Data merge with diff InD layouts in same doc

[caustinFUB]

I'm trying to do a complicated data merge with Excel, where I'm merging data into an InDesign doc to look like a Twitter timeline.  I've been able to do it fine in a basic sense, merging the various components of the tweet into the correct spot.  Problem is, my data will fall into 3 distinct "layouts" in InDesign:  A tweet with only text, a tweet with text and image, and a tweet that is quoting another tweet. I can merge fine if all the layouts are the same, but they'll be different, and mixed up with each other, since the whole layout will be chronological. Is there a script that can help me so that I can merge data into the document and have it fall into one of the 3 layouts? 

[Colin Flashman]

I saw your earlier post in Merge Excel/InDesign with "if this, then that" layout  and was wondering if you tried my technique?

https://indesignsecrets.com/changing-layouts-during-a-data-merge.php

This technique can be further built upon by having - in the example you uploaded - three different page sizes, and using a separate technique that allows data merges to specific pages to take place: Data Merging to specific pages | Colecandoo!

Ultimately, it isn't something Data Merge can do "off-the-shelf". In fact, Microsoft Word's mail merge feature has more features than InDesign's Data Merge.

This kind of merge really has to be in the same text frame. You could use a technique demonstrated in this video Episode 16: Data Merging into the same Text Frame - YouTube  to merge into the same textframe, but you will then have to post-process the data for each record to have only the appropriate layout style for each record.

There are other options to merging content like this, but the learning curves are steeper. Either try a catalogue plug-in such as:

• Cacidi
• Em Software
• Meadows Publishing Software
• EasyCatalog
• Teacup Software.

[caustinFUB]

Thanks Colin, I did try your technique, although unfortunately I couldn't get all the way to the end to get it to work.  I got stuck at dragging the anchor box, I couldn't get it to move! 

What I might do is just merge each "type" separately, and then maybe hire a freelancer to sort them all for me.  Not ideal, but not sure how else to do it. I contacted a few of those software companies, including Teacup, and they said their software couldn't do what I'm trying to do.

[Colin Flashman]

There is another way, and you may think "are you insane?" as you are reading this, but have you considered doing the base merge in Microsoft Word first, and then importing that into an InDesign file?

Microsoft Word's Mail Merge feature runs rings around InDesign's Data Merge in terms of flexibility. Features such as if/then else are possible, so is the next-record function, meaning everything is in the one long textframe. You could set the base merge up there, and once fully merged, import it into InDesign and tidy up the styles there.

[caustinFUB]

I don't think anything is insane, haha.  But can Word merge images and such in the same way as InDesign, where you can insert a frame and have the image inserted into the frame, and fill the frame proportionally, just like InDesign?  Can you have a white box as the background, with some space inbetween each entry, just as Twitter has a tiny little (1 or 2px) space between tweets in the timeline?  As long as I could potentially get the same look as I can with InDesign, sounds like it could work.  I don't have any idea though how to set up different "templates" in Word and have the merge choose which template to use based on the row in the excel file, and combine them all into one long text frame.

[Colin Flashman]

There is a way to add images during a Microsoft Word mail merge but it isn't as intuitive as InDesign's Data Merge. There's a video of it here: Add individual images to Mail Merge - YouTube

However, there is a script by Kasyan Servetsky that will replace words wrapped in @ symbols with their appropriate images, so you could merge with text only in the initial merge, and then run Kas' script afterwards. His script is here: Place inline images

Start simple with some proofs of principle and build up to the harder parts to see if you can accomplish this task using mail merge in word first, and then format in ID second.

[caustinFUB]

Actually I might have a partial solution within InDesign.  ID does allow you to group text and images together, copy and then paste that grouping into a text frame. Then, if I were to need to insert other grouped objects, I could insert them in the right spot in my text frame and the rest of the grouped objects would adjust down to make room for the pasted object, just like copying and pasting text.  This would work since I don't have nearly as many grouped objects with images in them.  The problem I'm finding is a) ID seems to only allow me to copy and paste grouped objects one at a time into a text frame, which would take forever, and b) if I could solve for A, how could I select all of the grouped frames initially to paste them all into one giant text frame, if the ID merge spreads the grouped objects out over multiple pages?