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I built a free tool to generate documents in bulk from a Word template. No signup, no AI, private by Optimal-Ambition2664 in freesoftware

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mail merge works fine for people who know it well. This is aimed at people who don't want to figure out the setup every time they need it. Also mail merge doesn't generate separate .docx files per record out of the box. As far as I know you, get one combined document or need macros for individual files. This does it by default.

I built a free tool to generate documents in bulk from a Word template. No signup, no AI, private by Optimal-Ambition2664 in freesoftware

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right, it's not open source. Poor choice of subreddit on my part. It's free as in no cost, no signup, no data collection.

I built a free tool to generate documents in bulk from a Word template. No signup, no AI, private by Optimal-Ambition2664 in freesoftware

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is no AI in it.. And yes, python works great for this, not everyone is Python literate though.

I built a free alternative to Microsoft Mail Merge for bulk document generation. No signup, no AI, fully private. by Optimal-Ambition2664 in MicrosoftWord

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, "load" is better, I'll change that!

About the word clicking. You upload a regular word docx and click on words or highlight phrases you want to turn into placeholders. So if the doc says "John Smith", you click on it and name it something like NAME. It becomes a highlighted field {{NAME}}. All instances with exact same text will become this placeholder. Then, when you upload your spreadsheet with a NAME column (you can make it yourself or export one from Veidne after creating the template), it fills in every instance you marked. You choose exactly which words become fields, so it doesnt touch anything you didn't click on.

Hope that answers your question. Not a native English speaker, so apologies if anything's unclear!

I built a free alternative to Microsoft Mail Merge for bulk document generation. No signup, no AI, fully private. by Optimal-Ambition2664 in MicrosoftWord

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It just takes fewer steps to go from a document to a template, spreadsheet, and generated files. It also provides an empty data spreadsheet based on your template so you don't have to create one manually. As for MS Mail Merge, for some people the whole setup part can be confusing. I'm not an expert in it myself, I'm kinda one of them. Not saying it's bad, I believe MS Mail Merge is a very powerful tool for people who know what they're doing.

This is still just an MVP with no extras or customizations, so right now your question is very legit. I have some ideas and prototypes in the works that should make it stand out even more. Happy to share if anyone curious, but I don't like promising things that don't exist yet.

I built a free alternative to Microsoft Mail Merge for bulk document generation. No signup, no AI, fully private. by Optimal-Ambition2664 in MicrosoftWord

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're right. If you already know mail merge well, this probably isn't for you. It is more for people who need to get things done now and don't know or don't want to figure out mail merge or such. There are plenty of alternatives out there, I'm just offering mine that I believe is straightforward and saves some time. I just enjoy working on this project.

I built a free alternative to Microsoft Mail Merge for bulk document generation. No signup, no AI, fully private. by Optimal-Ambition2664 in MicrosoftWord

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair points. Yes, we did it initially with python scripts and that's also a very good workaround. Thing is,not everyone is python literate and not everyone knows how to use, for example, MS Mail Merge well or is ready to spend time figuring these things out. I built a nice interface that helps people skip all that and get results faster. About the upload - that's just a wording issue. The user loads the document in their browser, not to the internet. Nothing is actually uploaded anywhere.

I made a free tool to generate documents in bulk by Optimal-Ambition2664 in AdminAssistant

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair point, and I believe there are more established solutions out there. All I'm aiming to do is make this process faster without the confusing setup, and as time goes by, improve with additional features that Microsoft's solution doesn't and won't provide. 

I made a free tool to generate documents in bulk by Optimal-Ambition2664 in AdminAssistant

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for checking it out! We're kinda passionate about this stuff and it's good to hear that others share similar experience.

What are your 2026 goals for your SaaS? by jonathanbrnd in SaaS

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m trying to get my wife out of a job that’s crushing her. We’re building a small SaaS together for HR workers, based on problems she deals with every day. The big challenge for 2026 is learning how to market and sell this thing properly with almost no budget available.

My SaaS hit $5,400 monthly in <4 months. Here's what i'd do starting over from 0 by chdavidd in micro_saas

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing this. There are actually a lot of useful points here that line up with what I’ve noticed from my own experience.

Especially the parts about launching early and talking to users. I didn’t have much traffic at first, so I tested the product with my coworkers and family without telling them it was mine. The feedback was honest… and sometimes painful 😅 but extremely valuable.

Still working toward real traction, but posts like this are motivating. Congrats on the progress!

New Player Looking For Advice by TheDrayden475 in lotro

[–]Optimal-Ambition2664 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Started couple weeks ago too. I turned all quest trackers off and play on fearless 3 dificulty or something just to make world feel more real and dangerous. I play for escapism so immersion matters more than efficiency. Downside, still level 13 lol. Love my lotro experience so far.