Return to SYLLABUS

TO: ###### ######

################

########, ## ######

FROM: Bob Hermann

RE: Mailmerge Made Easy

Dear ########,

1. Open Claris Works
2. Open a new WP file, in which you write a letter that meets the following criteria (although it does not have to be long!):
   1. the intended audience is a group of people (any group: students, fellow staff members, classmates, parents, soccer team, etc.) for whom you have names and addresses, and to whom you have something to say.
   2. the letter is general enough to apply to all, but includes some specifics that would be applicable only to certain recipients (e.g., name, address, test scores, grade level assignments, subcommittee tasks, position, balance due, etc.).
   3. for each place in the letter that will require the specific information identified in b) above, insert a place holder, such as ####.
3. Save the letter to your floppy diskette with a file name that makes sense. Do NOT close the document after saving it. (It doesn't hurt anything if you do, but you're just going to open it again, so you might as well leave it open.).
4. From the FILE menu, choose NEW, then DATABASE.
   1. In the DEFINE FIELD box, type "First Name" (without the quotes) and press [RETURN] or click on CREATE.
   2. Type "Last Name" (it will replace First Name in the box) and press [RETURN] or click CREATE.
   3. In the same manner, create additional fields for "City", "State", and "Zip".
   4. Create at least one additional field for the specialized information from #2b.
   5. Click DONE, then save using SAVE AS, giving it a suitable file name.
   6. Begin entering the appropriate data into their respective fields, which should be showing on your screen. When you have entered all the data for one person, select NEW RECORD from the EDIT menu. Enter data for at least three people in this manner.
   7. Go to the FILE menu and choose SAVE (not SAVE AS this time).
5. [Time out: Relax! Breathe! The hard part is done...you're two-thirds of the way there...now the fun begins!]
6. From the WINDOW menu, choose your WP document (or OPEN it from the FILE menu if you closed it earlier).
7. From the FILE menu, choose MAIL MERGE.
8. Find the first of your place holders and double-click on it to highlight it. Then double-click on the item in the FIELD NAMES box that you want to place in your letter. It will be inserted into your document surrounded by double brackets <<like this>>.
9. Repeat step #8 for each of your place holders. When you're finished, click in the "Show Field Data" checkbox in the MAIL MERGE window to see how your first document will look. If it looks okay, you're done! Simply click on the PRINT MERGE bar in the MAIL MERGE window and wait for your personalized letters to print.

NOTE: For purposes of the class, you only need to print two letters. Be careful, especially if you have created a large number of records, that you don't print them all (unless, of course, you have created an authentic document that you actually do want to distribute to the named recipients).

Now that you can do this, #######, think of some of the other ways you could use this very powerful publishing feature. If you don't have access to Claris Works, you can do the same thing in Word and other full-featured word processors.

created by Bob Hermann 1998

Return to USD SYLLABUS