How to create fillable Outlook email templates from datasets

Create and use datasets in Shared Email Templates

Before we start with the basics, I’ll drop a few lines of introduction for those who are new to our blog and don’t know yet what is Shared Email Templates and what the WHAT TO ENTER macro I’m talking about. Shared Templates is a tool that can convert your daily routine in Outlook into a matter of a few clicks. See, you create a set of templates with the necessary formatting, links, pictures, etc. and paste the right template in a moment. No need to type and format your replies anymore, the ready-to-be-sent email is created on a fly.

As for WHAT TO ENTER, I got this macro covered in my previous tutorial, feel free to jog your memory ;)

How to use multiple-field dataset when writing Outlook emails

As now we have a clear understanding on how datasets are created and used, it’s high time to create a more complex and informative table and fill in multiple places of your email at once.

I’ll import my pre-saved table in order not to bore you with data filling and modify my template a little so that all the necessary fields get populated. I want my dataset to:

• Paste the discount amount;
• Add the client’s personal link;
• Fill in a few lines of customer’s special payment conditions;
• Insert a lovely “Thank you’ image;
• Attach an agreement to the email.

Am I looking for too much? No, as I have my dataset prepared :) See me filling in all that info on a fly:

You may have noticed that some of the macros were pre-saved in a template. I showed you how to set up a macro to get data from the dataset and merge it with another macro. If you need more examples or further clarification, please leave your feedback in the Comments section ;)

Anyways, here is the final text of my template:

If you don’t believe the video above, just install Shared Email Templates from Microsoft Store, check out datasets by yourselves and share your experience with me and others in the Comments ;)

Fill in table using dataset in Outlook emails

The list of dataset’s capabilities is not finished yet. Imagine this – your customer is still doubting on how many items to purchase and would like to know more about the discounts and payment conditions. Instead of writing it all in one long sentence you’d better create a table with each available option and its characteristics.

I wouldn’t call it very timesaving to make a new table and fill it with the data you already have in your dataset. However, there is a quick workaround for this case. You may bind your dataset to a table and your email will be filled with the dataset’s info in a wink. You’ll need to:

1. Open a template and create a table with at least two rows (the number of columns is totally up to you).
2. Fill in the table’s first row as this is going to be our header.
3. Right-click anywhere on the second row and choose “Bind to dataset”.
4. Choose the dataset to pull the data from and hit Ok.
5. When you paste this template, you’ll be asked to choose the columns to add. Tick all or just some of them off and proceed.
6. Enjoy ;)

If you’d like to add something visual to the text above, you may have a look at our Docs for the step-by-step screenshots of the dataset binding or check out the small video below.

Long story short, you create a table, fill in its header and connect it to your dataset. When pasting a template, you’ll just set the rows to paste and the tool will populate your table in a second.

Here is how my template started to look after the dataset binding:

In case you need to unbind the dataset, just remove the “connected” row.

See? Couldn’t be easier :)

Additionally, you may be interested to make a dynamic Outlook template that automatically switches images, attachments and text individually for each user.

Conclusion

In this article I got one more option of our super-helpful macro called WHAT TO ENTER covered for you. Now you know how to create, edit and use datasets in Shared Email Templates and, I really hope, will start using them :)