How do I use Mail Merge in JCS? The letters print fine but the envelopes do not print correctly. We used these steps:

  1. Generated a form letter via JCS.
  2. Clicked the link to open the resulting Word document, which opened in a browser window with the Internet Explorer (IE) plug-in for Word.
  3. Highlighted a mailing address.
  4. Attempted to generate an envelope from the menu selection: Tools/Letters and Mailings/Envelopes and Labels, but all of the items on the Letters and Mailings menu are disabled (grayed out).

The reason for this problem is stated below, followed by two "Workaround" alternatives.


Reason for the problem:

According to Microsoft, when Word is "embedded" in the browser (as is the case here), the Mail Merge toolbar/menu is disabled by design because in this mode it cannot create a new document (which is how mail merges, envelopes, and labels are generated).


Workaround A - Save a copy of the document to the local workstation and open it with Word:

  1. In JCS, right-click the generated letter hyperlink and select "Save Target As..." to save a copy to the local workstation
    OR
    Left-click the hyperlink to open the document in the browser and select File/Save As from the menu to save a copy to the local work station.
  2. Open the local copy with Word (instead of the browser). The Mail Merge toolbar/menu will then be enabled and envelopes can be created.

Workaround B - Build the envelope into the letter template to begin with:

  1. While editing the Letters & Forms template, go to Tools/Letters and Mailings/Envelopes and Labels, and select the Add to Document button.
  2. Paste the appropriate merge tags from the Master Tag list into the envelope section of the document.
  3. When the letter is generated, the envelope will already be a part of the final document.

For questions or problems, use eService Center and select Topic 1: Computer/Printer/Security/Access.  Type the detail of your question in the Question Data area, and click Submit to AOC.



RN id: 1618