Microsoft Office 2016 At Work For Dummies (2016)

Chapter 6

References and Mail Merges in Word

In This Chapter

Creating a table of contents

Inserting footnotes or endnotes

Citing sources and creating a bibliography

Creating an index

Creating and printing a mail merge

Need to create a long, complicated document? Maybe one with research citations and a bibliography? Microsoft Word has you covered. Word offers a variety of tools for automating the potentially arduous tasks of creating footnotes, bibliographies, indexes, and tables of contents. In this chapter you learn how to create all of these.

Word is also great for merging, too. A mail merge combines a generic document with a database to create individual, personalized copies of the document for multiple recipients. If you have to send out similar copies of a document to hundreds of people, mail merge can save you hours and days of work. Mail merge also can be used to address envelopes and labels for mailing.

Create a table of contents

A table of contents (TOC) appears at the beginning of a document, listing each of its headings and its page number. This book has one. A TOC can contain multiple levels of headings, with the minor ones more indented or in a smaller font to distinguish them. Figure 6-1 shows an example.

Figure 6-1: A multi-level TOC example.

Check heading outline levels

The TOC feature in Word relies on heading styles, so before you create your TOC, you need to make sure that all the headings in the document are assigned an appropriate heading level.

If you use the built-in styles in Word (Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on), you don’t have to worry about the outline levels. Just apply the styles to the headings, as you learned in Chapter 3, and you’re good to go.

However, if you have created your own heading styles, they might not be configured for the correct outline level. For example, your major heading style in the document might not be assigned Level 1 on the outline.

Here’s how to change a style’s outline level:

On the Home tab, click the dialog box launcher in the Styles group, opening the Styles pane.

Point to the style, so an arrow appears to its right, and then click the arrow to open a menu.

Click Modify.

In the Modify Style dialog box, click Format to open a menu.

Click Paragraph.

Open the Outline level drop-down list and select the desired outline level.

Click OK to close the Paragraph dialog box.

8. Click OK to close the Modify Style dialog box.

Figure 6-2: Select the Modify command for the heading style.

Figure 6-3: Choose to modify the paragraph formatting for the style.

Figure 6-4: Change the style’s Outline level setting.

Generate the TOC

When your headings are just the way you want them, go ahead and create the TOC. Here’s how:

1. On the References tab, click Table of Contents. A menu opens.

2. Click Automatic Table 1. You’re done.

Not enough options for you? Here’s a more option-rich method:

On the References tab, click Table of Contents.

Click Custom Table of Contents.

3. Change any options as desired in the Table of Contents dialog box. For example, you can:

Choose to include page numbers or not. That might seem like a no-brainer because what good is a TOC without page numbers? However …

If you enable Use hyperlinks instead of page numbers, each TOC entry is a live hyperlink to that section, so if the reader is using the document on a computer, page numbers might not be needed.

The Use hyperlinks instead of page numbers check box is somewhat misleadingly named, because it doesn’t automatically disable page numbers. It just turns on the hyperlinks.

You can choose whether or not to right-align page numbers. If you don’t, the page number will appear to the right of the heading.

If you do use right-alignment, a tab leader (a dotted line) runs between the heading and the page number. You can change the leader character.

You can choose a format for the TOC.

You can choose how many outline levels to show.

Click OK to generate the TOC with the options you have specified.

Figure 6-5: Choose to customize your TOC.

Figure 6-6: Customize the TOC settings.

Insert footnotes or endnotes

One of the simplest ways to provide additional information in a document without cluttering up the main discourse is to create a footnote or endnote. They’re the same except that a footnote appears at the bottom of the page on which it is referenced, whereas endnotes appear at the end of the document. I call them notes when I’m referring generically to either one.

People use notes for a variety of reasons. A note might include a lengthy paragraph explaining the rationale or details behind a statement, for example. Notes are also sometimes used to cite sources, but source-citing is more properly done using the Citations feature in Word, covered in the next section.

To insert a basic footnote, follow these steps.

On the References tab, click Insert Footnote. (If you want endnotes, click Insert Endnote instead.)

Type the note text.

Figure 6-7: Create a footnote.

To move the reference mark for a note (that is, the little number in the body text of the document), you can drag-and-drop it or cut-and-paste it. If the new position puts it out of sequence, Word automatically renumbers it.

To delete a note, delete the reference mark. The footnote or endnote disappears automatically.

If you change your mind about the footnote versus endnote decision, you can easily switch. Right-click any existing note and choose Note Options. Then click Convert, choose what you want to convert to, and click OK.

Cite sources and create a bibliography

When you quote someone else or repeat their ideas, either directly or indirectly, that someone is a source. When working with documents, the word source typically refers to published material, like a book, web site article, or newspaper story. A source could also be a speech (either live or recorded) or even a private conversation you had with someone.

One of the difficulties that people who write research papers have had for decades is that there are several different formatting systems for citing sources, and each of those systems has complicated, arcane rules for formatting the various source types.

Starting in Word 2007, academics and researchers rejoiced, because Word introduced a formatting tool for citations that took away all that frustration. You can choose the formatting style, and Word will automatically create your in-text and bibliography entries to match your choice.

Citing sources is three-step process.

1. Select a citation style. Make your initial selection upfront; you can change later if needed.

2. Insert in-text references to the sources, and enter the bibliographic information about each source the first time you refer to it.

3. Generate the bibliography. You can update the bibliography later if you add more sources.

The following sections look at each step in more detail.

Select a citation style

You probably already know which style you should be using, because your employer or school will dictate it. But if not, use APA for academic and scientific research, Chicago for journalism, IEEE 2006 for science and technology, or MLA for English literature.

To choose a citation style, open the Style drop-down list on the References tab and make your selection. (See in Figure 6-8.)

Figure 6-8: Select a citation style.

Cite a source

There are two ways to enter sources. You can enter their bibliographic information at the same time you make your first in-document reference to that source, or you can enter a source ahead of time, in a placeholder, and then refer to the source later.

To enter a source and cite it at the same time:

Position the insertion point where the reference should appear in the document.

On the References tab, click Insert Citation.

Click Add New Source.

In the Create Source dialog box, open the Type of Source list and choose the source type (such as Book or Journal Article).

Fill in the fields in the dialog box to identify the source.

Click OK.

Figure 6-9: Choose to add a new source.

Figure 6-10: Enter the source information.

The article is added to your document’s internal database, and a reference to it appears in the text. The format of the reference depends on the citation style you chose.

Here are some variations on that basic process:

After you have entered one or more sources, the Insert Citation button’s menu contains those sources on it. You can click a source to insert an additional in-document reference to it.

If you aren’t ready to create an in-document reference to the source yet, in step 2 choose Add New Placeholder. The rest of the steps are the same, except you won’t get an in-document reference at the end.

If you need to make edits to your source database, choose References ⇒ Manage Sources.

Figure 6-11: Choose an existing source from the Insert Citation button’s menu if needed.

Create a bibliography

When the document is complete, and includes all sources and references to them, it’s time to generate the bibliography. The bibliography typically appears at the end of the document. Word formats it correctly for the citation style you chose.

To add a bibliography, follow these steps:

1. Position the insertion point at the end of the document.

On the References tab, click Bibliography.

Click one of the built-in bibliography styles on the list. The only difference between the three presets on the menu is the wording of the heading.

Figure 6-12: Select a bibliography preset.

There aren’t a lot of customization options for bibliographies. You can choose Insert Bibliography from the list in Figure 6-12, but it doesn’t open a dialog box; it just inserts a bibliography without a heading.

Create an index

An index appears in the back of a book or other long publication. It’s an alphabetical listing of important terms, along with the page numbers on which those terms are discussed. This book has one.

The process of creating an index is as follows:

1. Decide on your indexing conventions.

2. Mark each instance to be indexed.

3. Generate the index.

Let’s look at each of these steps individually.

Decide on your indexing conventions

Do yourself a favor before you get started, and make some decisions. For example, figure out your policies on the following questions:

· In what forms will action verbs appear? For example, will calibrating equipment be listed in the infinitive form (calibrate) or the gerund form (calibrating)?

· What will your capitalization policy be? Most indexes capitalize only proper nouns.

· Will you permit multiple forms of the same word? For example, is it okay to have different entries for mature, maturing, and maturation?

· Will you permit entries that begin with adjectives? (Tip: most professional indexers don’t.) For example, will red flowers be listed under R as red flowers, or under F as flowers, red?

· How will page numbers be formatted? Bold? Italic? Both?

· Will you use subentries to organize a broad class of words? For example, under housing, you might have subentries of apartment, duplex, house, and townhouse, as well as indexing each of those words separately.

· Will acronyms be listed by their spelled out version, by the acronym, or both? If both, will they both have the page number, or will one be a cross-reference to the other?

· How will proper names be indexed? Will John Doe be listed under J for John, or D for Doe?

Mark each instance to be indexed

Now comes the tedious part: marking the terms to be indexed. It takes a long time because you have to go through each page of the document and create an index code for each word that you want to appear in the index. If the same word appears on multiple pages, you have to re-mark the word on each page.

To mark an index entry, follow these steps:

In the document, select text to include in the index (usually a single word).

On the References tab, click Mark Entry.

Confirm the entry in the Main entry box. By default it is the text you selected in step 1.

In the Options section, choose the type of entry. The default is Current page, but you can also create a cross-reference to another entry (no page number) or a page range, which is defined by a bookmark.

To use Page range in step 4, you must define the bookmark ahead of time for the text to which you will be referring. To create a bookmark, select the text to include, and then on the Insert tab, click Bookmark. Type a name for the bookmark and click Add. Then in step 4 above, after selecting Page Range, select the bookmark from the Bookmark drop-down list.

(Optional) If you want the page number formatted with bold and/or italic, mark the appropriate check box.

Click Mark.

An XE code is inserted in the document for the index entry, and the Show/Hide feature is automatically toggled on so you can see the index entry code if it wasn’t already on.

In step 6 if you click Mark All instead of Mark, every instance of the word in the document is marked at once. That might sound like a great time-saver, but it is usually a bad idea because it results in instances being marked that are not significant.

7. With the dialog box still open, select another word you want to mark.

8. Click anywhere in the Mark Index Entry dialog box. The word in the Main entry box changes to the word you selected in step 7.

9. Repeat steps 4-6 to mark the additional entry.

10. Keep marking more entries, or click Close to close the dialog box.

Figure 6-13: Select a word to include in the index and choose Mark Entry.

Figure 6-14: Select a word to include in the index and choose Mark Entry.

Word has an AutoMark feature that enables you to create a list of terms to index as a separate document, and then apply that list to the document to be indexed. It marks every single instance of each word in the document. That can result in a bad index that doesn’t allow readers to easily identify where the important discussions are. This book doesn’t cover AutoMark, but you can experiment with it on your own.

Generate the index

After all the entries are marked, you can generate the index. To do so:

1. Position the insertion point where you want the index to appear. Usually this is at the end of the document. You might want to start a new page (Ctrl+Enter).

On the References tab, click Insert Index. The Index dialog box opens.

3. Set any options as desired for the index.

Mark this check box to right-align page numbers (not common).

Open the Formats list and choose a format if you don’t like the default format.

Choose a formatting type for subentries. Indented is the most common.

Choose a number of columns. Two is the default, but three may work better on a wide page.

The number of columns you choose can make a big difference in the number of pages the index occupies.

Click OK. The index appears in the document.

Figure 6-15: Generate an index.

If you realize you left out a few words or want to make other changes, you can edit the index manually as you would any other text. Alternatively, you can delete the index and regenerate it.

Mail merge: An overview

Mail merging enables you to create personalized copies of a standard document for multiple recipients. You can use mail merge to create letters, envelopes, email messages, mailing labels, and even entries in a directory.

A mail merge consists of two documents: a main document and a data list. The main document is just like a regular document except in certain spots there are codes that substitute for specific information. For example, a letter might start Dear <<FirstName>>.

A data list can be a document that contains a structured list (that is, data in consistently organized rows and columns) in either Word or Excel format, or an Access database table. The mail merge feature can also pull data from the Contacts list in your locally installed copy of Microsoft Outlook. If you do not have a data list already, Word enables you to create one from inside of Word by filling out a form. That process is explained in “Create a data list for mail merge” later in this chapter.

Here’s the overview of the mail merge process:

1. Start a new document, or open an existing one, to use for the main document.

2. Use the Start Mail Merge command to select the type of document it will be.

3. Select or create the data list source file.

4. Insert the merge fields in the main document.

5. Perform the merge, either to a new document or directly to a printer.

This process is the same regardless of the type of document (letters, envelopes, labels, or a catalog).

Word has a Mail Merge Wizard feature that walks you through each step in the process, and you might want to try it the first few times you merge, but ultimately you may find that it is faster and easier to complete the steps on your own.

Start a mail merge main document

A main document contains two important things: the text that will remain the same between the personalized copies, and the codes that tell Word what fields to insert at what points.

Follow these steps:

1.Start a new blank document. (Pressing Ctrl+N is a quick way.)

If you’re creating letters or email messages, it’s generally okay to use an existing document as the main document. Maybe you have a letter or message already written, for example, and you just need to personalize each copy. If you’re creating labels, envelopes, or a directory, however, you should start a new document.

On the Mailing tab, click Start Mail Merge.

Click the type of document you want to merge.

If you choose Letters, Email Messages, or Directory, your work is complete at this point. Move on to the next step in the process: selecting or creating a data list.

Figure 6-16: Select the type of document.

A directory is just like a letter mail merge except that there is no page break between copies. So, for example, instead of each person’s copy being on its own page, a directory runs all the merged data together on a single page, like in a phonebook.

Extra steps for creating envelopes

If you select Envelopes in step 3, the Envelope Options dialog box appears after you complete the steps in the previous section.

Choose the envelope size.

The standard U.S. business-size envelope is Size 10, the default.

Click OK.

Figure 6-17: Choose an envelope size.

The document’s page size changes to reflect the envelope size you chose. An empty text box appears near the bottom of the document, ready to accept the merge codes for addressing the envelopes.

Extra steps for creating labels

If you select Labels in step 3, the Label Options dialog box opens.

Open the Label vendors list and choose the brand of label you have.

On the product number list, choose the label’s product number. It should be printed on the package.

The purpose of selecting a manufacturer and product number is to ensure the label size, the number of labels per sheet, and the spacing between labels is accurate in Word. If you don’t have the box the labels came in, you might have to enter the information manually. Find a ruler so you can measure your labels. Then click New Label and fill out the dialog box that appears with your label sheet’s specifications.

Click OK.

Figure 6-18: Choose a label manufacturer and product number.

If you are creating labels, Word creates a table with the dimensions appropriate to the label size and arrangement you indicated. By default the gridlines of this table do not appear. If you want to see them, Choose Table Tools Layout ⇒ View Gridlines.

Select an existing data list for a mail merge

After you choose the main document type, you next choose the data list. A data list must be in a structured format, such as a Word document containing a table, an Excel workbook, or a database such as the Contacts list in Outlook.

If you plan on using an existing Word or Excel file, it’s important to set it up beforehand. You might need to open that file separately to prepare it.

If it’s a Word table, keep these points in mind:

Make sure that there is nothing above the table in the document file.

The first row of the table must contain the field names (column labels).

All the rest of the rows must contain the data records.

Figure 6-19: A Word table suitable for use as a mail merge data list.

If it’s an Excel worksheet, keep these points in mind:

Row 1 must contain the field names (column labels).

All contiguous rows below row 1contain the data records.

Figure 6-20: An Excel worksheet suitable for use as a mail merge data list.

When your data source file is ready, follow these steps to connect it to your main document in Word:

With the main document open, on the Mailings tab, click Select Recipients.

Click Use an Existing List.

Navigate to the location containing your data file and select it.

Click Open.

Figure 6-21: Choose to use an existing list.

Figure 6-22: Select the data file and click Open.

Congratulations, your data file is now attached. You won’t notice anything different yet, though, because you must insert merge fields. Skip down to “Insert merge fields in the main document” later in this chapter.

Create a data list for a mail merge

If the data list doesn’t already exist, you can choose to create it in a Word table or in Excel, and then attach it to the main document as you learned in the preceding section.

However, there’s another way to create a data list that is a little easier (or at least a little more foolproof), especially if the list you are planning to create contains people’s names and addresses:

With the main document open, on the Mailings tab, click Select Recipients.

Click Type a New List.

Type the name and address, pressing Tab to move to the next fields (column).

You don’t have to fill in all the fields for every person; just do the ones that pertain to the merge you are going to perform, such as name and mailing address.

Click New Entry and then type another person’s information on the next row.

5. Repeat step 3 until all the records are entered.

Click OK. The Save Address List dialog box opens.

Type a name for the list in the File name box.

Navigate to a different save location if desired. The default location is My Data Sources in your personal Documents folder.

Click Save.

Figure 6-23: Choose to type a new list.

Figure 6-24: Choose to type a new list.

Figure 6-25: Specify a data file name and location.

If you later need to edit that file, choose Mailings ⇒ Edit Recipient List. The saved file is in Microsoft Access database format, so you can also open and edit it with Microsoft Access.

Insert merge fields in the main document

The next step in the merge process is to insert fields where you want the personalization to be. First, position the insertion point appropriately:

· For letters, click where you want the merge code to appear. You will want the recipient’s name and address near the top of the document, just below the date. You might also want a greeting like (Dear name). You might want other personalization too, such as a mention of the person’s city or state in a body paragraph.

· For email messages, click where you want the first bit of personalization to appear. There isn’t a customary placement for personalized data in email messages like there is for a business letter.

· For envelopes, place the insertion point in the empty text box in the center of the label.

· For labels, place the insertion point in the upper right cell of the table. If you don’t see a table, choose Table Tools Layout ⇒ View Gridlines.

· For a directory, click where you want the merge code to appear. If you want some separator to appear between records, create that (such as a horizontal line or a blank line) and then move the insertion point above that separator.

After positioning the insertion point, you are ready to insert the merge code. To simplify the process of inserting fields, Word offers two special merge codes you can use:

· Address Block inserts all the fields needed to create a properly formatted address block, including the spaces and paragraph breaks between them, something like this:

Amy Jones

3855 W. Main St.

Arcadia, IN 46958

· Greeting Line inserts a greeting such as Dear followed by the recipient’s name. When you insert the greeting line you can choose whether to use their first name, last name, or both. It might look something like this:

Dear Ms. Jones:

You can also insert individual merge fields. For example, you might mention the person’s city in a paragraph like this:

Until June 30, our store in Indianapolis is offering 20% off all clearance items.

Insert an address block

To insert an address block (for example, on an envelope or label, or at the top of a letter), follow these steps:

On the Mailings tab, click Address Block.

Choose the format in which the person’s name should appear.

If you do not want the company name (if any) to appear, click the Insert company name check box.

Specify how addresses outside of the default country should be shown.

Check the preview to make sure the address block appears as expected.

If the address preview doesn’t look right, click Match Fields and use the dialog box that appears to match up the fields from the merge data file with the fields used for the address block.

Click OK to insert the code.

Figure 6-26: Specify options for the address block.

The address block code appears in the document with double angle brackets around it, like this: <<AddressBlock>>.

Correct the spacing issue on address blocks

One problem with the default address block is that it leaves too much vertical space between lines, because of the default paragraph spacing. (Each line of the address block is a separate paragraph.) To see this for yourself, choose Mailings ⇒ Preview Results. Repeat that command to turn off the preview.

To correct the problem, follow these steps:

Select the <<AddressBlock>> code.

On the Home tab, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button to open its menu.

Click Remove Space After Paragraph.

Figure 6-27: Remove extra space after paragraphs within the address block.

Insert a greeting line

To insert a greeting line, follow these steps:

On the Mailings tab, click Greeting Line.

Use the drop-down lists in the Greeting line format section to specify how the greeting will appear.

Specify a greeting line for invalid recipient names (for example, a record where no recipient name was specified).

Check the preview area to make sure the greeting line is as you want it.

You can click the Next button to move through all the records to check each one.

If the fields aren’t matching up, click Match Fields and specify which fields from the data list should be included in the greeting.

Click OK.

Figure 6-28: Specify the settings for the greeting line.

Insert an individual merge field

To insert an individual field, follow these steps:

On the Mailings tab, click the arrow on the Insert Merge Field button, opening a menu.

Click the desired field to insert.

Figure 6-29: Choose an individual field to insert.

Here’s an alternate method. You can click the face of the Insert Merge Field button (the graphical part, not the text and arrow below it) to open the Insert Merge Field dialog box. From there you can choose a field and click Insert.

Perform a mail merge

After all the codes are inserted in the main document, it’s time to perform the merge. There are three ways to go about this: you can merge to a new document, and then print that document as a separate step after examining the merge results, you can merge directly to your printer, or you can send email messages.

Which is better? It depends. How sure are you that you’ve set up the merge correctly? I recommend merging to a new document the first time you run a new merge to make sure that it works the way you intended. But if you are running the same merge repeatedly (such as sending out the same form letters every month to the same people), it’s fine to merge directly to the printer.

You can preview the merge results without having to create a whole new document. Just choose Mailings ⇒ Preview Results. Then use the arrow buttons in the Preview Results group to move between results pages.

Merge to a new document

To merge to a new document, follow these steps:

On the Mailings tab, click Finish & Merge. A menu opens.

Click Edit Individual Documents.

(Optional) If you want to include only a certain range of records, specify that range. Otherwise leave All selected.

Click OK. The new document is created.

5.Print and save the new document as you would any document, and then close it.

6.Save your merge main document for later reuse if desired.

Figure 6-30: Choose to edit individual documents.

Figure 6-31: Choose a range of records.

Merge to a printer

To merge to a printer, follow these steps:

On the Mailings tab, click Finish & Merge. A menu opens.

Click Print Documents.

(Optional) If you want to include only a certain range of records, specify that range. Otherwise leave All selected.

Click OK.

5.In the Print dialog box, specify any print options as needed.

Click OK.

Figure 6-32: Choose to merge to a printer.

Figure 6-33: Choose a range of records.

Figure 6-34: Choose printing options and complete the printing.

Send merged email messages

To merge to a printer, follow these steps:

On the Mailings tab, click Finish & Merge. A menu opens.

Click Send Email Messages.

Open the To: drop-down list and select the field that contains the recipients’ email addresses. This field might or might not have been inserted in the message.

In the Subject line box, type the desired message subject.

(Optional) If you want to include only a certain range of records, specify that range. Otherwise leave All selected.

Click OK. The messages are sent using your default email application (probably Microsoft Outlook).

Figure 6-35: Choose Send Email Messages.

Figure 6-36: Specify email sending options.