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Document Template Support

Docs2Manage 2.0 adds the ability to add new documents from templates.  This eliminates the need to manage templates and edit new documents using these templates outside the system.  The templates are stored in Docs2Manage or can be linked to a file on a system or network.  A template should be a document that can be edited like a Adobe Acrobat (PDF), MS Word, or Excel document.  This could be a completely blank document or a document made to fill in the blanks.  Your computer should have software installed on it to allow you to edit the document.  For example, if you add a template made with MS Word, then you should have MS Word installed on any machine that will use that template.

Create a document from an existing template
To add a document from an existing document template, click the "New Document from Template" button or press F3 and select a template from the template dialog.  Once a template is selected  the Document Information Form will display with the information filled in as defined for that template.  Finally, once you save the document information, the document template will open for editing.  Change that document as desired.  This will NOT effect the underlying template.  Once you are finished editing the document, save and close the program that was used to edit the document.  Be sure to save the file using the name that Docs2Manage has defined (use "Save" and not "Save as..").  This will save the document into the system.

Add a document template to Docs2Manage
The Template Set-up screen can be accessed by clicking the "File" main menu and then "Document Templates Set-up".  The following screen will appear:



To create a template, click the "New Template" button.  Type in a name and description for the document.  If the document is for private use only, then make sure the "Private to user only" field is checked or else it will be public to the group.  Next, click the "Add Document and Make Active" button to select the file and the following dialog will appear:



If you elect to store the link ("Store Link"), Docs2Manage will always look for the template from the location you provide.  If the template is to be considered public, you will want to select the template from a common shared network drive.  If elect to store the document in the database ("Store in Database") the document template will be available to anyone that has right to the template area, but only if it is marked as public.

Under the "Default Data Values" section, this is data that can be copied to the information record when the document template is used to create a new document.

When you are finished, click the "Update" button to finish adding the new template.

NOTE: Document templates stored in the system are not changeable.  If you need to modify an existing template, open the template and save a new copy to a file, edit that copy, copy it to the share area of your network if Docs2Manage is going to store the link, and re-add the document template to the system using the "Add Document and Make Active" button. ..