Tutorial for email merge using Word 2000?

[crawford]

In conjunction with some volunteer stuff I do (fundraising,
coordinating an upcoming family reunion), I send out occasional form
emails. I like to do a "merged mail" because it produces more
personalized-looking output, because I don't want recipients seeing
each other's email addresses, and because I know some recipients have
filters set up to throw out things that come to them via bcc.

I've been using Pegasus mail for this. It's not that hard to use, and
it's free. But the downside is I can't include embedded graphics in
the message, and I have had Pegasus crash weirdly in the middle of
sending, without noting how many emails it had sent. This meant I had
to resend everything, which looked sloppy to anyone who I emailed
twice.

I'm looking for a simple and free way to do these email merges that
would represent an improvement over Pegasus.

Someone I know told me that Word 2000 can do this, and even integrate
with any email software you like (I use the current ad version of
Eudora for most of my email). But it takes me much longer to figure
out Word merges than it ever does to create what it is I'm trying to
merge, and the extra dimension of merging to email has made it that
much harder for me to figure out.

So my questions:

1. Can someone recommend a good online step by step Word mail merge
tutorial? Especially one that shows merging to email?

2. *IS* Word even the software I should be using for this task?

3. If Word isn't the best selection for the kind of email merges I
want to do (I hope I've described what I want adequately above), then
what is?

Yes, I've cross-posted, but I think each group to which I've posted
has subscribers who could offer a useful suggestion.

 

[Mara]

In conjunction with some volunteer stuff I do (fundraising,
coordinating an upcoming family reunion), I send out occasional form
emails. I like to do a "merged mail" because it produces more
personalized-looking output, because I don't want recipients seeing
each other's email addresses, and because I know some recipients have
filters set up to throw out things that come to them via bcc.

If you already know they don't want to receive it, but you're sending it to them
anyway, then you're spamming.

"It's about conSent, not conTent."

<snip>

 

[Brian H¹©]

crawford said:

In conjunction with some volunteer stuff I do (fundraising,
coordinating an upcoming family reunion), I send out occasional form
emails. I like to do a "merged mail" because it produces more
personalized-looking output, because I don't want recipients seeing
each other's email addresses, and because I know some recipients have
filters set up to throw out things that come to them via bcc.

The recipients could set their filters to accept e-mail coming from you as bcc
by including a "stop processing more rules" rule, and place it above their rule
to banish bcc's to the great blackhole.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Someone I know told me that Word 2000 can do this, and even integrate

with any email software you like (I use the current ad version of
Eudora for most of my email).

If you are trying to send graphics then you will have a problem with Word
2000 whatever e-mail client you use because it only has two built-in methods
for merging to e-mail:
a. convert the mail merge "template" into plain text in the body of the
message (no graphics)
b. leave the body of the message completely blank and send the "template"
as a Word .doc format attachment, which some people may not be able to read.

For HTML format mail (which, frankly, tends to go from /my/ inbox straight
to the bin) via Word Mailmerge you need at least Word 2002 SP2, and as far
as I can tell the only e-mail client that supports whatever it is that Word
does when it sends HTML mail is Outlook 2002.

Beyond that...

In theory Word can mailmerge to e-mail with any mail client that supports
the necessary MAPI interface. In practice, it can prove quite difficult to
get Word to do mailmerge with e-mail clients other than Outlook and Outlook
Express (and it's not always straightforward with those two either).

So my suggestion is either
c. stick with what you have or
d. find something else altogether.

 

[ragz]

this is a university site that I must say is the best i've seen
http://apex.vtc.com/alltitles.php .there is lots of video tutorials free for
over 245 programs and for a very reasonable $25 per month "17 quid " you
have access to all program tutorials .....Ragz