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• • August 2, 2018 at 9:09 am #105174
    Nathan Bowen

    Member

    Hello,
    I’m working on a directory for my church.
    Is there a feature or script that would allow groups to flow in a similar way that text can? Basically, I want to be able to delete one entry and have the next entry move into its place. This way if someone leaves the church, I don’t have to go through the entire directory after them, moving each person after them up in the order.

    Here are three images demonstrating what I’m seeking to accomplish:
    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8yir5q77l6ewtky/AAD6LF-LHWq4KfGlgV28xCRVa?dl=0

    This has been one of the greater hinderances to the progress of the project so far. I would really appreciate your advice. Thanks!

    Nate

  • August 2, 2018 at 10:43 am #105176
    Justin Wheeler

    Member

    Good news! This can be very easily done, Nate! In fact, I had to do the very same thing you are trying to accomplish with my church’s directory.

    What I did first was create one entry which consisted of an image and a text box below it with the member information formatted the way I wanted it to appear. I made sure my text box was sized to the just fit all of my text (no extra space between the bottom line of text and bottom edge of the frame.

    Next, I grouped my image and text box.

    Then I created a text frame and sized it to fit my page margins.

    Next step, copy or cut your one entry and paste it into your text frame. The grouped image and text box will now behave just like text! Voila! Simply copy and paste to create new entries. I split my text frames into columns as well, and in your case, looks like a two column text box will suit your layout nicely. Hope this helps! Good luck!

  • August 16, 2018 at 7:34 am #109693
    Nathan Bowen

    Member

    Thank you so much, Justin! This was a huge help. I wondered if something like what you described was the solution.
    I’m sorry I couldn’t respond earlier. I think someone spammed the forum so they shut down replies for a little while.

    Related question:
    I’ve created the directory structure and implemented your instructions. Did you use data merge to put in your members’ information, or did you enter all of their information manually? I’m trying to figure out what might work best for me. We have about 140 members.

  • August 16, 2018 at 7:46 am #109694
    Justin Wheeler

    Member

    Data merge would be a very quick route to building the directory. I use a plug-in called DesignMerge Pro for my variable data output (I work for a small printing company so we need something a little more robust for our vdp jobs). That is, in fact, how I created my church’s directory. I applied tags to my one entry, copied, pasted to make one page, set sequence numbers for each entry and then did a merge to build my pages. Easy-peasy!

  • August 16, 2018 at 8:07 am #109695
    Nathan Bowen

    Member

    Ok, good to know!
    What do you mean when you say you “set sequence numbers for each entry”?

    We probably won’t purchase a software in order to do the data merge. So I assume going the ole excel or google sheets route is the best way to create a CSV file for InDesign? What do you think? (I’m pretty amateur when it comes to data merge)

  • August 16, 2018 at 8:57 am #109697
    Justin Wheeler

    Member

    Setting sequence numbers tells indesign the order you want the data to flow into the layout. So if you have four rows, three columns for instance, you need to tell indesign what entry in your database goes where.

    1 2 3
    4 5 6
    7 8 9
    10 11 12

    or

    1 5 9
    2 6 10
    3 7 11
    4 8 12

    Easier to show this with a graphic but I don’t think there’s a way to attach one in this forum.

  • August 16, 2018 at 10:05 am #109702
    Nathan Bowen

    Member

    Ok, so I would set the sequence numbers in my data merge and then have InDesign recognize that and put the entries in order. I’ll probably just try to export our membership data to a CSV file and edit it in google sheets.

    Thanks for your help, Justin! I’ll give this all a try.

  • August 17, 2018 at 7:15 am #109827
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    Here’s a quick tip on flowing anchored objects:
    https://creativepro.com/auto-reflowing-images-in-a-grid.php

  • August 22, 2018 at 2:07 pm #110060
    Nathan Bowen

    Member

    Sweet. Thank you for that, David! It’s helpful to have a whole article on the subject to understand it better.

    Justin,
    Is there any way you could email me a graphic or example of how to do the sequence numbering for the CSV file to communicate with InDesign?
    I’m sorry to ask so much but, I’m just struggling to visualize and figure it out. My work email is: administrator@jpbc.org

    Thanks,
    Nate

  • August 23, 2018 at 5:13 am #110065
    Justin Wheeler

    Member

    Hi Nate. I’ve never done a data merge using inDesign’s prebuilt features but from the looks of this video it is a bit different than the method I use with DesignMerge Pro. Check it out and see if this helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgeAeQW_yQ8

    Justin

  • August 23, 2018 at 8:56 am #110066
    Nathan Bowen

    Member

    Great. I think I may have stumbled across this one before. I’ll check it out though. Thanks!

    Nate

  • March 25, 2019 at 1:39 pm #115516
    Pat Morita

    Member

    You may also try MyDataMerge for Mac. Inline merge (data merge content, even groups, so they flow in a story) is built in as well as ordering records as you wish (with multiple page support) as well as cut and stack style impositions (interesting for printers) to set up sets and stacks.

    Edit: Just recognized you do not want to purchase anything (then you might have to deal with scripting)

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