Russ,

I see that your "work-around" can accomplish what Mike (and I) want to do
however, it seems absurd to have to go through all that trouble to be able to
use your Outlook distribution lists as mail merge data sources. What is the
point in setting up a distribution list in the first place? Shouldn't we
jsut setup Categories? Does Microsoft realize that Outlook can be used for
more than just email?

I should be able to open a distribution list, highlight the names in that
list, and then start a mail merge using "Only the Contacts Selected". Do you
(or I) have the capability to make suggestions to Microsoft to be able to fix
this absurd oversight?

Thanks,
Greg

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You got it.
You must do your filtering and selecting in Outlook to use the Categories
method.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Mike Dalton" wrote in message
om...
OK! I think I am getting there!!
I fooled with Contact sub folders. What I think I learned is as
follows.
If I 'move' contacts to a sub folder they are available in that folder
only. I need to have contacts in multiple sub folders. So it appears
that method is not good for me.
I then 'copied' the contacts into sub folders. This appears to work.
What I do not like about this method is when a change to a contacts
data, TN, address.. is required I would have to find the contacts
record in every sub folder and make the change in each sub folder. I
see myself lousing this up.
I then established a couple of categories. Some contacts were assigned
to several categories and some were assigned to only a single
category. I then did
View By Category
Selected the category name
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected contacts
I received a message 'No Contacts Selected'
Next I did
View By Category
Selected the individual names under the category heading
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected Contacts
I then got into Word and everything seemed to be OK.
This last method seems to work best for me. I wonder is there a way to
select the entire categorywithout having to select each contact in the
category? I envision myself skipping a contact now and then and
creating a faulty document?

Well how much of the above is wrong on my part or am I still
travelling down the path to success.
Thanks

I think you misunderstand the purpose of DL's. They have one job only: To
present a list of electronic addresses so you can send a message to multiple
recipients easily. Period.
DL's contain only a name and an electronic addresses.
Mail merges require all of the Contacts fields you might need. So for mail
merges you should be using Categories or Contact folders, not DL's.
Most of us avoid DL's completely. They are notoriously unreliable.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Greg" wrote in message
...
Russ,

I see that your "work-around" can accomplish what Mike (and I) want to do
however, it seems absurd to have to go through all that trouble to be able
to
use your Outlook distribution lists as mail merge data sources. What is
the
point in setting up a distribution list in the first place? Shouldn't we
jsut setup Categories? Does Microsoft realize that Outlook can be used
for
more than just email?

I should be able to open a distribution list, highlight the names in that
list, and then start a mail merge using "Only the Contacts Selected". Do
you
(or I) have the capability to make suggestions to Microsoft to be able to
fix
this absurd oversight?

Thanks,
Greg

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You got it.
You must do your filtering and selecting in Outlook to use the Categories
method.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Mike Dalton" wrote in message
om...
OK! I think I am getting there!!
I fooled with Contact sub folders. What I think I learned is as
follows.
If I 'move' contacts to a sub folder they are available in that folder
only. I need to have contacts in multiple sub folders. So it appears
that method is not good for me.
I then 'copied' the contacts into sub folders. This appears to work.
What I do not like about this method is when a change to a contacts
data, TN, address.. is required I would have to find the contacts
record in every sub folder and make the change in each sub folder. I
see myself lousing this up.
I then established a couple of categories. Some contacts were assigned
to several categories and some were assigned to only a single
category. I then did
View By Category
Selected the category name
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected contacts
I received a message 'No Contacts Selected'
Next I did
View By Category
Selected the individual names under the category heading
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected Contacts
I then got into Word and everything seemed to be OK.
This last method seems to work best for me. I wonder is there a way to
select the entire categorywithout having to select each contact in the
category? I envision myself skipping a contact now and then and
creating a faulty document?

Well how much of the above is wrong on my part or am I still
travelling down the path to success.
Thanks

Russ,

Thanks for your response. If you avoid them (DL's) altogether, then what do
you use for sending messages to the same group of recipients over and over?

Greg

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

I think you misunderstand the purpose of DL's. They have one job only: To
present a list of electronic addresses so you can send a message to multiple
recipients easily. Period.
DL's contain only a name and an electronic addresses.
Mail merges require all of the Contacts fields you might need. So for mail
merges you should be using Categories or Contact folders, not DL's.
Most of us avoid DL's completely. They are notoriously unreliable.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Greg" wrote in message
...
Russ,

I see that your "work-around" can accomplish what Mike (and I) want to do
however, it seems absurd to have to go through all that trouble to be able
to
use your Outlook distribution lists as mail merge data sources. What is
the
point in setting up a distribution list in the first place? Shouldn't we
jsut setup Categories? Does Microsoft realize that Outlook can be used
for
more than just email?

I should be able to open a distribution list, highlight the names in that
list, and then start a mail merge using "Only the Contacts Selected". Do
you
(or I) have the capability to make suggestions to Microsoft to be able to
fix
this absurd oversight?

Thanks,
Greg

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You got it.
You must do your filtering and selecting in Outlook to use the Categories
method.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Mike Dalton" wrote in message
om...
OK! I think I am getting there!!
I fooled with Contact sub folders. What I think I learned is as
follows.
If I 'move' contacts to a sub folder they are available in that folder
only. I need to have contacts in multiple sub folders. So it appears
that method is not good for me.
I then 'copied' the contacts into sub folders. This appears to work.
What I do not like about this method is when a change to a contacts
data, TN, address.. is required I would have to find the contacts
record in every sub folder and make the change in each sub folder. I
see myself lousing this up.
I then established a couple of categories. Some contacts were assigned
to several categories and some were assigned to only a single
category. I then did
View By Category
Selected the category name
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected contacts
I received a message 'No Contacts Selected'
Next I did
View By Category
Selected the individual names under the category heading
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected Contacts
I then got into Word and everything seemed to be OK.
This last method seems to work best for me. I wonder is there a way to
select the entire categorywithout having to select each contact in the
category? I envision myself skipping a contact now and then and
creating a faulty document?

Well how much of the above is wrong on my part or am I still
travelling down the path to success.
Thanks

I also use Categories for that. Others use Separate Contact subfolders.
You can compare the two techniques he
http://www.slipstick.com/contacts/oloabcat.htm
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Greg" wrote in message
news
Russ,

Thanks for your response. If you avoid them (DL's) altogether, then what
do
you use for sending messages to the same group of recipients over and
over?

Greg

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

I think you misunderstand the purpose of DL's. They have one job only: To
present a list of electronic addresses so you can send a message to
multiple
recipients easily. Period.
DL's contain only a name and an electronic addresses.
Mail merges require all of the Contacts fields you might need. So for
mail
merges you should be using Categories or Contact folders, not DL's.
Most of us avoid DL's completely. They are notoriously unreliable.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Greg" wrote in message
...
Russ,

I see that your "work-around" can accomplish what Mike (and I) want to
do
however, it seems absurd to have to go through all that trouble to be
able
to
use your Outlook distribution lists as mail merge data sources. What
is
the
point in setting up a distribution list in the first place? Shouldn't
we
jsut setup Categories? Does Microsoft realize that Outlook can be used
for
more than just email?

I should be able to open a distribution list, highlight the names in
that
list, and then start a mail merge using "Only the Contacts Selected".
Do
you
(or I) have the capability to make suggestions to Microsoft to be able
to
fix
this absurd oversight?

Thanks,
Greg

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You got it.
You must do your filtering and selecting in Outlook to use the
Categories
method.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Mike Dalton" wrote in message
om...
OK! I think I am getting there!!
I fooled with Contact sub folders. What I think I learned is as
follows.
If I 'move' contacts to a sub folder they are available in that
folder
only. I need to have contacts in multiple sub folders. So it appears
that method is not good for me.
I then 'copied' the contacts into sub folders. This appears to work.
What I do not like about this method is when a change to a contacts
data, TN, address.. is required I would have to find the contacts
record in every sub folder and make the change in each sub folder. I
see myself lousing this up.
I then established a couple of categories. Some contacts were
assigned
to several categories and some were assigned to only a single
category. I then did
View By Category
Selected the category name
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected contacts
I received a message 'No Contacts Selected'
Next I did
View By Category
Selected the individual names under the category heading
Tools Mail Merge
Only Selected Contacts
I then got into Word and everything seemed to be OK.
This last method seems to work best for me. I wonder is there a way
to
select the entire categorywithout having to select each contact in
the
category? I envision myself skipping a contact now and then and
creating a faulty document?

Well how much of the above is wrong on my part or am I still
travelling down the path to success.
Thanks