First, Middle, Last - Standard fields
Nickname - this field can be activated in your Global Settings setup screen if you wish to use it. If used, in certain outputs the system will produce "First Name Informal" field that will use either a nickname, if present, or the patron's first name.
Name for publication - this field is intended for donor acknowledgment, such as a show playbill printing. So if Bob Jones tells you "I want to appear in print as "Bobbie and Melinda Jones" or "The Joneses", this is where you'd record that request. It stays with the individual and comes out in donation batches, donation reports, etc. Note that this field is NOT intended for purposes of mail addressing.
Household name (formal and informal) - These fields ONLY appear IF there is a household link. There are no household name fields for individuals. When more than one record is linked as "same household" then they SHARE these fields across their accts.
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Postal Mailing Addressing - Here's how it works: You can select informal or formal versions of naming
Address block for label our mail merge output:
Address block is formatted in 5 lines starting with name, and going down including the possible fields of address1, address2, city/state/zip, and country. These lines appear automatically on label output, and as fields labeled line1 through line5 in the mail merge file output.
1) If mailing to an individual, informal output will be first (or nickname), last. Formal will include Prefix, First, middle, last, suffix.
If the individual has "work" as their mailing request, then it will address to their name at the linked organization's address.
2) If mailing is going to a household, the system will use the informal or formal household names IF they are present on the patron records. If they are not present then the system will attempt to concatenate the household member names together. So Bob Smith and Mary Smith would come out on the label as "Bob and Mary Smith". If they have different last names it will include both, etc. There is an algorithm to handle the combinations.
3) Organization records are always addressed the organization.
Additionally in the mail merge file output, you'll get various name and address fields for you to use in your mail merge, such as first, middle, nickname, last, addr1, addr2, etc, etc. You can choose which fields to use.
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Batch output
Batch output is similar to mail merge output, but will additionally include elements of the transaction, such as the donation, the membership renewal details, the retail transaction, etc. Batches are used for fulfillment, such as donor acknowledgement letters, retail shipment, ticket delivery, etc.
Recommended other topics: FAQ - Database Normalization, How To: Generate Output