MS Word 2010 mail merge: dynamic url, same text

Question

I have a MS word 2010 mail merge that needs a personal url as href and a generic title for all users

i can send a url that displays as the full url, but i want a generic display text so users dont see all the parameters or a gigantic url

i have attempted to first insert the hyperlink then ALT+F9, this did not pass the mergefield

 {HYPERLINK "http://domain.wufoo.com/form1/def/Field1={MERGEFIELD id_number}" }

I then attempted after inserting the hyperlink to call a new field as the url, this did not remove the original inserted hyperlink as it seems to require a url value on inserting

 {HYPERLINK {MERGEFIELD url} \* MERGEFORMAT }

I attempted to follow the instructions here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912679 method #1 but the word 2002-2003 menus are different, i havent been able to insert a hyperlink without a url ('"Error! Hyperlink reference not valid" appears in the document.")

I am just not sure how to go about this

Answer 1

Once i figured out how to insert a hyperlink without a url from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912679 method #1, this went off without a hitch

In Word 2010, goto Insert -> Quick parts -> Field and select Hyperlink then hit OK

This inserts a URL without a link address, which you can then follow the rest of the steps to place the mergefield as the url

Answer 2

The { HYPERLINK { MERGEFIELD url } } approach should work, but to get the right displaytext, select the hyperlink field (whether the field or result is displaying, and run the following VBA in the VB Editor's immediate window:

selection.Fields(1).Result.Text = "the display text you want"