Running and Batch Printing Mail Merge

Overview

You can now use mail merge functionality to generate PDFs using Axiom. This article details the process of running a mail merge and then batch printing them to PDF. To learn about configuring letter templates and establishing letter category permissions, please refer to this article.

Record Information

There are three main types of mail merge records you'll be interacting with throughout the mail merge process: the letter template, the mail merge header, and mail merge letter content. You can read about the Mail Merge Letter template in this article, and find information about the other records below.

Mail Merge Header

The mail merge header signifies an instance where someone ran the Run Mail Merge procedure from the Action menu and successfully generated letters. After the procedure is complete, access the header record by clicking the Continue to Mail Merge Header record... link.

An example of a Mail Merge Header record.

• Description is the name of the Mail Merge Header record.
• View Original Merge Query is a link to the saved query that this header record was generated from.
• Letter Template is the letter template that was referenced when creating this header record. Click the pop-out button to navigate to the letter template record.
• The Locked? toggle is a safety measure designed to prevent the altering of anything on this record. This toggle is always a manual process and is never set automatically.
• The link in the Original Record column brings you to the record that the query is pulling the merge field information from.

Alteration and Troubleshooting on the Mail Merge Header

In the input grid on the header record, all mail merge letters appear as pulled from the mail merge letter template while interfacing with the merge query. These letters can be individually modified by clicking into the box, editing the text, and clicking Update. 

We recommend that you always look through the mail merge letters to review and check for any unexpected errors! The most common issue that occurs is when, instead of an expected merge value, what displays is something like:

•  (UNKNOWN MERGE FIELD: visit_date)

This means that the field referenced in the letter template doesn't exist in the merge query. You will want to either edit this manually, go back to the query and make sure that all fields referenced by the letter template are present, or edit the letter template itself. If you are editing either the template or the query, you will then need to run the Run Mail Merge procedure again to create a new Mail Merge Header record.

Mail Merge Letter Content

The mail merge letter content is the record actually storing the content of each mail merge letter for each individual person. Access this record using the pop-out button in the data grid on the Mail Merge Header record.

An example of a Mail Merge Content record.

The Process

Below are the steps for running a mail merge and batch printing the results. If you have not yet configured permissions and set up your letter templates, please do that process first. You can read about that process in this article.

3. Build a Query to Accompany Your Letter Template

This series of steps guides you through building a query to accompany your letter templates and the generation of a Mail Merge Header record.

This query is a good candidate for creating a Mail Merge Header record.

1.  Construct a query keeping your letter template in mind. Specifically, ensure that all fields are included in the query design that you used in the merge template on the Letter Template record. If these are not included, then you will encounter errors on your header record. Additionally, note that you will need to refine the query down to the exact people you wish to send the mail merge letter to; the mail merge process generates a header with letters for everyone present in the query results.
   The Mail Merge menu
2. It is highly recommended that you save the query, though it is not required. If you do not save the query, you will not be able to return to it from the header record,
3. From the Action menu, click on the Run Mail Merge procedure.
4. Leave the "Choose a Letter Template here, once for all records (most record types)" option selected, choose an appropriate Record ID field, and then choose which letter template you'd like to use for the mail merge.
5. Click Generate Letters. Note that this may take a little time if letters are being generated for a large number of people. This process generates the Mail Merge Header record.
6. Click on the Continue to Mail Merge Header record... link to proceed to the next steps.

4. Final Adjustments on the Header Record and Batch Printing Letters

These final steps walk you through the process of double-checking the mail merge letters, making last minute adjustments, and finally creating a PDF for all the letters, all from the Mail Merge Header record.

Example of a Mail Merge Header record. We're almost done!

1. Look through the letter content and check to make sure everything is appearing as it should be. Remember that you can edit the letter content on an individual basis and navigate to the Mail Merge Letter Content record from here. Read more about troubleshooting in the above Mail Merge Header section.
2. When everything is in order, click into the Action Menu and run the Batch Print Letters procedure. Determine whether or not the Letter Print Date field should be batch updated with today's date and then click "Batch Print Letters".
   
   
   
   
   
3. Select whether or not you would like to download a single combined PDF or each letter in a seperate PDF in a ZIP file.