Photo © of Rebecca Johnson

When you add a table into your document, it usually evenly distributes the columns to take up the width of your page. There are about 20 different ways you can re-size your columns, but only one REALLY easy way!

Type your information into the columns. Then place your mouse over one of the columns that needs to be re-sized. Once the mouse pointer turns to a double headed arrow, double click.

Viola! Your column is re-sized!

I am writing about tables all month, so visit often for more info!

Looking for information on inserting tables? Read Insert a Table in Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 and Open Office.  I will be adding more programs all month

I am researching a few different word processing apps for Android Tablets. I recently reviewed iPad apps in  Word Processing Apps for your iPad. There seems to be a plethora of apps for Android that help you work on word processing. Do you have a favorite app that you use for your Android pads? Drop a line and let me know what the droid users like to use!

Why am I writing two posts in a row about mail merge data sources? Because they are that important! Some programs let you create a simple data source on the fly and then use it for your mail merge; however, I believe a data source needs more thought.

One data source can drive your mail merges towards success. Not just the mail merge you are working on now, but mail merges in the future. Spend the time and design a data source with an eye on the future.

Make sure that all of your column headings are clearly labeled. This will make adding merge fields easier in the future.

The single most important thing you can do is separate your fields into the smallest piece of data possible. For example, instead of 'Name', use 'First Name' and 'Last Name'. This gives you the flexibility of changing how you address your mailings. You may want to start a form letter as 'Dear Ms. Johnson', but address the envelope as Rebecca Johnson.

The same can be said for 'Address'. What if you decided to send a mailing to customers in a certain town? If you limit your data source to 'Address', you can't. However, if you have columns for 'Address', 'City', 'State', 'Zip', you can filter your data source on 'City'.

My best mail merge advice is spend time on your data source!

A data source, also called a data file, is simply a collection of records that store data. This data is used to populate merge fields in mail merges. These files can be databases from Access, FileMaker Pro,etc. In theory, any Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) database can be used as a data source. They can also be created in spreadsheets like Excel or Quattro Pro. It can be a simple table in a word processing document.

What else can be used as a data source? How about a text file? Or an email contact list? Actually, just about anything that can be organized by category heading, such as First Name, Last Name, Address, etc., can be used as a data source.

Looking to create a mail merge? Read all about it in How to Create a Mail Merge in Word Perfect, Word for Mac 2011, Word 2010, and Word 2007.