I am trying to create our church pictoral directory. I have a large database
created in Excel and am wondering if there are any suggestions for the format
of it.

I have to use the family name and each member of the family, their address,
phone #'s, emails etc as well as occupation.

My database is getting way to confusing and I am hoping someone has a
suggestion. Maybe I just don't have the database set up in the most efficient
manner.

Please help asap - I was supose to have this done a year ago!!!!

Thank you,
Lisa

INTRO: Purpose.
I guess the answer to "what format?" lies in what you aim to do with it.
Your question implies that you want to use it to merge the data into master
letters in Word to create personalised letters - a process called Mail Merge.
It will, for example, put the name and address into specific places in the
letter, and also can be used to put in or leave out words or paragraphs
depending on specific information you hold on that _record_ - i.e. a row of
information about one person.
You might want to include in your letter a paragraph about pets if you have
information that the person owns a pet.

FORMAT
If that's what you want to do, you asked how to format the spreadsheet?

1. ROWS: Each row must refer to a separate person: e.g. the one who will get
the letter. (One row means only one person.) If there's information about
someone else (such as father's occupation) put it in the row for that person
instead.
Such rows are called records.

2. COLUMNS: Each column must refer to a different and specific aspect of
that person, such as forenames, but it would be even better to have first
name and middle name in separate columns. You can always easily combine
them, but it's difficult to separate them later. Each column is called a
field when it refers to a data aspect.
So a record (row) contains a number of fields - but you're allowed to leave
some fields blank where you don't have the information or it does not exist
or apply - no middle initial, for example.

3. KEY FIELD(S): If you don't have the name of a person, then the
information is not nearly as useful. You don't have a way of referring to
that person. Such information is called the key, and once you've decided on
the key fields, there should only be ONE record using that key information or
the names in those key fields.
If you've got two rows with Fred Jones, how can you tell them apart?
If they mean different people, you need info from another field. If that
gets too complicated, needing several fields (such as two people with same
names in the same street0 then consider adding a new column which just
uniquely identifies the record: call it ID and put a unique number (or other
code) in it.
By the way, if the two Fred Jones rows were about the same person, get all
the information into one row and delete the other. (One person uses just one
row)

4. FIELD NAMES: For this purpose, rule 1. above needs modifying: the very
first row is used to name the columns, and for Word to read them they must
not contain spaces, and it's helpful to you if they're not too long. Make
each field name unique, or you will not be able to tell all your "Address"
lines apart.
Suitable column headings ("field names") a FirstName or first_name (but
not fiirst name); Add1, Add2, Add3 (say, for up to three lines of address),
City, State (or County, for UK) Postcode (or zipcode for US). You can make up
the rest.

5. CHECK THE DATA: Then go through your data and check that what's in each
cell really matches the fieldname at the top. It would be embarrassing if you
sent a letter to
Mr Fred Jones (wife runs the tea stall), 33 Acacia Avenue...
If the cell contains info that does not fit but which you want to keep,
think what it tells you and put it in a new column, such as "ChurchRole" or
"Notes".

KEEP THE DATA SAFE
Don't forget to Save the file. In fact, it would be a good idea to have
earlier saved a backup copy somewhere else before you followed the advice
above, so you can recover if you lose the new version or mess it up in some
way.

USING THE DATA
Now set up your letter in Word and refer to this spreadsheet when you're
asked for an (existing) data source. Word: Tools menu, Mail Merge... and use
Help to guide you through. Good luck!
All the best, SpudHutton.

"Cheesehead Packer Fan Lisa" wrote:

I am trying to create our church pictoral directory. I have a large database
created in Excel and am wondering if there are any suggestions for the format
of it.

I have to use the family name and each member of the family, their address,
phone #'s, emails etc as well as occupation.

My database is getting way to confusing and I am hoping someone has a
suggestion. Maybe I just don't have the database set up in the most efficient
manner.

Please help asap - I was supose to have this done a year ago!!!!

Thank you,
Lisa

I want to add pictures to our member directory. I already have the Excel
database set up and have done the mail merge in Word. What is the best way to
add a picture to each data record so that it can be set up as a merge field
in Word? When I use a hyper-link to the picture file, all that comes across
in the merge field is just the name of the hyper-linke and not the picture
itself. Help!

"Cheesehead Packer Fan Lisa" wrote:

I am trying to create our church pictoral directory. I have a large database
created in Excel and am wondering if there are any suggestions for the format
of it.

I have to use the family name and each member of the family, their address,
phone #'s, emails etc as well as occupation.

My database is getting way to confusing and I am hoping someone has a
suggestion. Maybe I just don't have the database set up in the most efficient
manner.

Please help asap - I was supose to have this done a year ago!!!!

Thank you,
Lisa