monger of that ilk

Q: Mail Merge problem

I'm running OS X 10.9.5 on an iMac and want to use the mail Merge feature in Pages 09 (version 4.0). This works fine on my older machine (10.7.5) but not on the newer one.

 

Pages still seems to have the Mail Merge feature but I am unable to change Merge Fields.

 

Does anyone know a way around this, on this machine? Mail Merge is a very important tool in our business and I feel vulnerable only having one computer - the older one - that is able to do this.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Sep 15, 2016 3:40 AM

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Q: Mail Merge problem

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  • by VikingOSX,

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Sep 15, 2016 4:38 AM in response to monger of that ilk
    Level 7 (20,904 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 4:38 AM in response to monger of that ilk

    What specific version of Pages '09 (Pages menu : About Pages) do you have, and was it originally installed from the retail iWork '09 DVD, or purchased via the OS X App Store as an individual application?

  • by monger of that ilk,

    monger of that ilk monger of that ilk Sep 15, 2016 4:44 AM in response to VikingOSX
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    Desktops
    Sep 15, 2016 4:44 AM in response to VikingOSX

    It's Pages 4.0, and I think it came from the iWork DVD.

     

    Actually I may have solved this now. I found another discussion in which it suggested that rather using the Inspector to populate Merge fields, you had to place the cursor then use Insert > Merge Field. This does seem to work.

     

    What's odd is that the Mail Merge apparatus still exists in the Inspector ... it just doesn't work on this version of OS X.

  • by VikingOSX,

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Sep 15, 2016 7:13 AM in response to monger of that ilk
    Level 7 (20,904 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 7:13 AM in response to monger of that ilk

    Click once on your Pages '09 application icon. Press option+command+i to Get Information on it. What does the Version field report?

     

    If it is still under v4.1, or v4.3, there may be an update path for you, providing it came from the retail iWork '09 DVD.

     

    The iWork '09 DVD would have installed Pages '09 (purple ink bottle icon) into your Applications : iWork '09 folder, and the OS X App Store would have installed it into the Applications folder.

     

    If you installed Pages v5 (yellow document w/pen icon), then it would have automatically moved the App Store sourced Pages '09 into the iWork '09 folder that was referenced in paragraph 2. The location of the DVD installed Pages '09 remains in the Applications : iWork '09 folder.

     

    Wherever your Pages '09 application resides, you can confirm its origin.

    1. Right-click on Pages '09 application, and choose Show Package Contents
    2. Double-click on Contents
      1. Absence of an internal Framework folder indicates it is from the iWork '09 DVD.
        1. If this version of Pages '09 is not already v4.3, then apply the Apple iWork 9.3 updater.
      2. Presence of a Framework folder indicates it was purchased from the OS X App Store.
        1. App Store updates restricted to current Pages release with no update available for Pages '09 on Mavericks.
        2. Use of the iWork 9.3 updater on App Store sourced Pages will destroy it.
  • by monger of that ilk,

    monger of that ilk monger of that ilk Sep 15, 2016 7:25 AM in response to VikingOSX
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 15, 2016 7:25 AM in response to VikingOSX

    It's 4.0. And in fact, in the Applications folder it's in a sub-folder called iWork '09.

     

    I do also have Pages 5.2.2.

     

    Here's what's in Package ...

     

    Pages 09 Package contents.jpg

  • by VikingOSX,

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Sep 15, 2016 8:44 AM in response to monger of that ilk
    Level 7 (20,904 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 8:44 AM in response to monger of that ilk

    Pages '09 v4.0 is not technically compatible with OS X Mavericks. What you show is a version of Pages '09 that came from the iWork '09 DVD. You do not have autosave, or versioning features (4.1 or later) that could protect, and help restore your content.

     

    It is your option whether you want to apply the Apple iWork 9.3 updater to have Pages '09 v4.3.

  • by monger of that ilk,

    monger of that ilk monger of that ilk Sep 15, 2016 8:48 AM in response to VikingOSX
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 15, 2016 8:48 AM in response to VikingOSX

    Would the Apple iWork 9.3 updater make Pages Mail Merge function in the normal way?

  • by VikingOSX,Helpful

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Sep 16, 2016 3:35 AM in response to monger of that ilk
    Level 7 (20,904 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 3:35 AM in response to monger of that ilk

    I don't know. That updater will upgrade your Pages '09 v4.0 application with nearly four year newer features, and bug fixes.

     

    Backup your current Pages '09 v4.0 and apply the updater. Test Mail Merge features in Pages '09 v4.3 on your Mavericks machine.

  • by PeterBreis0807,

    PeterBreis0807 PeterBreis0807 Sep 15, 2016 9:04 PM in response to monger of that ilk
    Level 8 (35,688 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 9:04 PM in response to monger of that ilk

    I have Pages '09 v4.3 running on El Capitan MacOS 10.11 and Mail merge works but it is because I have upgraded Address Book over the years to Contacts and it seems to have retained both the Address Book contents and Links.

     

    Peter

  • by monger of that ilk,

    monger of that ilk monger of that ilk Sep 16, 2016 3:35 AM in response to VikingOSX
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 16, 2016 3:35 AM in response to VikingOSX

    Actually I think I'll leave it as it is. As I said above, I've now found it does work ... just not in the way I was used to.

  • by monger of that ilk,

    monger of that ilk monger of that ilk Sep 16, 2016 3:36 AM in response to PeterBreis0807
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 16, 2016 3:36 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

    Ok, thanks Peter.