How do you customize individual emails in a mail merge?

[Saranne03]

When I do an email mail merge, if I try to edit each email as it says I can,
the edits don't stick - I make them, but then they don't appear when I send
out the merge. Why is this happening and how can I fix it!

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Execute the merge to a new document and perform the edits there.

--
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

 

[Saranne03]

But I want to be able to send out a mail-merged email, in which a couple of
the items are a little different. How would having it in a document help? I
don't think I understand.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

In that case it won't help. In what way are things different?

--
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

 

[Saranne03]

I thought that I could create a document, merge in an Excel file of different
contacts, and then when I'm going through and checking each one, edit them as
necessary. But I don't seem able to do that.
For instance, if I have an email that says, "Hi <<Name>>, How are you doing?
Have a great day." that I want to send to ten people, I can't go through to
the fifth contact's version and add a sentence that says "I miss you!"
I don't know if it's not possible, or if I'm not doing it properly. It
sounds like, from what I've read, that it should be possible. But it doesn't
work when I do it.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

With mailmerge, it is best if all of the variable information is in the data
source. You can however have an ASK field in the mailmerge main document at
the location where you may want to insert additional information and then
when you execute the merge, you will be asked for the variable information
as each record is merged. It makes it a pain in the neck in my opinion and
I never use it.

--
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

 

[Saranne03]

One last question, and then I promise I'll stop bothering you! I think I
understand at this point, and basically I just can't do what I want to be
able to do.

But, my final question is, why, then, when I'm in Step 4 of the process,
does it say "When you have finished writing your letter, click Next. Then you
can preview AND PERSONALIZE each recipient's letter." (Caps mine.)

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

All I can say is that you are only one of many people who have been led
astray by the mailmerge wizard that someone though should be introduced in
Word XP and later. The real question is "Who was it that thought that the
wizard was required?" We have never been able to get anyone to admit to
that. Probably because they know what would happen to them.

--
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

 

[Saranne03]

Clearly, then, an evil wizard. Thanks!

All I can say is that you are only one of many people who have been led
astray by the mailmerge wizard that someone though should be introduced in
Word XP and later. The real question is "Who was it that thought that the
wizard was required?" We have never been able to get anyone to admit to
that. Probably because they know what would happen to them.

--
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