Sortiing by Postal Code

[Hilda]

I need help printing labels for a bulk mailing. Using
OfficeXP I have opened a blank document in word and opened
the mail merge wizard, then clicked labels, and starting
document, chose "use an existing list from Access". At
this point it tells you to "follow the directions in the
dialog boxes that appear...Make sure to sort your
list....in ppostal code order for a bulk mailing." But it
doesn't tell you how to do that....I can see sorting a-z or
z-a but I can't figure out how to sort the list by postal
code. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hilda

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, Hilda,

The steps I'm seeing may differ slightly from yours, but I was given a box
that shows a sample of my table with the addresses in it, and I can click on
the title of the ZIP column to sort by that column before completing the
merge. Do you see something different from that?

Another option is that you could create a Query in Access that sorts by zip,
then use that query for your mail merge source.

 

[Hilda]

Thank you so much for your quick reply! I don't have a box
with a sample of a table - just a page layout of labels.
There isn't a zip column to click on.

 

[Shaun Hubbard]

Just an idea but....

If this list is in Access I presume its in a table, correct me if I'm wrong.
Can you create a query using all the fields from the table you use? In the
Design View of the newly created query you can the choose which field to
sort by. This is where you can select to sort by your Postal Code field,
either Ascending or Descending.
Now when you go into the Mail Merge wizard I believe you can select either
tables or queries. You can now (hopefully!) select this new query of yours.

If this doesn't help then please let us know and I'll have another look.

Shaun Hubbard

 

[James Silverton]

Just an idea but....

If this list is in Access I presume its in a table, correct me if I'm wrong.
Can you create a query using all the fields from the table you use? In the
Design View of the newly created query you can the choose which field to
sort by. This is where you can select to sort by your Postal Code field,
either Ascending or Descending.
Now when you go into the Mail Merge wizard I believe you can select either
tables or queries. You can now (hopefully!) select this new query of yours.

If this doesn't help then please let us know and I'll have another look.

Shaun Hubbard

That certainly seems true and it is also true for Excel. US zip codes, of
course, sort easily as should most numerical post codes but there might be
some problems with British post codes which sort fine as long as they have
the same number of characters in individual values. Unfortunately, such is
not always the case but I think it might be dealt with by formatting. I
wonder how British correspondents deal with them?

 

[Susan Ramlet]

I think I understand--let me walk you through how I got there. I get the
sample box *during* the wizard, before it does the import. Here are the
steps I followed:

Tools|Letters and Mailings|Mail Merge Wizard
Labels
Use the Current Document
Then--when I get to Step 3, I have these choices:
- use an existing list
- select from Outlook contacts
- type a new list

I select "Use an existing list", then click the "Browse" link. I navigate
to my Access database and open it. Then I get a dialog that is called
"Mail Merge Recipients", which lets me select and sort the recipients in the
table it found. Here is where I can sort by ZIP code.

Does that help?