What is it
Templates are per-designed documents that can be used as a starting point for creating new documents. Users of a template can fill out the smart fields and it’ll automatically generate a final document.
Who is it for
Templates are typically created by users that create content. They are often content experts, but can also be external experts who are responsible for creating and managing the templates.
Why use templates?
Templates are used to ensure that end-documents always have the correct content and structure. Using them instead of starting a document from scratch also saves a lot of time from users.
Also, if something changes in regulation, company policy or elsewhere, you only have to change it once centrally and users will from that point onwards always have the right information in their documents.
What type of documents you can use templates for
You can use templates for any type of document from simple to very complex. Think of employee contracts, financial products, outsourcing contracts and request forms.
Templates are useful for creating documents that have a similar structure such as invoices, employee contracts or business letters. They save time and effort: the user creating an actual document from the template only needs to fill in the required data and if needed, the content can be edited.
Important: We strongly recommend to create dynamic fields before you start creating templates. contractuo set up some standard dynamic fields, but these might not be enough for your needs. Using text blocks for standard pieces of texts that are used in multiple documents will also save time. We also recommend to create them before creating templates.
How to create a template
- Go to the ‘Documents‘ module and click on ‘Manage Templates‘.
- Click on ‘Create New‘.
- Enter a suitable template name.
- Enter a template description. This can be useful for your colleagues to quickly see that this template is about.
- Select from the drop down the template language. This can be useful when you create the same template in multiple languages.
- Select from the drop down the countries that are applicable for this template.
- If you already have a template in Word, click on ‘Word Upload‘ in the left upper corner and upload the document.
- Click on ‘Toolbox‘.
- Replace the open spaces that need to be filled in (like name, date, expiry date) by dynamic fields. Or write the text in the editor and add fields. Click on the drop down menu of ‘All Dynamic Fields‘ and select the dynamic field that needs to be in this place. Or type /d in the document to quickly add fields.
- Click on ‘Text Blocks‘ or use /t if you want to add them. Click here to read more about text blocks.
- Add a place for receiving and sending signatories. Go to ‘Toolbox‘ and click in the template where you would like to add these fields. Then click on ‘Receiving Signatories‘ and ‘Sending Signatories‘.
- Click on these fields in the template to choose what data is needed for the parties to fill in.
- Click on ‘Publish Now‘ to save the template and make it usable from now on.
- Click on ‘Save‘ to save the template as a draft. The template cannot be used.
