Creating a Mail Merge

Many other programs make the creation of a MailMerge a protracted, elongated procedure. In MailRules, a MailMerge is very easy - all you need is to understand how to create & use a Datasource. If you do not know how to use a Datasource, please review this section of the Help file before proceeding any further.

Your message recipients can be drawn from a Datasource by selecting the Recipients from Datasource option from the Who tab of an Outbound Rule. Once your rule is set to draw recipients from a Datasource, any fields from the Datasource may be placed within the body of the e-mail - and once you have placed a Datasource field in the message body, you have created a MailMerge: It's that simple!

After you have selected Recipients from Datasource, you will notice that the Field > button becomes available. When you click the Field > button, you will be presented with the Datasource window and all the available fields in the Datasource you are using for your recipients. Click on a field name, then click the Select button and the field description will be entered into your message body. Note that once you have entered a field into your message body, the Individual Messages option is automatically ticked for you (a MailMerge message is, of course, going to be sent individually to each recipient).

Look at this example:

You can see that the recipient (To:) has been set to [Mailing_List.e-mail_Address], that is the contents of the e-mail_Address field in the Mailing_List Datasource.

Now look at the message text:

Hi, [Mailing_List.Forename],

How are things in [Mailing_List.Neighbourhood]?

If you're having a tough day, remember this: [Mailing_List.Thought_for_the_Day]

You can see that three fields have been placed into the message body. Here are the contents of the Mailing_List Datasource (from Datasource - Properties):

Two messages will be generated by this Outbound Rule, the first will be addressed to philb@mailrules.com and will read:

Hi, Phil,

How are things in Devonport?

If you're having a tough day, remember this: Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

The second message will be addressed to philipm@mailrules.com and will read:

Hi, Philip,

How are things in Alfriston?

If you're having a tough day, remember this: Quitters never win! Winners never quit!

Summary

To create a Mail Merge you simply:

• Tick Recipients from Datasource and select your pre-defined Datasource and the field that contains the e-mail addresses of your recipients.
• Place fields from your Datasource in the message body using the Field button.