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Thunderbird mail merge problem
Hello all,
I have used Thunderbird along with Mail Merge addon for very long and I am very happy with it. However it is very odd that every time I create or edit a template (old as well as new) or a new message, the mail merge settings like mail merge file (csv or spreadsheet), attachments setting all become common to all the template and they are not unique to the individual mail or template.
Is there a way to have unique mail merge settings for individual mails or template. I would very much appreciate if someone can help me.
Thanks in advance,
Bharat
All Replies (4)
Unique settings would be in the email itself, so add the attachment to the email before clicking on the 'File > Mail Merge option. Then you do not need to select the 'attachment' option in Mail Merge.
Please note: if you attach a document called 'A' to a template and save as template, then you can reuse, BUT if you subsequently edit that 'A' document, you will find the updated version is not the attachment in template email even if attached document name and directory is the same. It retains the old original version because the code of document 'A' is part of the email template. Hence why I advise you add attachments at time of composing the email and prior to using Mail Merge.
If you set up 'Attachment' in Mail Merge dialogue window then it is generic and Mail Merge window will auto display last used settings, so needing to reselect anyway.
Thank you very much for your reply. But I think I was not able to explain my problem in my post. I have attached the two images, in the first image it can be seen that mail merge file details, attachment files detail (it is variable enclosed in curly brackets). These details are relevant only for this email template. If I create a separate email the mail merge details remain same as can be seen from second image and if I change these details, the details in the first template also change.
How can these details be made to stick to their respective emails or templates. Hope I am able to make some sense to you.
Thank you once again.
Regards, Bharat
I did understand you, but perhaps did not communicate very well.
When you click 'File' > 'Mail Merge' and the 'Mail Merge' window opens it has no relevance to any specific email. There is no link between any specific email and the 'Mail Merge' options. The 'Mail Merge' window is a generic options window - a pop up display of options - which you can choose to apply to the current opened email template when you click on OK. It is vehicle to put chosen information from selected data into X number of emails using a preselected template email.
The template email contains no information on what data is included; just markers on where to insert data. So, the email cannot tell 'Mail Merge' what data it needs to extract.
The author of 'Mail Merge' decided rather than the 'Mail Merge' window appearing completely empty each time it is initiated, it should remember the last used settings because the most common use may be using same CSV file or same Address Book or perhaps you need to send same information eg: attachment to another set of addresses in another address book. So it saves you time from needing to reselect all the data again, you just modify as required.
You would need to modify on a per email basis each time you initiate Mail Merge. There is no relationship between emails created and sent and the 'Mail Merge' window. Mail Merge has no memory of what emails required what data. It only knows/remembers the last used settings on where to extract data.
Ezalaki modifié
Sir, thank you very much for your response and sorry for late reply. Your reply sorted out my problem and now I understand how mail merge works. Thank you once again. Regards, Bharat