Setting Up Standard Mail Merge Templates without the Add-In

This article is part of the Mail Merge section.

Find all related articles here:

Mail Merge

 

Introduction

This article is for users who do not use the Mail Merge Add-in provided by CPL. and instead work directly with Word's Mailings tab for mail merges.

In this section, you'll learn how to use mail merge fields to create a personalised communication, similar to the example shown below, using the built-in Mailings functionality in Word.

In the example, any text inside square brackets is a merge field.

Adding Mail Merge Fields

Mail merge fields tell Word where to collect specific information from CPL for each recipient. They define what data needs to be inserted, where it’s coming from and where it should appear in your document. 

This customisation allows Word to tailor each communication for individual clients or contractors.

Consider which parts of your document will differ for each recipient, such as addresses, balances or other personalised details. Place the corresponding merge fields in these sections.

Steps to Insert Mail Merge Fields:

1. Open a new Word document. Or, if you want to use standard headers and footers, open the blank template you created earlier.
   

1. Click the Mailings tab in Word’s menu ribbon:
   
   
   
   
2. Click Select Recipients.
   
   
3. Select Use an Existing List from the drop-down menu to open the Select Data Source window:
   
   
   
   
4. Browse to the RPMserverMailMerge.udl file, typically located in the CPL/RPM drive in the RPM_DOCS folder. Double-click it to open it: 
   
   
   

1. In the Select Table window, scroll down and look for tables that start with 'uvw_MM' in their name:
   
   
   
   
2. These tables are mail merge-compatible and will allow you to add fields to your document.
   

Please note that the UVW_MM options suffixed with an _X are previous versions of the mail merge tables and are no longer in use.

1. Below are descriptions for each table:
   
   
1. UVW_MMBuyerSeller: For buyer and seller communication.
   
   
2. UVW_MMClientDetails: For general client communication.
   
   
3. UVW_MMClientInsurance: For insurance-related communications.
   
   
4. UVW_MMClientNotices: For debt management communication.
   
   
5. UVW_MMDevContactDetails: For development-wide communication.
   
   
6. UVW_MMEstimateRequest: For contractor estimates.
   
   
7. UVW_MMPLDetails: For purchase ledger communication (typically with your contractors).
   
   
8. UVW_MMProposedWorks: For proposed works communication.
   
   
2. Select the appropriate table and click OK.
   

You can only select fields from one table per Word template, so choose the one appropriate for your document.

1. The Select Table window will close, and you will return to your Word document.
   
   
2. The Insert Merge Field option will now be available on the Mailings ribbon, allowing you to select and insert the fields you want to use in your document:
   
   
   
   
   
3. To insert Mail Merge fields:
   
   
1. Place the cursor where you want to insert a merge field:
   
   
   
   
2. In the Mailings ribbon, click Insert Merge Field to display available fields::
   
   

Make sure to click the label, not the arrow, as clicking the arrow only shows the most recently used fields.

1. In the Insert Merge Field window, make sure the radio button is set to Database Fields, then either double-click a field to select it or single-click it and click Insert:
   
   
   
   
   
2. Example result:
   
   
   
   
3. To insert more fields, move to the next position in your document and repeat the process:
   
   

If a field name doesn’t fully display due to a space in the name, click on the field in your document and press Alt + F9 to view the full name.

Finalising Your Template

1. After inserting all necessary fields, close the Insert Merge Field window.
   
   
2. Save your document template on your computer or network.
   
   
3. To make it available to all CPL users, add it to the directory in CPL. For steps on how to do this, refer to [this article].

• Related Articles

• Setting Up Standard Mail Merge Templates with the Add-In

  This article is part of the Mail Merge section. Find all related articles here: Mail Merge Introduction To use Mail Merge as outlined in this article, you must first install the Mail Merge Add-in provided by CPL. You can find the add-in in the ...

• Mail Merge Fields

  This article is part of the Mail Merge section. Find all related articles here: Mail Merge When editing a template during a mail merge, make sure that you use fields from only one View/Table. If you're sending the template as-is, you can use mail ...

• Running a Mail Merge

  This article is part of the Mail Merge section. Find all related articles here: Mail Merge Before starting a mail merge, make sure the template is closed. Here, we've covered how to prepare a mail merge. Now, let's focus on running it. To run a mail ...

• Installing the Mail Merge Add-In for Word

  This article is part of the Mail Merge section. Find all related articles here: Mail Merge When creating mail merges with CPL and Microsoft Word, the mail merge add-in simplifies the process. This guide outlines the steps to install the add-in: Log ...

• Getting Started with Mail Merge

  This article is part of the Mail Merge section. Find all related articles here: Mail Merge Mail merges in CPL are used for creating and sending documents to clients and contractors. They let you build templates that can be automatically personalised ...