Sorting numerically in recipient list

[greengauge]

I am trying mail merge for the first time to help with giving feedback on student presentations, so please forgive me if this is a stupid question. The presentations will be given in a particular order which is not alphabetical. I would like to be able to create a merged document in which the forms are already in the correct order. I thought I would create a field called 'running order' and give this a number according to the order in which the presentations will be given. Then, in theory, if I sort this list numerically, and then merge, my forms will be in the same order. BUT I can't get the column to sort properly numerically in the recipient list. It sorts A-Z ascending: 1 10 11 12 2 3 4 ... It's very frustrating. How do I get Word to sort numerically instead of alphabetically? Ah... I think by writing this I've just worked it out... I need to number 01, 02, 03... Might as well post this as it may help someone else!

[macropod]

Assuming an Excel data source, you'd probably find it easier to sort by formatting the numbers with leading 0s, rather than trying to type the 0s in.

[greengauge]

Thanks -- yes, it probably would. I might do that in future. Today I just typed in a new list but would make sense to use my Excel class list next year.