Here is a detailed explanation of the components of this form.

General/Feeder/Feeder2/Staff these four buttons, only one of which can be depressed at a time, allow you to toggle between the fields for general letters and those for letters to feeder schools or for letters to groups of staff. The first time you select one of these buttons the form will be blank. Clicking the Add button will prepare the form for adding a new letter. If you do not want to do so click the Quit button and then re-open the form. The Feeder2 button allows you to create letters containing a list of names of pupils originating from a particular school.

Filter letters If you click on the Just mine button only the letters created by you will be displayed. If you select Others you will see (but cannot edit) merge letters created by others and delegated to you or made public.

Title This is what is displayed in the list of available letters when you are choosing which one to send out. (Compulsory field)

Owner Normally you will select your own name here when creating a new letter. Otherwise this field tells you who to consult if you feel the letter should be changed. (Compulsory field)

Template This is the Document Template to use for this letter. Only the templates you have added to the nominated templates folder for SchoolBase® will be displayed in the drop-down. It is possible that the template list has not been updated or that you are not in a position to access the templates. If you click on the Template check button you can make sure that you have proper access. If you use the security features of your operating system to restrict access to some of your template files they will only appear in the dropdown if the user has access to them.

Letter valid to Each letter must have an expiry date. Once it passes this date a letter will no longer appear in the list of available merged letters. As soon as the date is extended it will reappear. (Compulsory field)

Date Format This format is used to determine how dates in the letter will be displayed. (See Date format for an explanation of these).

Paper Size You can either pick one of the standard sizes or choose and enter the paper size manually.

Add date This button insert a field into your letter which will display the current date.

Toggle field names This switches between the internal names of the fields and the more meaningful equivalents defined using the Custom Merge Columns form.

Find This box has a drop-down with a list of all the available letters. The letter will appear when you select it.

Add Click here to start a new blank letter.
Edit Click here to edit an existing letter (the one currently displayed).
Delete Click here to remove a letter which is no longer required.

Try it This displays your letter with sample merged data to give you an idea of how it will appear using random records. The main method of using these letters is from Pupil Lists or the Contacts page in a pupil record.

Quit Close the form – this button is greyed out if you have made changes.
Save Save the letter and close the form.

Creating a New Letter

To begin a new letter:

• click the Add button
• give the letter a Title
• if you wish, select a template such as the school’s headed notepaper

You must now decide whether to use the Standard method of letter creation in SchoolBase® or to use the Extended method which allows you to create the letter entirely in Word with all the extra facilities which that offers. If the letter has little or no special formatting the Standard method is easier. We will deal with that first. The window changes as soon as you click the Standard radio button.

The main panel in the middle is where you type your letter. Parts like «Salutation» are (or rather will become) merged fields picking up information from your database. To include a merge field, double-click the one you want from one of the three lists on the right. If you want it to appear on a new line or separated from the previous word by a space you must insert the carriage return or space before selecting the data item. When the letter is merged and dropped directly into Word, the correct information will replace these merge fields. So for example, where a girl has been selected for the rather silly example above you would see something like:

Dear Mr and Mrs Smith

It has come to my notice that your daughter, Mary, has missed a number of lessons. Given that her birthday falls on 20/07/95 and she is a member of Exeter house, I intend to take a very lenient attitude on this occasion.

Please note that the he/his/him/son will be used where it is a boy and replaced with she/her/her/daughter where a girl.

If instead you select the Extended method, you must first provide a title for the letter which must be unique. If you have not entered one, you are prompted for one. Instructions are given on the screen. Using this method you can write the letter, insert the fields and use formatting with the full features of Word available to you. The Word document is then stored in the database and can be retrieved in the same way as a standard letter.

When it is complete, just click the Save button and close Word. The document is displayed (very small) in the white box. You can open the document again for editing at any time by finding the record and then clicking the Edit button.

Using Merged Letters

To use the letter for an individual pupil, open the pupil record and select the Contacts page.
To use it for a group of pupils you need to navigate to the Merge tab on the Finder form.