Contacts/Category Mail Merge

[Guest]

Help! I've spent several hours and now so has one of my guru friends trying
to do a Mail Merge for Labels using a Category (Holiday Cards). How is this
done from Outlook? We were able to do Customized View and get only the
labels we wanted, but never able to get these labels over to the Main
Doc/Labels. Made several vain attempts. Is there a bug in Outlook for
doing this?
We're running current versions (Outlook & Word 2003)and supposedly have all
the latest updates.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Help! I've spent several hours and now so has one of my guru friends
trying
to do a Mail Merge for Labels using a Category (Holiday Cards). How is
this
done from Outlook? We were able to do Customized View and get only the
labels we wanted, but never able to get these labels over to the Main
Doc/Labels. Made several vain attempts. Is there a bug in Outlook for
doing this?
We're running current versions (Outlook & Word 2003)and supposedly have
all
the latest updates.

Hello,
I don't have an answer but my guess is that someone in the Word.mailmerge
newsgroup probably will.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

See the "Mailmerge from Outlook" item on fellow MVP Graham Mayor's website
at:

http://www.gmayor.com/mailmerge_from_outlook.htm


--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Guest]

Did this but still no good result. After selecting Mail Merge from Tools, my
Type of Document is LABELS. After choosing 5160 for Type, I go to Select
Recipients. But when I leave 'Use an Existing List' as in the example you
referred me to, my version goes to two choices: Connect to New Data Source
and New SQL Server Connection. I'm still a heck of a long way off from doing
Labels using only a Category sort. Please help / direct me to a more
relevant site. Many thanks.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Did you start the mail merge from Outlook, after selected the contacts you want to merge? It sounds like you probably didn't. That's a critical part of the process.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Microsoft won't acknowledge it as a bug, but there are two things you must
somehow discover to get this to work:
1. The Mail Merge Helper is no longer relevant in Office 2003. However, it
is still invoked when you choose to create labels because it is the only
dialog that allows you to select your label type. Shame on you for not
knowing intuitively that after that you must dismiss it and then invoke Word
2003's Mail Merge Toolbar to complete the merge.
2. As if that weren't enough, in Outlook/Word 2002/2003 there is also an
extra step required to create mailing labels. Instructions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=284401

 

[Graham Mayor]

Looks like I need to add an extra step to my web page
However in the meantime see
http://www.gmayor.com/mail_merge_labels_with_word_xp.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Graham Mayor]

The extra steps for merging to labels from Outlook have now been added to
the original web page
http://www.gmayor.com/mailmerge_from_outlook.htm which is uploading at this
moment.

I am not sure this is a bug so much as a failure to bring the merge process
into line with the merge wizard now used in Word 2003. The Outlook merge
dialog also still refers to Catalog merges - now called Directory merges.
--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

It stops everyone in their tracks who is trying to do their merge from
Outlook, chooses labels, then gets presented with this obsolete dialog box
from which they cannot complete their merge.
Not a bug. Just the poorest design imaginable.

 

[Graham Mayor]

No argument there. Still the revisions on my web page should help

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

It stops everyone in their tracks who is trying to do their merge from
Outlook, chooses labels, then gets presented with this obsolete
dialog box from which they cannot complete their merge.
Not a bug. Just the poorest design imaginable.

The extra steps for merging to labels from Outlook have now been
added to the original web page
http://www.gmayor.com/mailmerge_from_outlook.htm which is uploading
at this moment.

I am not sure this is a bug so much as a failure to bring the merge
process
into line with the merge wizard now used in Word 2003. The Outlook
merge dialog also still refers to Catalog merges - now called
Directory merges. --
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

Looks like I need to add an extra step to my web page
However in the meantime see
http://www.gmayor.com/mail_merge_labels_with_word_xp.htm


Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] wrote:
Microsoft won't acknowledge it as a bug, but there are two things
you must somehow discover to get this to work:
1. The Mail Merge Helper is no longer relevant in Office 2003.
However, it is still invoked when you choose to create labels
because it is the only dialog that allows you to select your label
type. Shame on you for not knowing intuitively that after that
you must dismiss it and then invoke Word 2003's Mail Merge Toolbar
to complete the merge. 2. As if that weren't enough, in
Outlook/Word 2002/2003 there is also
an extra step required to create mailing labels. Instructions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=284401
Did this but still no good result. After selecting Mail Merge
from Tools, my
Type of Document is LABELS. After choosing 5160 for Type, I go to
Select Recipients. But when I leave 'Use an Existing List' as in
the example you referred me to, my version goes to two choices:
Connect to New Data Source
and New SQL Server Connection. I'm still a heck of a long way off
from doing
Labels using only a Category sort. Please help / direct me to a
more relevant site. Many thanks.

:

See the "Mailmerge from Outlook" item on fellow MVP Graham
Mayor's website
at:

http://www.gmayor.com/mailmerge_from_outlook.htm


--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself
of my services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

Help! I've spent several hours and now so has one of my guru
friends trying
to do a Mail Merge for Labels using a Category (Holiday Cards).
How is this
done from Outlook? We were able to do Customized View and get
only the
labels we wanted, but never able to get these labels over to
the Main Doc/Labels. Made several vain attempts. Is there a
bug in Outlook for
doing this?
We're running current versions (Outlook & Word 2003)and
supposedly have
all
the latest updates.

Hello,
I don't have an answer but my guess is that someone in the
Word.mailmerge
newsgroup probably will.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented
version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[KathrynBassett]

Graham, your website was of partial use, but not completely. There
seems to have been a change in the last few couple weeks as I could do
what I wanted before (using the helper), and now can't.
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...9145e41b630/78f6d3ef075ff4e5#78f6d3ef075ff4e5
will show the step by step process I've done so far. Russ, dismissing
the Helper then using the Mail Merge Toolbar as shown on Graham's site
still doesn't give me what I need. For one thing, It merges all the
records instead of just the ones I have filtered in Outlook. For
another thing, I do not find a way to access the «Full_Name» and
«Mailing_Address», being instead forced to use name components and
saying which kind of address.

Now what? I need some more steps added (and this is Office 2003).

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Works perfectly here.
You'll need to provide a more accurate description of the steps you are
using for anyone to be able to help.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Graham, your website was of partial use, but not completely. There
seems to have been a change in the last few couple weeks as I could do
what I wanted before (using the helper), and now can't.
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...9145e41b630/78f6d3ef075ff4e5#78f6d3ef075ff4e5
will show the step by step process I've done so far. Russ, dismissing
the Helper then using the Mail Merge Toolbar as shown on Graham's site
still doesn't give me what I need. For one thing, It merges all the
records instead of just the ones I have filtered in Outlook. For
another thing, I do not find a way to access the «Full_Name» and
«Mailing_Address», being instead forced to use name components and
saying which kind of address.

Now what? I need some more steps added (and this is Office 2003).

 

[Graham Mayor]

You are not following the instructions. If you have filtered the list in
Outlook then that filtered list is transferred to Word (assuming you ticked
the right boxes in the Outlook dialog). If you go that far then instead of
accepting the data already attached to your merge document, you are adding a
new data file again from Word. This is indicated on the web page.

You must accept the data file already attached if you want the filtered
records and the additional field names.
The field names you get when merging from Outlook into Word are not the same
as those you get when merging from Word with Outlook.

Take another look at my web page illustrations
http://www.gmayor.com/mailmerge_from_outlook.htm
--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[KathrynBassett]

Graham, I have made a step by step, with screen captures, page so you
can see exactly what I've done, and posted it at
http://www.bassett.net/storage/mergeproblem/mergeproblem.htm
Hopefully, you can follow along there and see what my problems are
(down toward bottom, in red), and tell me which step is causing the
problems.

Hopefully,
Kathryn

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

We've both posted the instructions already.
Your first problem is step #8. As Graham said, since you've already selected
your data source by starting the merge from Outlook, you cannot and must not
try to select a data source again, which is exactly what you are doing in
step #8. That's where you lose your filtered data source.
As I posted, once you select your label type in the Mail Merge Helper,
dismiss it entirely. Then use the Mail Merge Toolbar to complete your merge.
There you will see the "Insert Merge Field" Button. Click it. Then select
"Database Fields." There you will see all of the Outlook Contact Fields you
will need to construct your merge, including derived fields such as "Full
Name" and "Mailing Address"
Nothing has changed in this merge process since Outlook 2003 was released.

 

[KathrynBassett]

Yeah! That did it! I had dismissed the Helper as you indicated, but
then saw that part on Graham's page where it showed #8, and thought I
had to do that. It made the time it took to make that step-by-step very
much worth while. I will modify the web page so that it specifically
tells what I did wrong, so that anyone coming upon this thread can
refer to it. Graham, you are welcome to either link to the page, or
take my screen captures for use on your page, to further clarify your
page.

And Russ, thanks for looking at it even though we have to agree to
disagree about the other thread.

 

[KathrynBassett]

I've now revamped the page to be a tutorial.
http://www.bassett.net/storage/mergeproblem/mergeproblem.htm
Please let me know if I've made any typos or not been clear on a step.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You mean where you thought I made a typographical error? Seems everyone
disagrees with you on that one
Mail merges are the bane of the existence of both Word and Outlook MVP's. No
version does it well and each version is so counterintuitive and so
different in the steps required that most problems are next to impossible to
unsnarl with the limited information that can be included in newsgroup
posts.
Want the bad news? It won't get any better in upcoming versions. It seems to
me that Outlook and Word Developers do not know one another.