Creating a New HotDocs Template

$images\btn_mini.jpg$ Related Topics $images\btn_mini.jpg$ Reference

HotDocs must be available on your computer in order to create or edit document templates. You must have HotDocs 2008 Professional to test and compile the template for upload into Bridgeway Suite. Once you have created a template, additional steps must be taken to make the template compatible with the hosted HotDocs Server provided by Bridgeway.

$images\icn_note.jpg$ If the macro security setting in your word processing program is set to high, you will not be able to edit a HotDocs template. Change the setting to medium. Ask your System Administrator or IT department if you need instructions.

To create a new library:

The first step in HotDocs Professional is to create a library that will contain all the templates files.

1. Create a folder on your computer to temporarily hold the template files.

2. Open HotDocs Professional.

3. On the HotDocs 2008 Professional Edition window, click the $images\btn_new_library.jpg$ New Library button.

4. On the New Library dialog box, type a name in the File Name field (such as “Suite 8”), then press the <TAB> key twice to add the library extension to the filename and populate the Title field. Click OK.

To create a new template:

Next, a new template can be created that will reside in the library.

1. On the HotDocs 2008 Professional Edition window, click the $images\btn_new_hotdocs.jpg$ New Template button.

2. On the New Template dialog box, leave the type as is.

3. Type a file name, and then press the <TAB> key twice. Replace the title if needed, and type a description.

4. Leave the initial contents as Empty unless you have a current file to use.

5. Click OK. Microsoft Word will open a new document with the file name specified.

To create variables for the template:

When creating variables for eCounsel, use the HotDocs Variables for eCounsel/Secretariat Document Assembly technical notes for lists of available variable names. Also, any custom variables created for your company can be added using these steps.

1. On the HotDocs ribbon in the new template file in Microsoft Word, click the $images\btn_component_manager.jpg$ Component Manager button.

The first variable that must be created is a select variable that is used with Bridgeway Suite to allow the user to select a record on which the output is based. Available variables include selectentity, selectinvoice, selectmatter, and selectpeople for eCounsel, and SelectSecretariatEntity and SelectSecretariatPeople for Secretariat. Each of these will open a list dialog box to select an entity, invoice, matter, or person, respectively.

2. On the Component Manager dialog box, click the $images\btn_new_component.jpg$ New Component button.

3. On the New Component dialog box, leave the Component type as Text Variable, and click OK.

4. On the New Text Variable dialog box, type “selectmatter” as the variable name, and then type “Select Matter” as the title (this text appears on the dialog box when preparing the document in eCounsel). Optionally, type the text that will appear as a tooltip when running the template. Click OK.

The new variable will appear in the Component Manager dialog box.

5. Repeat Steps 2-4 for each variable that you want to use.

$images\icn_note.jpg$ For subsequent templates, copy the variables from a component file by clicking the right arrow in the upper-left corner of the Component Manager dialog box. This button expands the dialog box and allows you to open a component file to select variables to copy. Select one or more variables from the existing component file, then click the left arrow to move them to the new component file.

6. Click $images\btn_save_template_hotdocs.jpg$ Save to save the component file.

To add variables to the template:

Once you have created the variables, it’s just a matter of dragging-and-dropping the appropriate variable onto the Microsoft Word document.

1. In the template file in Microsoft Word, first drag the appropriate select variable from the Component Manager dialog box onto the template.

2. Next, type the text that you want to appear in the finished document.

3. Where needed, drag additional variables onto the template file.

$images\icn_note.jpg$ To change properties of a Bridgeway-provided HotDocs variable, simply double-click the variable name in the word processor to open the Variable Field dialog box. From this dialog box, you can change the formatting for the value.

For example, if a variable includes a forced return as part of the variable, you can specify to remove the forced returns. On the Variable Field dialog box, click the clear the checkmark from the Use default checkbox and click on the Non-breaking checkbox to select it.

$images\icn_exclaim.jpg$ Do not change the Variable Type of any Bridgeway provided variable. Doing so will cause a data type mismatch and render the template unusable.

To change a date format, clear the Use default checkbox, and select a format for the date.

To create REPEATS and IF statements:

In order to return multiple records in the document, you must use a REPEAT field. Within the REPEAT field, you also can specify an IF field to filter the data that is returned.

1. In the template file in Microsoft Word, click the REPEAT field button on the HotDocs ribbon.

2. On the REPEAT Field dialog box, leave the field type as REPEAT Dialog.

3. Click the $images\btn_edit_variable_hotdocs.jpg$ New Dialog button to the right of the Dialog menu.

4. On the New Dialog dialog box, type a name for the dialog variable, drag-and-drop any components to the contents list box, and click OK. Note that any field used in an IF field to filter the results must be included in the dialog.

5. Click OK.

6. In Microsoft Word, place the cursor between the REPEAT and END REPEAT statements, and click the IF Field button on the HotDocs ribbon.

7. On the IF Field dialog box, click on the IF Expression option. Create an expression that can be used to filter the results by dragging and dropping items onto the text box. Click OK when finished.

8. In Microsoft Word, place the cursor between the IF and END IF statements. Add the variables that you want to appear in the completed document. If multiple variables are placed on the document, make sure to include any punctuation to be included.

$images\icn_note.jpg$ Multiple IF statements can be specified as criteria for the results by using an AND or OR operator within the IF statement. For example, the following statements return a player name and primary address for a player with the role of Outside eCounsel Attorney with no end date specified:

To save the template:

1. When you have finished editing the template in Microsoft Word, click the $images\btn_save_template_hotdocs.jpg$ Save button on the HotDocs toolbar. Do not save the document using the Microsoft Word save functionality.

2. Close the document; again using the $images\btn_close_hotdocs.jpg$ Save and Close button on the HotDocs toolbar not the word processor toolbar.

To prepare the template for upload:

1. On the HotDocs 2008 Professional Edition window, click the $images\btn_component_manager.jpg$ Component Manager button.

2. On the Component Manager dialog box, click the $images\btn_component_manager_properties.jpg$ Properties button.

3. On the Component File Properties dialog box, select HotDocs 2005 as the component file format, and click the OK button.

4. Click on the HotDocs Server tab, and verify that the Enable template for use with HotDocs Server checkbox is checked. If not, click in the checkbox to enable it. Click OK.

5. Close the Component Manager dialog box.

To test and publish the template:

See Publishing a HotDocs Template.