from your email program. Please note that in order to set up your email program to receive the mailing, you will need to do the following:

N.B. For large mailings, or mailings sent with large attachments, your mailing may take several minutes or longer to send.

See Also

About the CD-ROM
Creating and Managing Mailing Lists
The Email Mail Merge Window
Setting Email Preferences