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Creating the Mail Merge Template
Mail Merge documents are generated against any records in Brevity. This can be for client, employees, or any other type of record. For generating letters for clients for example we would go to the client list screen (Clients > Client). From here we would click the Mail Merge button on the toolbar to show the Mail Merge template section.
The mail merge template section displays a list of templates previously uploaded. We can also begin creating a new template by clicking the Download template link in the top left to download a word file that has all the system field name that we can use in our Mail Merge document.
Download Blank Template
Click the Download template link to download the blank template file for the Clients table. Open the document in Word.
Accessing the Merge Fields within the Word Template
To view the merge field pane, you will need to show the Developer tab in Word if it is not visible. To do this, right-click anywhere within the ribbon area in Word
Then select Customize the Ribbon option:
Ensure the Developer option is selected and click Ok:
On the Developer tab, click the XML Mapping Pane button to show the XML Mapping Pane
In the XML Mapping Pane, select the brevity option from the dropdown to see the available merge fields
Adding the Merge Fields to the document
If you have a preexisting document you would like to add the merge fields to, you will need to copy and paste the content from your existing document to the blank template, and then add the merge fields from there. To add the merge fields to the document, place the cursor in the position you would like the merge field to be added within the document - this can include embedding within a paragraph. 
Then right click on the field within the XML Pane that you would like to merge into the document, and select Insert Content Control and then Plain Text..
You can repeat this process to add all merge field that you require on your document. Save the document once done.
Adding a Repeating Control
If you are planning on using the template for merging more than one record at a time, you will need to add all merge fields (as above) within a repeating control. To add the repeating control, first select all the text within your document by pressing CTRL+A on your keyboard to select all text within your document, then right-click on the first child under the root node in the XML Mapping Pane, then select Insert Content Control and then Repeating..
Upload Template to Brevity
With the document text and merge fields added, we are ready to upload the template back to Brevity to be used for merging with client records. To do this click the Mail Merge button once again on the Client list screen and then click the Upload Filed link in the right pane section to upload the document you created. This should show in the list once uploaded.
Selecting clients for Mail Merge
After uploading the file, you need to select the client that you want to apply the mail merge template. There are 3 ways to do it:
- Single Selection. Just Click on the client's name to select the client. Mail Merge will be applied only to this client.
- Multiple Selection using Shift Key. You can click on the first client (A) that you want to apply the mail merge then press and hold the shift key on your keyboard. Select the last client (B) that you want to apply the mail merge and all the clients in between client A and client B will be selected.
- Multiple Selection using Ctrl Key. Press and hold the ctrl key on your keyboard and click on the name of the clients you want to apply the mail merge. It will highlight all the clients that mail merge will be applied.
Using the Merge Document Template
You are now ready to use the merge template for generating merge documents. To generate the documents for all records shown in the list below, click on the more menu (3 horizontal dots) for the associated template and click the Mail Merge option to immediately run and download the mail merge document.
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Note: you can click on this icon |
This is what the merge document looks like once created. We could have added a page break if we wanted each letter to start on a new page:
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You need to download the template for each section (Quotes, Clients, Employees, Care Management). If you download the Client template and use the Mail Merge in the Employees section, the values will not show correctly. |