Please watch the below video, or read on, for how to set up and use the Word Add-in within Workbooks.

Setting up and creating templates to be used with Workbooks consists of three key parts:

1. A template - this should be designed in MS Word
   • This could be a templated letter with one or two placeholders for names and addresses, or it could be an Invoice document with a Line Item table and with placeholders for the Payment Date, Payment Terms and other Invoice details.
2. The data source - this is determined from a report in Workbooks
   • This report must include all the fields that will be used within your Word Template and be accessible to any user using the template(s) linked to the report.
3. The link between the template and the data - Creating the Template within Workbooks
   • This brings together the created report and the Word Template, and allows the Word Document to be generated from your records in Workbooks.

Designing the Word Template

We have created a series of templates that you can use as a starting point or for a bit of inspiration, they can be found here. We recommend reviewing one of these documents before setting up your own to help you gain a better understanding of how the document needs to be formatted and laid out.

The first thing you may notice from the one of the example documents is that they contain a combination of text written normally as well as text within square brackets [for example]. This text in square brackets denotes that this is a placeholder tag or merge field.

These merge fields will pull in the value from the respective column in the report in Workbooks and you will need to consider the placement of them throughout the document as well as the kind of information you will need to pull in and what can be fixed. 

For example, a final document with the below layout:

Will actually be designed as the below; you will see that we have kept our company address as regular text as this will remain static, but dynamic fields such as the Customer name and the Order date have been replaced with merge tags.

These merge tags must contain the name of the report column from which they will pull their data; they are not case sensitive, but if your report column name contains brackets, the merge field must match this. Therefore, if you create the Word Template before you create the report, make sure to rename the columns in the report as you build it to match your template.

Line Item Tables

The Word Add-in can merge one Line Item table within the document. This allows you to quickly and easily produce Quotes, Invoices and other Transaction Documents without the need to move data into tables manually.

Using the Order example above you will see that the Line Item table consists of two rows:

 
The first row consists of the field headers as you would expect. The second row has a merge field in every cell; when this is linked with Workbooks the table will have a row for each Line Item pulling through the respective field to each merge field. This means you do not need to create a row for each Line Item in Workbooks

You could also use this functionality for other tables, like Activities related to a Case, or People related to an Organisation, as long as your report contains a row for each of these items.

Binding your Template

Once you have created your Template design you will need to bind the template, this is only possible once the Word Add-in has been setup and deployed. 

Before binding the template click ‘Login to Workbooks’, which will open a dialog box where you can log into Workbooks using your usual credentials and select the database you want to login to.

Once you are logged in your username and database will appear above the Bind Template button.

Now you can bind the template through the bind template button. You should now see a success message appear in the Add-in. 

Additionally, if you hover over a placeholder you will see a Word content control tag associated with them such as below:

Once you are happy with the Template, save the document as a .docx file, as you’ll need to upload it to Workbooks later.  

Creating the Workbooks Report

The report is the mechanism that passes the data into the templates. Mostly the report will just need to be a simple list report that has columns for each of the fields that you would like in your template, but you can add in calculated columns and drill through to related record types.

When creating the Report for the Word Add-in you will need to ensure the below:

• On the Report View that will be used in the Template there is a column for the Record’s Id. If you have built a Line Item Report, you will need to include the Document Id, not the Line Item Id.
• The Report is shared with all the Users that will have Read access to the Word Template; this is controlled through the Padlock Icon.
• The Column names within the Report need to have exactly the same spelling as the merge fields in your Word Template. They do not need to be a case sensitive match but look out for spelling and additional spaces.
• Consider carefully any criteria you apply to the Report, if a record does not appear in the Report you will be unable to create a Word document for it.

Once the Report has been created you are now able to bring this together with the template.

Creating the Template within Workbooks

Once you have created the Report and the Word Template Document you are ready to bring the two together within Workbooks.

To do this you will first need to go to either Start > Marketing > Templates > New Template, alternatively System Admins will be able to go from Start > Configuration > Templates > New Template. From either option select A Word template.

Next select the record type you want the Word template to use.

This will open a new window where you will need to provide additional details to configure the Template:

Name: The name of the Word Template as it will appear to users.
Template Categories: Selecting a Template Category means that this can only appear on Form Layouts with the same template category – leaving this blank means that it will appear on all form layouts.
Document Template: The word document file that you have configured – remember this must a be a .docx file
Report: The name of the Report used with your template
View: The name of the view that contains all the columns used within your template
Document Id Column: The name of the column that specifies the Record’s Id.

When the fields have been configured be sure to set up the Sharing Permissions for the Template using the sharing padlock at the top of the page. Typically, we’d recommend giving Read access to the relevant users and only those users that have the Template shared with them will be able to access it on the Record. 

Once you have set this up, select the Activate button at the top of the Template.

Now when you open a Record of that type you will see a Generate Word button along the toolbar next to the Generate PDF button, here you will be able to select any available Word Document.