Word 2010 Mail Merge Templates, IncludePicture, and CRM 2011

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  I am trying create a mail merge template for use in CRM 2011 (both local and online). I want this mail merge template to include an image, and so I am trying to use the "IncludePicture" functionality of Word 2010 to point to a URL which contains the image. I want this image to be stored somewhere within my CRM solution, and so I have attempted to create a CRM web resource which contains a JPEG image and have my mail merge template include the image which is stored at the URL of that web resource.

  There are two problems that I have run into so far which I hope to resolve.

  1. Though I have successfully been able to get a mail merge template to include an image which is stored as a web resource in a CRM solution hosted locally, this is the only place I have had success. I have not gotten a mail merge document to successfully include any image which is stored in a web resource in a CRM solution hosted online.

  2. Even if CRM online were to work as I would expect, (storing images within web resources and allowing mail merge templates to include images stored within web resources which are part of a CRM online solution), I do not think this approach of using web resources to store images is ultimately going to work in a situation where a solution is exported from one environment and imported into another environment. For example, if I were to create a web resource in a local CRM instance, a certain URL will be created to represent that web resource, which my mail merge template can point to successfully. But, if I were to then export my entire CRM solution locally, and import it into another environment like a CRM online instance, the URL of that web resource is going to change, and as such, the URL contained within my mail merge template also needs to change. I know this is a prayer, but is it possible to make the “IncludePicture” functionality within a mail merge document change the URL that it is pointing to based upon certain criteria that I specify (for example, the name or URL of the CRM deployment which contains the mail merge template)?

  
  

  Monday, June 13, 2011 3:07 PM