Editing Mail merge

{{Short description|Tool for mass mailings from a form letter}}
'''Mail merge''' consists of combining mail and [[Letter (message)|letters]] and pre-addressed [[envelope]]s or mailing labels for mass mailings from a [[form letter]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Cambridge Dictionary Online|url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mail-merge|access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref>

This feature is usually employed in a [[word processor|word processing]] document which contains fixed [[plain text|text]] (which is the same in each output document) and variables (which act as placeholders that are replaced by text from the data source word to word).

Some word processors can insert content from a database, spreadsheet, or table into text documents.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/826838/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-mail-merge-feature-in-word-2003-w
|quote=the result is that each row (or record) in the data source ... listed in a spreadsheet ...
|title=Frequently asked questions about the mail merge feature in Word}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mail Merge |website=iSchool.uTexas.edu (Tutorials) |url=https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/technology/tutorials/office/mail_merge |access-date=2018-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127094633/http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/technology/tutorials/office/mail_merge/ |archive-date=2013-01-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

It is a powerful tool for writing a personalized letter or e-mail to many people at the same time. It imports data from another source such as a spreadsheet and then uses that to replace placeholders throughout the message with the relevant information for each individual that is being messaged.

==History==
Mail merge dates back to early word processors on personal computers, circa 1980.<ref name=WS.manual>see p. 2-2; MailMerge not a new feature, and this is 2nd Ed, (C) 1982 {{cite web |quote=TRADEMARKS ... MailMerge
|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/microPro/Wordstar_3.3/Wordstar_Training_Guide_2ed_Feb83.pdf
|title=WordStar Training Guide (2ed Feb83) (C) 1982}}</ref> [[WordStar]]<ref name=WS.manual/><ref>"M Run Mail Merge. S Run SpellStar"</ref> was perhaps<ref>WinWorldPC citation says "the first"</ref> the earliest to provide this,<ref>{{cite web  |title=Software Spotlight: WordStar |website=WinWorld PC
|url=https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/10379/software-spotlight-wordstar
|quote=WordStar was the first microcomputer word processor to offer mail merge}}</ref> originally via an ancillary program called Mail merge. [[WordPerfect]] also offered this capacity for CP/M and [[MS-DOS]] systems;<ref>{{cite web |title=I Love WordPerfect Contest
|url=https://learn.corel.com/i-love-wordperfect-contest
|quote=I was introduced to Wordperfect DOS when I bought my first computer in college. ... I have watched WordPerfect evolve from the ancient MS-DOS ...}}</ref> [[Microsoft Word]] added it later on,<ref>{{cite web|title=WordStar MailMerge|date = 29 April 1986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmtbry-ytXgC&dq=mail+merge+dos&pg=PA168|access-date=20 May 2016}}</ref>
as did [[Multimate]].<ref>"Early" magazine articles about Multimate's Mail Merge were largely 1988-1990"</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=PC Magazine |date=February 29, 1988 |page=222
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmNNyCje8oAC |title=dBase, MultiMate: Mailmerge
|quote=... a must for dBASE users who need to mailmerge ... MultiMate Advantage II's mail-merge capabilities work nicely with dBASE.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=InfoWorld
|date=January 23, 1989  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzoEAAAAMBAJ
|title=Multimate Mail Merge}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=InfoWorld |date=January 29, 1990
|page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fjAEAAAAMBAJ |title=MultiMate V4.0
|quote=Multimate, Version 4.0 This significant upgrade ... a strong performer when producing office correspondence and mail merge}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Variable Data Processor|url=https://sourceforge.net/projects/vdprocessor|access-date=8 November 2020}}</ref>

==Advanced features==
Money can be saved by pre-sorting on zip code and grouping by postal-discount requirements (same ZIP code, same [[Sectional Center Facility|SCF]]). {{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

A paperless approach is to use mail merge to format [[email]].<ref>{{cite web
|quote=Yesware's Mail Merge for Gmail allows users to send hundreds of personalized ...
|title=How To Use Yesware's Mail Merge for Gmail
|url=https://www.yesware.com/blog/help/how-to/using-mail-merge-automated-follow-ups}}</ref>

Going beyond words, in 2018 ''The New York Times'' detailed a further instance of "mass customization" - personalized videos.<ref>{{cite web |website=[[The New York Times]]
|title=Moovly fully integrates into Google's GSuite
|url=https://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docTag=201809250305PRIMZONEFULLFEED7392461%26feedID=600%26press_symbol=140864
|date=September 25, 2018
|quote=Moovly has experienced strong growth ... into the Moovly Studio Editor, making the publishing of their video content ...}}</ref>{{Relevance inline|date=January 2022}}

==Overview==
The data source is typically a table in a document, or a [[spreadsheet]] or [[database]] which has a field or column for each variable in the template. When the word processor's mail merge is run it creates an output document for each row in the data source, using the fixed text from the data source.

The mail merging process generally requires the following steps:
# Creating a main document template.
# Creating a data source.
# Defining the merge fields in the main document template.
# Merging the data source with the main document template.
# Saving/exporting.

A common usage is for creating "personalized" letters, where a template is created, with a field for "Given Name", for example. The templated letter says "Dear <Given Name>", and when executed, the mail merge creates a letter for each record in the database, so it appears the letter is more personal. It is often used for [[variable data printing]]. It can also be used to create address labels from a [[customer relationship management]] database, or for mass emails with pertinent information in them, perhaps a username and password.

==See also==
* [[Desktop publishing]]
* [[Digital printing]]
* [[Dynamic publishing]]
* [[Mass customization]]
* [[Comparison of word processors#Characteristics|Word processors]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{WT}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mail Merge}}
[[Category:Text editor features]]
[[Category:Word processors]]