selecting categories field in mail merge

[Guest]

When doing a mail merge I need to select recipients from the categories field
but it dosn't show that field in the 'select recipients' box. If I extract
the contacts folder to a csv file and move the categories field to the first
colum and use the csv file as the data source then it will show up in 'select
recipients' box. This is more work than I think needs to be done.
I use outlook 2003 and have all contacts in categories so that when I need
to email a newsletter I can select and sort categories to send to from the
'select recipients' box. Maybe Outlook isn't the right tool for the job but
it is hard to find information on which are the best programs in this area
(contact manager,mail merge, mass mailer etc.)

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Judy Gleeson]

I'm not sure how you're going about this as your description isn't telling
us what steps you're using, but here's how it works easily:

In the Contacts folder Group By Category. Highlight the people you want to
email merge to. Click Tools | Mailmerge and at the bottom of the screen
that appears, select Merge to email. Complete your subject line and MS Word
will fire up. Use the Insert Merge Field button (NOT Word Field) to use
Contacts fields such as First Name in your email. When you're done
composing, click the Merge to Email icon in the toolbar and it will send
them off.

Judy Gleeson
Acorn Training and Consulting