MICROSOFT WORD 2007 LETTER ASSISTANT INSTRUCTIONS

Transcription

1 MICROSOFT WORD 2007 LETTER ASSISTANT INSTRUCTIONS Each Letter Assistant will vary according to the program you are working in. However, the Letter Assistant screen will be the same once you reach the point of moving to Microsoft Word. For example, if you were to send a letter to an applicant on the waiting list, you would begin with finding a particular applicant in Encompass (Click on the Applicants tab, choose your filter and enter your search criteria in the box located below your filter selection and click Find. ). Once you found the applicant you are searching for (i.e. Jennifer Johnson). Left click once on the name of the applicant. This will bring up the Action Box for that particular applicant. Page 1 of 12

2 Depending on the type of letter you wish to send, you can access the letter assistant directly from this screen. If you want to send a letter informing her that she has been placed on the waiting list, you would left click once on the Waiting List Letters icon under Other in the action box. Once you have done this, an Open Document screen will appear. To set up a new form letter, you will want to left click once on the New button. The program will now prompt you to name your document. (Once the document has been added, you can skip this step and simply click Open [see pg. 3]. Page 2 of 12

3 Name your document in the field provided (i.e. PH app rcvd) and left click once on the Ok button. (Note: you do not need to enter any other information, the remaining boxes will automatically fill.) Once you have done this, you will see the name of your document on the Document screen. Left click once on the name of the document and then left click once on the Open button. You will then get a warning screen: Page 3 of 12

4 Click Yes, and this will take you to a new document page. (Note: Once you have set up the document, you will be routed to your already formatted document.) From this point you can format your letter. If you have an existing letter, you can copy and paste it to this new document for formatting. Once you have your letter typed or copied, you can start formatting. With this particular example, the first field you want is the current date. The easiest way to get this IS NOT in the merge fields. You want to go to the Insert tab at the top of the screen and left click once on the Date & Time icon in the Text box. You can now choose how you want your date formatted. You also want to make sure to check the box in the lower right hand corner that says Update automatically. This way, your date will always change to the date you are sending the letter. Page 4 of 12

5 Next you want to get the merge fields in your address. You will start by clicking the Mailings tab on the top tool bar. Click on the Insert Merge Field in the Write & Insert Fields box. From the drop down menu, choose First Name, hit your space bar, go back to the drop down menu and choose Last Name. Page 5 of 12

6 Then hit enter. The next line is the street address. Go back to your drop down menu and choose Curr_Street 1. Hit enter. The last line includes the remaining address fields. Go back to your Merge Fields drop down and choose Curr_City, comma, space, Curr_State, two spaces and Curr_Zip. Remember, even though these fields automatically fill, you must manually enter the punctuation while setting up the Merge fields. Page 6 of 12

7 You are now ready to enter your salutation and finish your letter. Depending on how you would like your salutation worded, you may have to type some information before entering a merge field. For this particular letter, I have entered Dear Ms. before applying the Last Name merge field again (then a comma). (Note: You will have to correct this if you are mailing to a male applicant.) Page 7 of 12

8 Once the body of your letter is sufficient you will save the document. If you would like to view the documents before printing, you can click on the Preview Results icon in the Preview Results box. This will fill in your fields for review. Page 8 of 12

9 You can now Finish & Merge. This command is the last box on the right, titled Finish. From the drop down menu, you will want to choose Print Documents. You will then get a pop-up screen: Page 9 of 12

10 You do want all records, so click on OK. You will then get your normal print screen. Just choose your printer, the number of copies you want and click OK. Page 10 of 12

11 When you close the document, DO NOT SAVE. The template is already saved in the letter assistant program. If you save from here, it will keep all of the current names and not generate new ones for your next batch. Now that you have printed your first batch, you will want to go back into your letter assistant to save your letter as a template. Go back to Encompass and find your applicant again. Once you have their action box pulled up, click again on Waiting List Letters. Locate the letter (PH App rcvd, in this case) and left click once on it. Now click the Modify button. On the pop-up screen, make sure the box titled Open As Template. This will save the letter in letter assistant, just in case you do accidentally save the document in Word. Page 11 of 12

12 Once again, these letters are case specific. If you want a letter assistant for appointment letters, for instance, you will set that up separate. The fields may be a little different, but all in all will be similar. Page 12 of 12