Robin Bonathan

Q: creating a distribution list

How do I create a distribution list in mail ?

 

I have 50 or so email address (not in my address contact book) that I need to send emails to on a regular basis.

 

So far I have just copied and pasted them into my mail program but as the names change monthly there must be a better way.

 

I can see you can create a distrution list out of contacts in contacts app but how this does not seem to allow me to make a group just from email address I have.

 

any ideas please.

 

thanks

MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Apr 2, 2013 5:23 AM

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Q: creating a distribution list

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  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Apr 2, 2013 5:30 AM in response to Robin Bonathan
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2013 5:30 AM in response to Robin Bonathan

    Create a group in Contacts and add the desired contacts to it. Then just send the message to that group.

  • by Robin Bonathan,

    Robin Bonathan Robin Bonathan Apr 2, 2013 5:38 AM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (94 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2013 5:38 AM in response to thomas_r.

    Hi

     

    I have created a group but where do I add the email address. ?

     

    I use icloud for contacts etc.

     

    I have the group open but i cant seem to paste the email addresses anywhere.

    If I add it to the mail address using edit, it only adds the first email addressScreen Shot 2013-04-02 at 14.38.04.png

     

    Its probably me but any pointer please.

     

    thanks

  • by Alberto Ravasio,

    Alberto Ravasio Alberto Ravasio Apr 2, 2013 5:41 AM in response to Robin Bonathan
    Level 5 (4,070 points)
    Apr 2, 2013 5:41 AM in response to Robin Bonathan

    Select All Contacts tab, drag contacts over the list you wish to add them

  • by Alberto Ravasio,

    Alberto Ravasio Alberto Ravasio Apr 2, 2013 5:44 AM in response to Robin Bonathan
    Level 5 (4,070 points)
    Apr 2, 2013 5:44 AM in response to Robin Bonathan

    You can also create Smart Groups based on certain criteria.

     

    Address Book File menu, New Smart Group

  • by Robin Bonathan,

    Robin Bonathan Robin Bonathan Apr 2, 2013 6:07 AM in response to Alberto Ravasio
    Level 1 (94 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2013 6:07 AM in response to Alberto Ravasio

    But that is the problem

     

    The email address are NOT in contacts, they are just email address.

     

     

    How do I just add email address to a group ?

     

    thanks

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Apr 2, 2013 6:10 AM in response to Robin Bonathan
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2013 6:10 AM in response to Robin Bonathan

    You have to add them to Contacts for that to work. If the addresses in question are not addresses that you want in Contacts, then you'll have to find another solution. You could keep a spreadsheet in Excel or Numbers, for example, and copy the addresses from there into Mail.

  • by Robin Bonathan,

    Robin Bonathan Robin Bonathan Apr 2, 2013 6:36 AM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (94 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2013 6:36 AM in response to thomas_r.

    Thanks

     

    THis was what I was trying to avoid on both counts, adding them to contacts and having to import them from elsewhere.

     

    Just wanted a group with email address in.

  • by MC Mahaney,

    MC Mahaney MC Mahaney Aug 21, 2013 5:51 PM in response to Robin Bonathan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2013 5:51 PM in response to Robin Bonathan

    RB:  Did you ever find an answer to your question.   I have the same problem.   I have list of over 300 e-mail addresses to which I wanted to (relatively) quickly send a single e-mail.  I did not have the time or inclination to create a new card for each, transfer each bit of information to the card, and move each of the 300+ cards into the group. 

     

    WTH? 

     

    I cannot believe that Apple Mail provides no way to either create a "group" or stored distribution list in batch or allow me to reliably copy the 300+ e-mails into the "to", "cc", or "bcc" distribution lists from a speadsheet.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Aug 21, 2013 6:09 PM in response to MC Mahaney
    Level 8 (49,747 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 21, 2013 6:09 PM in response to MC Mahaney

    I don't think you can send over 100 email addresses in Mail, and most, if not all, ISP's probably do not allow it either.

     

    If you have a "list of over 300 e-mail addresses," just drag that list to the To field.

     

    I don't know how much text you can fit in a Text Clipping, but you can drag the selected "list of emails" to the Desktop and it will create a Text Clipping. You can then drag that text clipping to the address fields in Mail.

  • by Robin Bonathan,

    Robin Bonathan Robin Bonathan Aug 22, 2013 3:25 AM in response to MC Mahaney
    Level 1 (94 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 22, 2013 3:25 AM in response to MC Mahaney

    Not really.

     

    I created one contact which I then pasted all the email address into the notes section.

     

    I then copy and paste from that into TO on an email.

     

    Hardly ideal but it works crudly.

  • by RJPennington,

    RJPennington RJPennington Oct 7, 2013 7:22 AM in response to MC Mahaney
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2013 7:22 AM in response to MC Mahaney

    This is a ridiculous oversight in Mail/Contacts.  I could do this so easily in Eudora -- years ago.  Just choose a group of addressees and create a group . . .

  • by patrickthepoet,

    patrickthepoet patrickthepoet Oct 31, 2013 1:00 PM in response to RJPennington
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2013 1:00 PM in response to RJPennington

    I agree - it's amazing that Apple can't figure out a way to support something this simple.

  • by hibbopotamus,Helpful

    hibbopotamus hibbopotamus Dec 12, 2013 2:49 AM in response to Robin Bonathan
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 2:49 AM in response to Robin Bonathan

    Sorry I have only just seen this. I was hoping for a better solution than the one I have, but I am now thinking mine is better than any of the above. What I have done is create STATIONERY inside mail - you can put any number of email addresses into the TO, CC or BCC boxes there, and save as stationery. Then whenever the list changes, you can open a new mail, use stationery, choose custom, pick yours, change the TO list as required, then save as stationery and overwrite the old one. This way you don't have to have the email addresses linked in any way to contacts.

  • by hibbopotamus,

    hibbopotamus hibbopotamus Dec 12, 2013 2:51 AM in response to MC Mahaney
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 2:51 AM in response to MC Mahaney

    Sorry I have only just seen this. I was hoping for a better solution than the one I have, but I am now thinking mine is better than any of the above. What I have done is create STATIONERY inside mail - you can put any number of email addresses into the TO, CC or BCC boxes there, and save as stationery. Then whenever the list changes, you can open a new mail, use stationery, choose custom, pick yours, change the TO list as required, then save as stationery and overwrite the old one. This way you don't have to have the email addresses linked in any way to contacts.

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