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Mail Merge - Help & FAQs
What is the difference between Mail Merge Lite & Mail Merge?
Can I import contacts for a CSV file?
Can I import a template from a text file?
How do I create HTML templates?
What is Mail Merge?
Mail Merge is an Android app that enables you to send personalized and individual emails to multiple contacts using an email template and contact's data. Each contact's data is stored in fields that belong to a group. These fields are used to customize the email templates. When sending emails the app "merges" the data from each contact into the email templates to generate individually personalized emails. Emails are sent directly using the email accounts that are setup within the app.
What is the difference between Mail Merge Lite & Mail Merge?
Mail Merge Lite is an ad supported version of the Mail Merge app. Mail Merge Lite limits you to 10 contacts. To use the app without limitations please upgrade to the full version of Mail Merge at the Google Play or BlackBerry World stores.
Email Accounts
UPDATE: Since June 2017, Google has blocked web view based OAuth, so Gmail OAuth isn't currently supported.
You will need to setup email accounts in the app to send emails. The app only needs the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) settings to send emails. It doesn't read incoming mails and so it cannot be used to receive any emails. You can set up a Gmail account to send emails using OAuth 2.0 protocol. OAuth allows you to send emails using your Gmail account without entering your Gmail password. You can revoke the access in your Google's 'Account' page.
You can also set up any email account that allows SMTP access using the SMTP server settings and email credentials. The password is encrypted for security on the device. You can delete an email account by pressing and holding the account in the list of email accounts screen.
Groups
Groups allow you to organize a contact's data using fields. Each group consists of 10 customizable fields. You can name the fields in a group to easily identify them when building templates. When you add a new group you provide a name for the group and names for the 10 fields in that group. You don't have to name all the fields, the app will default their names to 'field_#'. Each field name in a group has to be unique within the group. You will have to create groups before you can import contacts into them or build templates. A group's fields are used to store contact's data and to personalize an email template.
Once you create a group you can rename the group or its fields by pressing and holding the group in the list of groups screen. Once you have built templates using a group's fields be sure not to change the field names in the group afterwards. Changing field names in a group will invalidate existing templates that contain the old field names. If you do change the field names be sure to manually update those templates with the new field names.
You can export the contacts in a group by pressing and holding the group in the list of groups screen. Enter the CSV file name and click export. By default the file is named after the group and saved in 'Mail_Merge' folder in the device's external storage directory (usually /mnt/sdcard/Mail_Merge).
You can also delete a group by pressing and holding the group in the list of groups screen. Deleting a group will delete all contacts and templates that belong to that group.
Contacts
Contacts are used to store an email recipient's information to personalize their emails. Each contact belongs to a group. A contact consists of the email address, the recipient name and the 10 fields that belong to the group. All of the data is optional except for the email address. When creating a contact it is always assigned to a group. The email address of a contact is unique within a group. You can either create a contact manually or import them from the device. You can import contacts from the device either individually or all of them at once. When you import a contact individually you can select each value from the device and assign it to one of the 10 fields in the group. When you import multiple contacts you can map the contact's fields from the device to the contact's fields in the group. Device contacts with multiple email addresses will be listed separately. Press and hold any device contact in the list to select all or unselect all the contacts in the list.
You can view imported contacts by each group or view them across all groups. You can edit the values of a contact's fields. You can also reassign a contact from one group to another. While changing the email address or reassigning the contact from one group to another the app will enforce the uniqueness of email addresses within each group. You can delete the contact from a group by pressing and holding them in the contact list.
Templates
A template makes the email. It consists of the subject and the body of the email. You can build templates to send 3 types of emails — plain text email, HTML email and HTML email with plain text alternative (for display in non-HTML email clients). When creating a template you assign a group which cannot be changed later. A group provides the template with 10 fields that contain the contact's data. You can insert the 10 fields any where in the subject or body of the template to personalize emails. In addition to the 10 fields you can also use a contact's email address, name and the device's current date (in different formats) to personalize emails. When you insert a field in the template the app places < and > on either sides of the field name. The app uses these tags to identify the fields and replaces them with contact's data when sending emails. If the value of a field is empty for a particular contact it won't be inserted in the outgoing email.
You can view and edit the templates after they are created. You can also change their type from plain text to HTML or vice versa. You can delete a template by pressing and holdng the template in the list screen. Once you have built templates using a group's fields be sure not to change the field names in the group afterwards. Changing field names will invalidate existing templates that contain the old field names. If you do change the field names be sure to manually update those templates with the new field names.
Email templates can easily be created by copying and pasting text from other sources in the device. The app automatically saves the template when exiting the editor using the back key. You can press cancel and choose to discard the changes without saving them.
How do I send emails?
Once you created email accounts, groups, contacts and templates you are ready to send emails! You will see each group listed in the home screen with its number of contacts and templates. Click on the group and select the email account you want to use. Then select the email template you want to send out. Next select the contacts you want to email. Press and hold any contact in the list to select all or unselect all the contacts in the list. Once you confirm that you really want to send all those emails then you will see them sent out one by one! Check the sent items in your email account to view and manage the emails that were sent out.
Do you save the emails?
The emails sent by the app are not saved on the device. They are saved in the sent items of your email account. Please check your email account's sent items folder to view and manage emails that were sent out. You can save the email log (date, time, email account, group, template and recipients) by selecting 'Save email log' option when sending emails. Log files are named 'Emails_Sent_YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM.log" and saved in 'Mail_Merge' folder in the device's external storage directory (usually /mnt/sdcard/Mail_Merge).
Can I import contacts for a CSV file?
You won't be able to import contacts directly from a CSV file into the app in Version 1.0, however you can import contacts from a CSV file into Gmail and then import them from Gmail into the app.
Can I import a template from a text file?
You won't be able to import a template directly from a text file into the app in Version 1.0, however you can open the text file in a text editor on the device and then copy/paste its contents into a template in the app.
How do I create HTML templates?
Use the following links to create HTML templates in a PC, sync the template files with your mobile device and copy/paste them into Mail Merge:
- HTML code: http://htmlemailboilerplate.com/#f1
- Output: http://tinyletter.com/ebp
- Free templates: http://templates.cakemail.com/category/business
- More templates: http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/marketing/email-newsletter-templates/
How do I erase all the data?
You can erase all of the data stored in the app (email accounts, groups, contacts & templates) from the Settings menu.
How do I contact support?
Please send an email to appestry@gmail.com with your questions and feedback. All emails will be responded within 24 hours.