Put your address book to Works
By Stephen Albaugh
We've all heard the phrase: It's not what you know, it's who you know. But when your address book is as thick as a dictionary or your Rolodex looks like it belongs on the back of a sternwheeler, finding a name, street address, or e-mail address can pose a significant challenge. By using the address book in Microsoft Works 8, you can save substantial time staying in touch with friends, family, and business contacts.
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Digitize your contacts
If your address book is becoming less of an asset and more of a liability, consider using Microsoft Works 8 to store and organize your contacts.
1. | Click the Address Book icon in the programs menu. |
2. | Click New and then New Contact to open a blank record. |
3. | Manually enter the information in the various fields. |
4. | Click OK. |
You can even add special notes for each contact, including information on his or her personal background, business affiliation, or conferencing information for networking. If you want to separate family addresses from work contacts, Works 8 lets you easily create folders and groupings to keep your personal life separate. Plus, if you're in a hurry to find a name, you can take advantage of the address book search function. Instantly scan your contacts by a partial name, address, e-mail address, or phone number.
Taking your address book digital is easy. Plus, the search feature will help save you time when you need to find a specific contact.
Get the urge to merge
Life involves constant planning, but once you have all of your contacts entered in the Works 8 address book, there are ways to cut corners in your planning process. Whether it's a wedding announcement, a class reunion, or a birthday party, consider using the mail merge feature to personalize the invitations and address all of the envelopes. After completing your document (invitation, holiday letter, and so on) with the Works 8 word processor, follow these steps to complete a mail merge in Works 8. Now you're ready to address the envelopes.
With envelopes, Works delivers
You can save additional time by personalizing your envelopes with Works 8:
1. | Click the Individual Envelopes icon in the Works Word Processor menu of Works 8. |
2. | Click Mail Merge Envelopes. |
3. | Choose the envelope size you will be printing on and click the corresponding option in the Envelopes Settings menu. |
4. | Click the text box at the bottom of the envelope and select the appropriate fields from the window on the right side of the screen. |
5. | Type your return address in the return address text box. |
6. | On the Mail Merge Tools, click Select Names. |
7. | Double-click the contacts you want to send letters to. |
Just make sure that you have the appropriate-sized envelopes to print on. Now you can have confidence that your letters will arrive at the proper address no matter how poor your handwriting is.
Don't spend hours labeling envelopes by hand. Save your wrist and let Works 8 do it for you.
Paperless merge
For more spontaneous get-togethers, such as a guy's night out or weekend trip to the coast, an e-mail merge may be right up your alley. Luckily, getting the word out to a large group of people can be accomplished quickly with an e-mail merge.
Using Microsoft Word 2002, available in Microsoft Works Suite 2006, you can draft a message, letter, or announcement and send it out instantly as an e-mail to any or all of your contacts.
1. | After preparing a message in Word, click Mail Merge on the Tools menu. |
2. | Click E-mail Message on the sidebar and then click Next on the sidebar. |
3. | Click Next again. |
4. | Click the Works address book option or browse alternate data sources for contact information. |
5. | Move your cursor where you want the contact information to appear in the document and click the corresponding data field option in the sidebar. |
6. | Click Next to preview your message and then again to complete the merge. |
Just think, in the time it takes to handwrite multiple letters and put stamps on the envelopes, you could be getting confirmations for a last-minute poker night.
When timing is everything, send your message at the speed of light with e-mail merge.
Whether you're trying to plan a bachelor party or spreading the latest gossip, try using the address book technology in Microsoft Works 8. By letting your PC pick up the slack, you can spend less time manually inputting information and more time enjoying your life.
