Overview
Mail merge tags are placeholder fields that contain metadata which tell Fieldguide where to pull engagement data into your generated report. Add mail merge tags to your report template to pull data from your sheet columns, form fields, or other data sources into a report.
How it works
Every sheet column and form field has a unique mail merge tag.
Copy the mail merge tag(s) from your sheet or form field (or other engagement data source)
Paste the mail merge tag into your report template and apply desired formatting
Generate your report. In the generated report, the mail merge tags will be replaced with the engagement data.
Copy a mail merge tag
The steps for copying a mail merge tag depend on what engagement data you’re trying to pull into your report (sheets or form fields):
Insert a mail merge tag into a report template
To add mail merge tags to a report template:
Open the template in the Word desktop app
Copy the mail merge tag from your engagement and paste it into your report template
Add any desired formatting to to the mail merge tag. The formatting you apply here will carry over to the generated report.
When pasting a mail merge tag, use Ctrl + Shift + V to paste without formatting. This will match the mail merge tag to the existing formatting in your report template.
Update a mail merge tag
If a mail merge tag isn’t populating in your generated report, try removing it from your report template and replacing it with a new mail merge tag from the engagement data source (the sheet or form field).
To update a mail merge tag:
Open your report template in the Word desktop app
Navigate to the section which has a non-generating tag
Remove this tag by backspacing completely out of it (including any trailing spaces)
Copy the updated mail merge tag from your engagement
Paste the updated mail merge tag into your report template (in the same place that the previous tag was located)
Save your changes and re-generate your report
When to update a mail merge tag
If the configuration for your engagement data source changes, you’ll need to update the respective mail merge tag in your report template. Here are some common actions that cause the data source configuration to change:
Deleting a column in your sheet changes that column’s mail merge tag. Even if you create a new column with the same name, you’ll still need to update that column’s mail merge tag in your report template.
Deleting a form field in your form changes that form field’s mail merge tag. Even if you create a new form field with the same name, you’ll still need to update that form field’s mail merge tag in your report template.
Changing the name of a sheet column or form field does not affect mail merge tags.
Troubleshooting: A mail merge tag is generating unexpectedly
Duplicate mail merge tags or invisible mail merge tags
Inside a report template, mail merge tags look something like this: «tag_name». But there is more than it seems to the eye—when you paste a mail merge tag, invisible metadata is pasted along with it. Even if you remove the mail merge tag’s visible text, it will still generate in your report if you don’t remove its invisible metadata, which is typically stored in an empty space after the «tag_name».
Unexpected or duplicate mail merge tags can generate if someone tried to remove a previous mail merge tag by backspacing out of it, but didn't completely clear any trailing spaces. This won't be visible to the eye, but here's how you can check for hidden metadata:
Open the report template in the Word desktop app
Navigate to the exact place in the template where the tag is showing up twice in the generated report
Right-click directly in that spot (which might appear as an empty space) and select "toggle field codes". If you don't see this menu option, try right-clicking in the spot directly to the left or right of that.
You should see a long line of code that includes the name of the mail merge tag. If you see a duplicate, remove it by backspacing the text.