How to manage mail merge templates

This article explains where the various Mail Merge templates are stored. It shows how to open and view a template and how to manage them and change their properties.

Sections in this article

Opening and viewing a template

Renaming a template

Sharing a template with other users

Making a template private

Saving a template to your computer

Making a template read-only

Removing a template

Opening and Viewing a Template

1. If necessary, select the desired organization from the Organization list.

2. Click . From the menu, select Merge Selected Records (0).
   
   The number in parentheses represents the number of records you selected from the grid. In this case, no records are selected because you are just viewing a template.
   
   The Mail Merge window opens.
   
   
   Mail Merge templates are stored in these locations:

• My Templates: templates stored in this folder are accessible to the logged-in user only. No other users can view these templates unless the logged-in user shares the templates. The templates in the My Templates folder reside on the ParishSOFT server where your database is hosted—not on your local hard drive.

• Global Templates: templates stored in this folder are shared by all users in the organization in the currently selected organization. Other users can open them and save them to their personal My Templates folder or to their local hard drive. To prevent users in the organization from accessing global templates, a user must move them to his or her My Templates folder. The templates in the Global Templates folder reside on the ParishSOFT server where your database is hosted—not on your local hard drive.

• ParishSOFT Templates: templates stored in this folder are provided by ParishSOFT. These templates are read-only and are provided as samples. You can view these templates, but if you want to edit them, you must first save them to the Global Templates or to your My Templates folder. The templates in the ParishSOFT Templates folder reside on the ParishSOFT server where your database is hosted—not on your local hard drive.

• Local Folder: these templates reside on the logged-in user's local hard drive. They are accessible to the logged-in user only.

4. To open and view a specific template, do one of the following:

• If the template is in the My Templates, Global Templates, or My Templates folder, select the folder open it. Select the template's link to open the template and view its contents. The contents are displayed in the document text area below the ruler.

• If the template is on your local hard drive, select the open one link to open the Open Local Document window. Click Browse. Navigate to the location on your computer where the template is stored. Select the template then, click Open. The name of the file you selected now appears in the file name field. Click Open to view the contents of the template in the document text area.
  
  If you select the wrong file, click to remove it from the file name field.

Renaming a Template

1. If necessary, select the desired organization from the Organization list.

2. Click . From the menu, select Merge Selected Records (0).
   
   The number in parentheses represents the number of records selected from the grid. In this case, no records are selected because you are just renaming a template.
   The Mail Merge window opens.
   

3. Select the folder that contains the template you want to rename.

4. To the left of the template's name, click the pencil icon.

5. In the Template Name field, type a new name for the template. Then, click  Update.

The system saves the template with the new name. The list refreshes, and you can see the renamed template in the templates folder.

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Sharing a Template with Other Users

An easy way to share a template with other users is to move the template to the Global Templates folder. This folder is a public area that enables all users in your organization to view its templates.

1. If necessary, select the desired organization from the Organization list.

2. Click . From the menu, select Merge Selected Records (0). The number in parentheses represents the number of records selected from the grid. In this case, no records are selected because you are just changing a template's property.
   
   The Mail Merge window opens:
   

3. Select the folder that contains the template you want to rename. A list of templates in the folder is displayed.

4. To the left of the template's name, click the pencil icon.

5. Select the Global check box. Then, click Update to save the change.
   
   The system changes the template's property to Global. A Yes in the Global column reflects the change.
   
   Now other in your organization can open the template and modify it for their own use (if it is not a read-only template). When other users log in to their accounts, they will see a link to the template in their Global Templates folder.

Making a Template Private

If you want to prevent other users from viewing a template, move it into your My Templates folder.

1. If necessary, select the desired organization from the Organization list.
2. Click . From the menu, select Merge Selected Records (0). The number in parentheses represents the number of records selected from the grid. In this case, no records are selected because you are just changing a template's property.
   
   The Mail Merge window opens:
   

3. Select the folder that contains the template you want to rename. A list of templates in the folder is displayed.

4. To the left of the template's name, click the pencil icon.
5. Deselect the Global check box. Then, click Update to save the change.
   
   The system changes the template's property to private. A No in the Global column indicates that the template is private.
   
   The template is removed from the Global Templates folder so other users in the organization can no longer view it. The template appears in the logged-in user's My Templates folder so that it remains accessible to the logged-in user.

Saving a Template to Your Computer

You can save the templates in any of the three folders to your computer.

1. If necessary, select the desired organization from the Organization list.
2. Click . From the menu, select Merge Selected Records (0).
   
   The number in parentheses represents the number of records selected from the grid. In this case, no records are selected because you are just saving a template.
   
   The Mail Merge window opens:
   

3. Select the folder that contains the template you want to save locally.

4. To the left of the template, click . The software downloads the template file to your computer.

5. If you want to rename the file, open it. Then, use the "Save as" command to rename it and save it to the desired location on your computer.

Making a Template Read Only

If you want to prevent other users from modifying a template file, you must change its property to read only. Here's how.

1. Open the folder that contains the template.
2. Select the template's link to open it.
3. Save the template to the My Templates or Global Templates folder. To do this:

1. Select the File tab.
2. Click (Save As) to open the Save New Template window.
3. In the Template Name field, type the name of the template.
4. If you want other users to be able to view your template, select the Global checkbox to save the template in the Global Templates folder. Alternatively, leave the Global box unchecked to save the template in the My Templates folder where only you can see and use it.
5. Select the Read Only checkbox. This checkbox control locks the template and prevents others from changing it.
6. Click Save. The template is now protected and locked from editing.

Removing a Template

You can remove any template in the My Templates folder. To learn how to remove a Global Template, click here.

1. If necessary, select the desired organization from the Organization list.

2. Click . From the menu, select Merge Selected Records (0). The number in parentheses represents the number of records you selected from the grid. In this case, no records are selected because you are just removing a template.
   
   The Mail Merge window opens:
   

3. By default, the system displays templates in the My Templates folder.

4. To the left of the template, click the garbage can icon.

5. When prompted to confirm the deletion, click OK. The system removes the template from the My Templates folder.

To remove a global template

You cannot remove templates in the Global Templates or ParishSOFT Templates folders. To Delete templates that are marked Global:

1. Make the changes you need to make in "My Templates" and save them as "Global" with a different name.
2. Then, delete the originals with mistakes from "My Templates." This will remove the mistaken originals from the "Global" folder.  

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How to create a mail merge template

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Updated September 11, 2024 17:11