Completing the Main Document

Completing the Main Document

In this phase, you finish the main document. This entails typing and formatting the text (if you started your main document from scratch) and inserting the merge fields that tell Word where to insert the data from your data source.

Follow these steps to complete the main document:

1. You have reached step 4 of the wizard (Write Your Letter). Type and format the letter, leaving blank lines for the recipient's address block and the greeting line (see Figure 14.12).

   Figure 14.12. Type and format your letter, leaving room for the merge fields.

   

2. Place the insertion point on the blank line for the recipient's address block, and click Address Block .

3. In the Insert Address Block dialog box, make the desired selections to specify how the address block will look (see Figure 14.13). When the preview looks right, click OK .

   Figure 14.13. Use the Insert Address Block dialog box to define how you want your address block to look.

   

4. Word inserts the Address Block merge field in your document (see Figure 14.14). Click where you want to insert the greeting line, and then click Greeting Line .

   Figure 14.14. Word inserts the Address Block merge field in your letter.

   

5. In the Greeting Line dialog box (see Figure 14.15), specify the appearance of your greeting line, and click OK .

   Figure 14.15. Use the Greeting Line dialog box to define how you want your greeting line to look.

   

6. The greeting line field is inserted. Use the remaining links under Write Your Letter in the Mail Merge task pane to insert any other fields you want to use. In Figure 14.16, a Customer Since field was inserted in the body of the letter using the More Items link.

   Figure 14.16. Insert any additional links you like.

   

   If you insert a merge field such as Address Block or Greeting Line and later want to revise the options you chose for that field, right-click the field in your document and choose Edit [merge field] to display the appropriate dialog box (the Insert Address Block or Insert Greeting Line dialog box, for example).

   
   

7. Save your main document. Then click Next : Preview Your Letters at the bottom of the task pane.

The next step in the process is to preview the merged letters in the section that follows .

Previewing Your Merged Letters

At this phase in the mail merge process, Word allows you to see what your letters will look like when they are merged. You can browse through the previewed letters, or use the Find feature to jump to a particular merged letter you want to view. In addition, you can exclude particular records from your merge. If you find problems when previewing the letters, you can fix them before you actually run the merge.

1. In step 5 of the wizard (Preview Your Letters), Word displays a preview of the first merged letter for you to examine. The merge fields are replaced with data from your data source (see Figure 14.17).

   Figure 14.17. The merge fields are replaced with actual data from your data source.

   

2. Click the chevron arrow buttons in the Mail Merge task pane to view your letters one by one. If you see any letter that you want to exclude from the mail merge, click the Exclude This Recipient button.

3. Click Find a Recipient if there is a particular person whose merged information you want to review.

4. In the Find Entry dialog box (see Figure 14.18), enter the contents of a field. (If you know which field the text is in, select the field in the This Field list to speed the search.) Click Find Next . When you are finished searching for particular recipients, click Cancel .

   Figure 14.18. The Find Entry dialog box lets you quickly locate a particular letter.

   

5. If you see incorrect data in one of your letters or want to change the sort order, click Edit Recipient List to display the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. Make any changes in this dialog box (refer to "Sorting and Editing the Data Source" earlier in this hour ). When you're done, click OK .

   If you see the same problem in every letterfor example, a field is in the wrong location, or the letter contains a typogo back to step 4 of the wizard (Write Your Letter), fix the main document, and then return to this step.

   
   

6. When you are finished previewing your letters, click Next: Complete the Merge at the bottom of the task pane.

You are now ready to produce the final merged documents in the section that follows .