html document mail merge

[Cameron]

I created an html document with fireworks and copied the image which had html
inbedded so that the links in different spots of the image work (email
address, web address, etc) and pasted it into a mail document. I set it up
as a mail merge for email and linked it to my email list which is in excel.
The email looks fine and the links work in word, but when I email the
document it only has the subject line and shows nothing in the email body.
Any advice how to send this in a way that works?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Are you actually selecting HTML format when you do the merge to e-mail? It
sounds more like you might be selecting "Merge as attachment", which does
send a message with an empty body.

You have to be using the full Outlook to merge to HTML - it doesn't work
when you e-merge via Outlook Express/Windows Vista Mail, or as far as I
know, any other e-mail software.

 

[Cameron]

I am selecting HTML and I am using Outlook 2003 (not express). I am pasting
in the html message from internet explorer which was pushed there through
adobe fireworks in the web preview option. The message completely works
after pasted into word. All the hotspots work I should say.

I tried to recreate the email message by importing the picture and then I
added in text boxes and adding the url or email link via the text box
options, essentially turning them into hotspots like when I created the
message originally with fireworks. However when I send this message it ends
up with all the text boxes (which don't really have text in them) at the top
of the email message and the picture below the boxes. So this method isn't
going to work either.

Any suggestions?

 

[Peter Jamieson]

OK, this is just a set of guesses, but it sounds like you have
1. started from an HTML page that contains images (i.e. links to
images stored somwhere on your own PC/network)
2. found that when you merge to email, recipients receive HTML format
emails that do not show the images, or perhaps show links to images that
they cannot reach
3. tried to replace the HTML links by images formatted in some other way.

Let's step back a bit. HTML cannot actually contain images. It can only
contain references to images. For a recipient to be able to see those
images, they have to be in a place that the recipient can access (e.g.
typically not on a private URL on your computer). Typically, they are either
a. located at a publicly available URL on the Internet (or your
Intranet, if all the recipients are on your intranet). The recipient's
email client may or may not load such images automatically. Typically
these would be html:// type URLs
b. located in separate MIME parts in the e-mail, i.e. each recipient
gets their own copy of an image which may be stored on your own
PC/netowrk. These MIME parts are referenced using a CIF URL.

The trouble is that in either case it does not seem to be easy to tell
Word to do what you want, and what is feasible seems highly dependent on
the version of Word, Outlook and the precise environment you are working
in.

Broadly speaking I would expect to be able to send "HTML+links to
publicly available images" rather more easily than "emails with CIF
links to copies of your images" but even that may depend on version
issues etc.

In short, if you have options other than Word, I would look at them. If
you want to pursue the Word options in more depth, I can try to help,
but that's about it right now.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Cameron]

Thanks Peter, I decided it would be so much easier to use a broadcast email
tool which allows me to do more things than the office word/outlook
combination of sending emails. I was able to do what I wanted in a matter of
minutes. Unfortunately, it will have have to spend a few hundred bucks but
it is worth it.

Cameron

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Hi Cameron,

Glad to hear you achieved what you needed.

If possible, can you post a link to the tool you used? It all helps
people who have similar problems in future.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk