Mailing

The mailing option is used to print address labels or to export address details to a comma separated file that can be used to create a mailing letter in MS Word.

How to get here?

Choose Mailing from the Contacts menu.
Press [SHIFT] + [F3] on your keyboard.

Detailed description

Item	Description
Description of the available options
Cancel	Choose Cancel button to close the mailing window without producing the mailing.
Previous	Choose Previous button to go to the previous window
Next	Choose Next button to go to the next window
Finish	Choose Finish to button produce the mailing. The button only becomes available when all stages have been completed.
Description of the available fields
Contact Type	Use this filter to make a selection based on one of the following contact types: All contact Only contacts with company Only contact without company
Company	Enter one or more characters in each field to filter the company contacts based on their company name. For example, enter A in the first field and C in the second field to select company contacts with a name that starts with either A, B or C.
Last name	Enter one or more characters in each field to filter the individual contacts based on their surname. For example, enter A in the first field and C in the second field to select individual contacts with a surname that starts with either A, B or C.
Mailing cat.	Select a mailing code to select only contacts that are linked to that mailing code in their contact details.
Ignore mailing opt out settings	Tick this box to also include contacts who have indicated they do not want to receive mailing.
Postal code	In most countries, postal codes are region-specific. Make a selection based on postal codes to send a mailing to addresses in a certain region. Enter a postal code in each field to select all contacts within the range. For example, enter 1000 in the first field and 1999 in the second field to select all contacts with postal codes from 1000 to 1999.
City	Enter one or more characters in each field to filter the contacts based on city. For example, enter A in the first field and C in the second field to select contacts with a city that starts with either A, B or C.
Country	Each contact has a country specified in their contact details. Use this filter to only select contacts who live in the selected country.
Language	Each contact has a language specified in their contact details. Use this filter to only select contacts that speak the selected language.
Only contacts with street, zip, city and country	This box is ticked by default to exclude incomplete contacts (contacts without a street, postal code, city and/or country) from the selection. To include incomplete contacts, untick the box.
Birthday	Use this filter to create a mailing based on the birthdays of your contacts. Enter the date in month/day format, e.g. 16 September should be entered as 09/16. Use both fields to make a selection using a birthday range.
In house	Use this filter to create a mailing based on previous stays at your hotel. Enter the date in day/month/year format, e.g. 16 September 2010 should be entered as 16/09/2010. Use both fields to make a selection using a date range.

Click the Next button to continue to the sorting window.

The sorting window

In the sorting window you can specify the sort order of the selected contacts. In some countries, a mailing is less expensive if you deliver the mailing to the post office sorted by postal code. You can select up to three sort orders. The first selection is the main sort order. The second sort order is used within the first, etc. A sort order by country and postal code, for example, will first sort the selected contacts by country, and within each country, sort them by zip code. Example.

Intersect

This option allows you to intersect or "cross-check" your current selection with another previously saved selection. This allows you to make more complicated selections such as:

Contacts (that are) IN the current selection AND IN the saved selection;
Contacts (that are) IN the current selection OR in the saved selection;
Contacts (that are) IN the current selection AND NOT IN the saved selection;
Contacts (that are) NOT IN the current selection BUT IN the saved selection.

When you have made your choice choose the previously saved selection file with a click on the File button. Then click Next to continue.

The output window

In the output window you can choose to:

Generate the mailing in Microsoft Word
Choose this option to use your selection to create a mailing in Microsoft Word. In the next step you can choose to:
- Create a new template
  Choose Next, then select the type of template you wish to create. Then Next to continue followed by Finish. Microsoft Word will start allowing you to add mail merge fields to your new template file.
- Use an existing template
  Choose File to select the template file, then Next to continue followed by Finish. Microsoft Word will now start and mail merge the contacts in your selection into the Word template.
Refer to your Word manual or Word's online documentation for more information on the Mail Merge Helper.
Save your output in a comma separated file

Select this option to create a comma separated file with the contacts that meet your selection criteria. Then click the File button to specify the file name and location where the exported contacts must be saved followed by Next and Finish. The created comma separated file can be used as a mail merge data source in Microsoft Word and other programs. The file can also be opened by other programs such as Microsoft Excel for more advanced filtering and selection features.
Save your output as a selection file

Select this option to create an intersection file with the contacts that meet your selection criteria. Then click the File button to specify the file name and location where the exported contacts must be saved followed by Next and Finish. The file can be used to intersect the contacts in this file with contacts in a new selection.
Then finish the export