Inserting Fill-Ins in a Letter

Some form letters use fill-ins—merge fields that let you enter specific information to customize an instance of a form letter. For example, if you were sending a letter to acknowledge a request for assistance with a problem, the letter might reference the problem, the agency you will contact, and the name and telephone number of the staff person working on the request. When you're preparing correspondence and using a form letter that has fill-ins, Fill-In fields appear for you to complete.

To add fill-in merge fields to an existing form letter without Word content:

Search for the form letter you want to add fill-ins to using the Quick or Advanced Search.
Click the letter name link on the Document Search Results. IQ displays the Form Letter Record page.
On the General panel, select the Edit Content radio option. IQ displays a message that the Status must be changed to Draft in order to edit the content. Click the OK button to continue. IQ automatically changes the Status to Draft.
On the Merge Codes panel, highlight Fillins in the Data Source iframe. IQ displays Field 1, Field 2, etc. in the Merge Field iframe. Click the Copy Merge Field button to copy mail.fillin.FIELD_1.merge to your Windows clipboard.
On the General panel, click where you want fill-in data to appear in the content and then click the Paste icon in the HTML editor tool bar, or right mouse click and select Paste or press the Ctrl and letter V keys. Click the Save icon.

Note: You can also type the fill-in merge field in the Edit Content view using this format: mail.fillin.xxxxx.merge, where xxxxx is the name you want to give to the fill-in field. For example, to provide for an entry referencing a problem or request, you would type mail.fillin.problem.merge or mail.fillin.request.merge.

After you have entered the fill-in merge fields, click the Fill-Ins tab. The names of all fill-in fields you entered in the letter text appear on the Fill-Ins panel. You can enter a field label for each fill-in and identify fill-in fields as specific types in order ensure consistent entry of information in them. You can also specify whether or not the fill-in field is required or not required.

Select the Save and Close action to close the form letter record.

There is no limit to the number of fill-ins you can place in a letter. However, there is a 2,000 character limit to the amount of data that can be entered in a fill-in field. Fill-in information is truncated at 2,000 characters, and you are informed as to the number of characters that were cut.

To remove a fill-in from a letter, check out the letter and delete the fill-in code from the text. When you save and close the letter and check it back in, the Fill-Ins panel is updated to reflect the removal of the fill-in code. Note: Fill-Ins should not be removed from a Form Letter if it has been used in a mail record.

To change the order that the fill-in fields appear on the Mail Record page, select the Rearrange Fill-In Fields action on the Fill-Ins panel.

Fill-In Name

IQ automatically assigns a name of field_# (i.e. field_1, field_2, etc.) for each new fill-in that is added to the form letter. This name is stored in the database, but is not displayed in the Mail record when the letter is selected. The value entered in the Label field is what will appear in the Mail record.

Fill-In Type

The Type field on the Fill-Ins panel lets you set specifications for the fill-in field that appears on the Mail Record page when you send the form letter. Use the Type field if you want to define the type of data that users can enter in the fill-in field. Enter one of six types—String, Date, Number, Body Text, Drop-Down List or Paragraph List—by typing the first character of the type or by clicking in the field and selecting a type from the list that appears.

String or String (no Spell Check) – use this type when users will enter text or alphanumeric information in the field.
Date – use this type when users will enter a date in the fill-in field. When you select this type, a calendar icon appears next to the fill-in field for selection of a date in the Mail record page.
Number – use this type when users will enter numeric characters only in the fill-in field.
Body Text – use this type when users will enter a paragraph or other large amounts of text. A body text field provides a scroll bar and spell checking capabilities.
Drop Down List – use this type when users need to select from a list of values in a drop-down list. Type the value and its translation in the format Code=Translation. For example, if you enter A=Air Force Academy and N=Naval Academy, you can simply type A or N in the fill-in field and the translation Air Force Academy or Naval Academy will appear in the letter. Type each code and translation on a separate line. If the code and translation are the same or you don't need the ability to type just the code in the fill-in field, then only enter the translation, for example Naval Academy, without the code (N) and equal sign (=). Note: The drop-down list may contain up to 4,000 characters.
Paragraph List – use this type when users need to select from a list of paragraph values in a drop-down list. Begin each paragraph section with $$$=name. This will name the paragraph in the drop-down and separate one paragraph section from another. You may include additional fill-in merge fields in the paragraph text.

Required or Not Required

By default, all fill-in fields are required to be completed when the letter is selected in the Mail record. Click in this drop-down and select Not Required if you do not want a fill-in to be a required field in the Mail record. Note: If a form letter contains a fill-in field which is marked as required and the outgoing method is E-Mail, you will not be able to send the outgoing email until the required fill-in(s) are completed.

Fill-In Label

The Label field on the Fill-Ins panel lets you identify the field label that will appear on the Mail Record page when you send this letter to someone. If you don't enter a label, the word you used in the fill-in merge code appears (for example, "problem" for mail.fillin.problem.merge). A label lets you provide more information to the person sending the letter. For example, instead of "Problem," you could prompt with "Type the nature of the problem in fewer than four sentences."

Copy and Enclosure Fill-Ins

You can use fill-in fields as a way to include copy and enclosure notations in a letter. Simply insert a copy and enclosure fill-in at the bottom of the letter. Whenever you send the letter, Copy and Enclosure fields appear on the Mail Record page. If there are no copy or enclosure notations for the letter, simply leave these fields blank.

It's important to remember when using these fields to include the copy and enclosure notation as part of the value you enter in the field. For example, you should enter Copy: John Smith, cc: John Smith, or Courtesy Copy: John Smith in the Copy field. In the Enclosure field, you should enter Enclosure, Enclosures, Enclosures - 3, Enc., and so forth. The format of your entry in these fields is determined by your office standard for presenting this type of information in letters.