If you don't have the Agiloft Contract Assistant for Word installed, there are other ways you can add document templates to your system. You can either create records directly in the Document Templates table, or use the action bar in the table view of a given table.

You can also use these alternative methods to upload document templates in PDF and HTML format.

You may also find the articles in this section useful if you want to automate additional text treatments that aren't available in the Word app.

Document Templates Table

To create a document template in the Document Templates table:

1. Choose a sample document to use as the basis of the template. Save it as a local file, and open it in Microsoft Word.
2. Go through the document, and manually replace text with variable syntax where needed. Once you're finished, save the document. For information about how to insert syntax and other data types, visit the child pages of this article.
3. Navigate to the Document Template table.
4. Click New from the action bar.
5. Upload the file from step 2 to the Attached File field.

PDF and HTML Templates

Document templates built with the Agiloft Contract Assistant for Word use .docx files, which is the recommended file type for document templates. However, in rare cases you may want to use PDF or HTML files. To create document templates that use PDF or HTML files:

1. Choose a sample document to use as the basis of the template. Save it as a local file, and open it in Microsoft Word.
2. Go through the document, and manually replace text with variable syntax where needed. Once you're finished, save the document. For information about how to insert syntax and other data types, visit the child pages of this article.
3. Navigate to the table where you'd like the document template to be generated from.

4. From the action bar in the table view, navigate to More > Print Records. Older versions of the system used a printer icon in the action bar to initiate this workflow instead.

5. Select an option to either create a New HTML Template or a New Word/PDF Template.
   

   
   

6. Complete the configuration wizard and click Finish. The configuration wizards vary depending on whether you chose HTML or Word/PDF.
   • For New HTML Template, you will need to code the template using HTML within the wizard.
   • For New Word/PDF Template, you can simply upload the template file.

Selectable Templates

In most KBs, you can use the Document Template table to manage the templates available to you. The table shows available templates, as well as the specific type of contract they work with. However, if your KB doesn't have this table, and you want to offer users the ability to select a template within a record, you can use these steps to create one.

For Word and PDF templates, you can create a document template that pulls its formatting from a field instead of hard-coded file if different records will use different formats. With this setup, you can use a single document template configuration while accommodating different document formats.

For example, in a typical contract management scenario, the Contract Types table has an attached file field called Document Template File that holds or links to the available document templates. In each contract type, the relevant document template is selected in this field. When users select a contract type for a new contract, you can automatically pull in the selected format as part of the linked set.

To do this:

1. Set up an attached file field in the desired table, either as a local field or a link to another table that stores all available document templates.
2. Complete the directions in Print Records in the same table as step 1, selecting New Word/PDF Template in step 5.
3. When you create the document template, load the template from a Field instead of a File, and select the attached file field you created in step 1. Using the example scenario above, the attached file field would be Document Template File.

File Types

While document templates are usually .docx files, they can also be PDF or HTML files. Each format has benefits and drawbacks. Here are some common considerations for each format:

Locked Word Templates

If a PDF doesn't suit your needs, but you don't want a Word template to be freely edited, you can lock the template so that all changes are tracked. When the document is ready to be finalized, the person with access to the password can review all changes and accept or reject them as needed. This is also useful when you already have a Word template designed, but the template doesn't look right when you apply it to PDF formatting.

To lock your Word template for editing, configure your template as desired and then:

1. Go to the Review tab and click Restrict Editing.
2. Configure the options as desired:
   • Formatting restrictions. You can use this to limit formatting changes to selecting an allowed saved style.
   • Editing restrictions. Select one of these options to limit or track editing. To follow the example above and track all changes for later review, select Tracked Changes.
3. Click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.
4. Set a password to unlock the restrictions. This is the password you'll need to distribute to people responsible for reviewing the changes and producing a final version of the document. You might also store the password in a field if you use a table to store all the document templates; in the default Document Templates table, you can use the Password for Locked Word Document field.