Creating document templates

Owned by Renaldo Figueiredo (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jun 30, 2020 by Marleze Scheepers (Unlicensed)
6 min read

Document templates are used when creating documents for your Clients. You can create and store as many document templates as required, using the Nimbus document templates as a starting point.
Nimbus provides 3 simple document templates, which are as follows:

  • A blank HTML file
  • A blank MS Word file
  • A blank MS Excel file

Watch the Video


To create a document template, the process is to open a Nimbus template, and save this into a Green Practice template folder.


How to Create a Business Document Template

  1. Select Templates from the left-hand side menu, and then select the Documents icon.
  2. Click the New Folder icon in the toolbar and create a folder. You can name this folder to reflect the content. For example, create a folder called Letters, or Spreadsheets, or Word Documents or HR etc.
  3. Expand the Folder section on the left to find the list of your document templates folders
  4. Click the New Template button on the toolbar, select a Template to copy from by either clicking the Thumbnail image, or the document icon.
  5. An empty document is now presented. Edit this document to include the required detail for your template. For example, if this were a Word document, you would enter your Headers and Footers to include company logos and contact details etc. Then you would add the required text including any database merge fields.
  6. Click the Save button to save your changes. This document now resides in your green Documents Templates folder and can be used to create Client documents.




Database Merge Fields

Nimbus CDM provides Database merge fields, which can be used in Documents and Templates. These fields pick-up the relevant data from the Nimbus database and replace the field when the document is PDF'd. It is recommended that these fields be entered into the Document template so that when a new document is created off the template, the fields are already in place.
There are six different categories of fields, which are:

Field

Names

Business

Business Name
Business Address
Business Phone
Business Fax
Billing Email Address
Billing Salutation

From

From Email Address
From Salutation
From First Names
From Surname
From Job Position

Client

Client Code
Client Name
Client Address
Client Phone
Client Fax
Client Responsibility
Client ABN/ACN
Client Group

To

To Email Address
To Salutation
To First Names
To Surname
To Login Code

Custom

These are the Custom fields that relate to Client Entities, that have been added to your database via Templates / Client Templates / Custom Fields

Document Fields

Doc Name
Doc Location
Doc Revision
Doc Status
Doc Matter
Doc Type
Doc Author
Doc Created
Doc Modified
Doc Modified By
Doc Category
Doc Class

14 Additional Document Custom Fields

Today's Date


How to Insert a Nimbus Field into a Document Template:

  1. Select Templates / Documents.
  2. Locate and open the required Document Template.
  3. Place the cursor where you require the field to be inserted.
  4. Click the Insert menu in the ribbon bar.
  5. Select the field you wish to insert from the field options available (last option on the Ribbon bar).
  6. A field will then be placed on your Document Template with < > open / closed brackets. See the example below of Document Template with the Client Name, Address and the To Salutation fields inserted from the Insert menu.
  7. Click the Save button to save your changes. This document will now be available as a template with embedded database merge fields.

Properties of Document Templates

Document Templates may contain a number of user-defined fields and may also contain both Custom Fields and Key Words.

Field

Description

Matter

This is a user definable field and can be used on any document grid for filtering purposes.

Revision

This is a user definable field. This is different to the internal version number that is automatically recorded. Each time a document is edited and saved, the system automatically updates the version number. The Revision could be used as a sub-version number for example: 1-2a.

Status

This is a user definable field, which is accessed from the Work Flow Status set within your employee table. Documents that do not have a set status can be Published without further authority from any other system user. If you have setup Work Flow within your system, and have set Draft documents to not be Published, then when the Document Template is applied the Draft status will also be applied. If you wish to implement Work Flow with your Nimbus system, please refer to Using the Workflow Status page for detailed instructions.

Locked

This means that the Document (template) is locked to the employee who sets the lock and cannot be accessed by any other employee in the system. It could either be a manual lock or an automatic one, set when a user has the document opened.

Custom Fields

Custom Fields are user definable and can be set to record key pieces of information required for any given document. There are 14 fields to be used system wide. As soon as these fields are created, they can be used to apply data to either a Document Template or to a newly created document. Once a value for a Custom Field is entered against a document, this information can then be used on any Document Grid for filtering purposes.

How to Create Custom Fields:

  1. Navigate to the Document Templates by clicking Templates and Documents.
  2. Click the Custom Fields button on the Toolbar.
  3. Enter the name of each field required and click the Update button when complete.

Custom Fields stored against a Document Template

Custom Field Values can be applied to any given document template. When a new document is created from the Document Template, it will inherit the Custom Field Values from the template.

How to Apply Custom Field values to a Document Template:

  1. Navigate to the Document Templates by clicking Templates and Documents.
  2. Open the Document Template Properties:
  3. Click the Custom Fields tab.
  4. You may enter a value into any Custom Field, which will be pre-filled when a new document is created from the template.
  5. When complete click the Update button to save your changes.



Keywords stored against a Document Template

Keywords can be applied to any given document template. When a new document is created from the Document Template, it will inherit the Key Words from the template.

How to Apply Keyword values to a Document Template:

  1. Navigate to the Document Templates by clicking Templates and Documents.
  2. Open the Document Template Properties:
  3. Click the Key Words tab.
  4. You may enter a Category (this is user defined and is another option for searching for documents), and then enter a selection of Key Words. It is recommended to enter each Key Word on a separate line so that it is easier to review.
  5. When complete click the Update button to save your changes.


Related articles