Drag and drop vCard to address Letters

Question

I used to be able to drag and drop a vCard from Address Book to address a Letter Template. It no longer works (just drops the name alone even when there is an address in the vCard).
I've read the Pages manual (240 +) and it refers to a "Merge Field." How do I identify if a template has a Merge Field or are there no Merge Fields in Letter Templates? Must I create one each time I want to address a letter from my vCards in Address Book?
SJ Allan

Answer 1

Let's start from scratch.
In the *Personal Photo Letter* template it has a merge set for the addressee (them) at the top of the letter and the addressor (you) at the bottom of the letter. Apple calls these Merge (them) and Sender (you).
The Sender information comes from the personal vCard in Address Book. It is the one with a black silhouette icon. It was set up when you filled in your information on registering your Mac the first time.
You can change this in *Address Book* at any time, or mark another vCard as you:
+Menu > Card > Mark This My Card+
That will fill in the data at the foot of the letterhead.
You can create your own set or data links in the letter by:
+Menu > Insert > Sender Field > choose each in turn+
Note that you have a choice here between work and home addresses because they are usually not the same.
The same is done for the "Merge" set (them) at the top of the letterhead:
+Menu > Insert > Merge Field > choose each in turn+
Once the merge fields are in place you can delete them and replace them or select them and change their merge link:
+Inspector > Link > Merge > Choose+
In this list the Merge column is what you have in the letterhead and the *Target Name* in the column to the right is what you are linking to. The Target Name can be changed by clicking on the little double arrows and making another choice from the Address Book data items.
Having made the selection that is now set on that data field and will be saved with your document.
Be aware though that if you want this to run through to subsequent pages of your document you will have to "capture" the page to make it available as a Section under the Sections menu on the toolbar.
Apple has not explained this well, if at all. The captured sections, which pre-exist in some templates, are effectively templates for sections within the document. They are what appears when you create new pages. Since they are hidden from view, many users get confused when a previous design sticks despite being changed on the page.
Peter