Posted   by 

Mailmerge Thunderbird



THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR INTERNAL EECS USE ONLY

  1. Combining Profiles In Thunderbird
  2. Mail Merge Thunderbird Not Working

See below for info on mail merge within bMail.

Combining Profiles In Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a free email application that’s easy to set up and customize - and it’s loaded with great features! When the Welcome to Thunderbird window opens, click the Skip this and use my existing email account button in the lower left. In the Mail Account Setup window, enter the full name, email address, and password for the Smith Mail account you will use to send bulk email (e.g., ITS News), then click Continue. Setting Up Mozilla Thunderbird 1. To set up your mail account, open Mozilla Thunderbird. Select File / New / Account. The Account Wizard will appear. Navigate through the following wizard windows: New Account Setup Window Click the Email account button. Identity Window 1. Enter your name in the Your Name box. This is the name. Problem with Mail Merge add-on to Thunderbird. User Help for Mozilla Thunderbird. 3 posts. Page 1 of 1. Schifferli Posts: 462 Joined: December 11th, 2004. While Thunderbird email is a powerful cross platform app with a robust library of add-on features that allow for full customization of your email experience, Mozilla no longer supports it, and that can be an issue for a lot of users. So, that’s not the best news if you are accustomed to using Thunderbird.

This procedure explains how to create multiple, customized e-mailmessages using data in a spreadsheet.

  1. One-Time Setup
    1. Set up Thunderbird so your mail looks like it is coming from someone else - IF NEEDED (separate page)
  2. Procedures for Sending a Mail Merge

Plugin

  1. One-Time Setup

    1. Set up Thunderbird to Work with bMail

      1. Set bConnected (Google) Key
        • Go to: https://idc.berkeley.edu/mmk/auth/index
        • Authenticate, choose 'bConnected,' and then choose the account name from the list
        • Click the 'Set Key' button and then the 'Define your own' tab
        • Create your own key (do not auto-generate it). Choose a passphrase that is at least 9 characters and which will be easy for you to remember. Click 'Set Key' button again and you should get a confirmation page on yourbrowser and an email confirmation from donotreply@berkeley.edu.

      2. Enable IMAP in bMail
        • Open bMail, click on the gear icon (top right), and select 'Settings'
        • Click the 'Forwarding and POP/IMAP' tab
        • Select the 'Enable IMAP' radio button
        • Click 'Save changes'

      3. Configure Thunderbird for bMail
        • Open Thunderbird
        • Pull down 'File' menu and select 'New...'
        • Select 'Existing Mail Account'
          • Your name: [your full name]
          • Email address: [your fully-qualified @berkeley.edu address] (e.g. magdalene@berkeley.edu)
          • Password: [your new Google key from step 1]
        • Click 'Continue' button
        • Click 'Manual Configuration' button
          • Incoming: IMAP imap.gmail.com 993 SSL/TLS Autodetect
          • Outgoing: SMTP smtp.gmail.com 465 STARTTLS Autodetect
          • Username: [your fully-qualified @berkeley.edu address] (e.g. magdalene@berkeley.edu)
        • Click 'Done' button
        • Pull down your 'Tools' menu and selecting 'Account Settings.' In the left-side column click on 'Server Settings' under your account name. In the right-side pane, click the dropdown menu next to 'Authentication method:' and select: 0Auth2
        • In the left-side column click 'Outgoing Server (SMTP).' In the right-side pane click your @berkeley.edu address and then the 'Edit' button. Click the dropdown menu next to 'Authentication method' and select: 0Auth2. Click 'OK.'
        • If needed, make your berkeley.edu account your default Thunderbird profile by clicking on your @berkeley.edu address in the left side column, and pull down the dropdown menu at the bottom of the column and select 'Set as Default.'
        • Click 'OK'
        • Close and re-open Thunderbird: Remember to log in with your Google key.
        • If you plan to continue to use the bMail web interface, DO NOT MANIPULATE YOUR EMAIL IN THUNDERBIRD.

        NOTE: If 0Auth2 does not appear in the dropdown menu you probably need toupdate to the latest version of Thunderbird.Also, in one instance, OAuth2 wasn't an option when setting up an account,but you could go back to server settings after the fact and change it toOAuth2. In another, OAuth2 never did work and we had to fall back on 'normalpassword' and telling Google to allow 'less secure apps'.

        Other information can be found in the Berkeley campus KB article

    2. Install Mail Merge Add-On

      Since the Mail Tweak Thunderbird extension is overkill for our needs, we nowrecommend Mail Merge.All of this should be doneas the user who wants to send the mail; no administrator privilegesare required.

      1. In a web browser, go to the Mail Merge installation page:https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/47144/and click 'Download Now.'
      2. It may take a moment or two, but a dialog box will pop up asking what you would like to do. Choose 'Save File' and put the .xpi file on your desktop. (It might automatically go into your 'Downloads' folder, which lives in your 'My Documents' folder, which is fine too.)
      3. Start Thunderbird, pull down your Tools menu and select 'Add-ons.'
      4. From the options (cog icon) button next to the add-on search field, select 'Install Add-on From File..'
      5. Find the .xpi file you downloaded and click 'Open.'
      6. Click 'Install now'
      7. Click 'Extensions' in the left-side column and, in the right-side pane, click 'Restart Now' (next to 'Mail Merge')

      Now the extension is set, and you can send a mail merge messageany time.


  2. Procedures for Sending a Mail Merge

    1. Create a Spreadsheet

      1. Create an Excel spreadsheet with the data you want in the message, including the full e-mail address. Make sure there is a header row with names for all columns; these names must not contain spaces.(The file should look something like thissnapshot.)
      2. Save the spreadsheet as 'CSV (Comma delimited) .csv'(If you closed Excel and viewed this file in a text editor, it would look likethissnapshot.)

    2. Send a Mail Merge Message

      In Thunderbird

      1. Start a new message. Any parts of the spreadsheet that you would liketo include in your message must be enclosed in 2 sets of curly braces {{ }}.
        1. In the To: field, put the column name you chose for the email address surrounded by 2 sets of curly braces: {{columnname}}.
        2. Add a Subject
        3. Draft the body of the message, enclosing the column headings for any parts of the spreadsheet that you would like to include in 2 sets curly braces.

        Using the example spreadsheet created above, you message would resemble this snapshot.

      2. Pull down the 'File' menu and select 'Mail Merge.'
      3. A dialog box should pop up. Change the top dropdown box to say 'Personal Mail' and click the 'Browse' button. Find your .csv file and select 'Open.' (Using the example above, the dialog box should look something like thissnapshot or, ifyou're using a later version of Thunderbird, thissnapshot.)
      4. The message should disappear.Still in Thunderbird, click the plus sign next to your 'Local Folders' andan folder called 'Outbox' should be there with some new messages in it (one for each email address on your spreadsheet). (Sample snapshot.)
      5. When you open a message you should see the fields from the spreadsheet filled out.*(Sample snapshot.) When you are ready to post them, pull down the 'File' menu and select 'SendUnsent Messages.'

      The mail merge add-on has online documentation if you'd like more detailed information.

      3. * If you draft your message in plain text (rather than html), you may end up with a number of blank spaces at the beginning of your message. To avoid this problem, before you draft your message:

      • Pull down your 'Tools' menu and select Add-ons
      • Click the 'Extensions' tab and then the 'Options' button under Mail Merge.
      • In the pull-down menu next to 'Format,' select text/plain
      • Click 'OK' and close the 'Add-ons' windows. You may now draft your message.

Mail Merge in bMail

Mail merge available through bMail has a limit on the number of messagesfor the free version so we advise that you do not use it at this time.

These instructions tell how to use the third-party GoogleApps add-on Yet Another Mail Merge to do mail merge using abDrive spreadsheet and the bMail web client. We recommend thatyou use a departmental (aka SPA) account for this when possible.If your personal account has already been configured to send mailas someone else (e.g. department or committee chair) then you'llwant to use it.

One-time setup: Create a new spreadsheet in bDrive. Go to theAdd-ons menu, Get add-ons, search for Yet Another, find Yet Another MailMerge, and click the Free label to install it. Read the list ofpermissions and grant the add-on access. (If you have questionsabout the permissions, contact acg@eecs.) You'll need to dothis once for any account you use for mail merge.

Doing a mail merge:

  1. Created a spreadsheet in bDrive on the account you will be using to send the mail. The spreadsheet should have a column called Email Address with the addresses, plus columns for any other info you'll want to include in the message. If you already have an Excel spreadsheet, you can copy and paste into the Google sheet or use File, Import.
  2. Draft your message in bMail. Use double angle brackets around the column header to pull in info from the spreadsheet, e.g. <<lastname>> You can use spreadsheet fields in the subject or body of the message.
  3. In the spreadsheet, go to the Add-ons menu, Yet Another Mail Merge, Start. It will walk you through doing the merge. Send yourself a test message to make sure it's all correct.

Mail Merge Thunderbird Not Working

There is documentationfor Yet Another Mail Merge if you have questions.