Template packs allow users to bundle multiple templates together and generate them via a single questionnaire, streamlining the process of generating documents for greater efficiency.
When users add templates to a pack, all of the questionnaires from the individual templates are compiled into one consolidated questionnaire that they can edit and rearrange as desired. Instead of answering the questionnaires sequentially, document authors will be able to answer one single amalgamated questionnaire which will then generate all of the desired documents at one click.
This article explains how to automate a template pack, if you are interested in learning how to generate a suite of documents from a pack that has already been automated, or how to interact with an already generated pack, please refer to this article instead "Launching a Template pack".
Before getting started with creating a Template pack, make sure that any shared attributes (such as placeholders and conditions) are named identically across the templates that you will be including in your pack. Attribute naming is case sensitive, so if for example you have Company name in one template and Company Name in another, this will lead to you having two separate attributes in your pack. If you need to rename any attribute, you can always do this via the attribute store in your templates.
Only users with templating access are able to create new Template Packs or edit existing Template Packs. Users that don't have templating access will be able to generate suites of documents from an existing Template Pack by going to the Create tab and navigating to Template Packs in the left sidebar.
Create a Template Pack + Pack Info
To create a Template Pack, begin by navigating to the “Templates” tab and select the Template packs option from the left sidebar. Once there, click on the “Create Template Pack” button and provide a template pack name, generated pack auto name (optional) and specify which profile the pack will be created in.
Adding Templates to a Template Pack
Before adding templates, please note that templates need to be published in order for you to be able to add them to a pack.
Click “Add Template”
Select a template from the dropdow that appears
Repeat this step for all the relevant templates. You can also import multiple templates at once from a folder by using ‘Import from folder’ option
Important: After adding, click “Save Template Pack” (top right) to save your changes and then refresh your page to ensure the changes have been synced fully.
You can order the templates to be generated by clicking on the grip icon to the left of the Order column and dragging them to the desired place.
If your templates have workflows (e.g. approvals, adding or removing labels, reminder emails, etc.) included, these will be triggered upon answering the pack’s questionnaire.
Loop-based related documents are also compatible with template packs. Your master template, for example a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), would need to be included in the pack; however, the loop-based related document, for example a Share Certificate, does not need to be included in the pack. This way, once a pack is generated, both the SPA and all of the relevant multiple Share Certificates would be created.
Diagnosis
Since the pack combines multiple questionnaires in a single questionnaire with potentially different qualities (i.e. differing question phrasing), you will need to navigate to the ‘Diagnosis’ tab and make selections to resolve any conflicts that there may be across the different template questionnaires.
You can resolve Pack Level conflicts by selecting which permutation of the attribute should be prioritised. These conflicts may arise in cases where, for instance, you have the same attribute in different templates (e.g. Company Name), with different question phrasing (e.g. “Company Name:” vs “What is the Company Name?”). Where this is relevant, you will need to select the preferred phrasing which will then be adopted in the Pack questionnaire.
Conflicts at a Template Level are usually related to inconsistent loop settings and can be resolved by amending the base templates from the “Templates” tab.
Resolving Pack Level conflicts
Press on the ‘Diagnosis’ tab - all your conflicts will appear here
Navigate to ‘Pack Level’ conflicts
In this example, the attribute ‘Company Name’ has different question phrasing across pack template
Press on the phrasing you’d like to retain and click ‘Update Template Pack’. You can see which templates use which options by hovering over the document icon on the right hand side
A check mark will appear next to the saved option.
Pack Questionnaire
Head to the “Questionnaire” tab to see all of the combined template questionnaires in one place. You can rearrange the questionnaire by reordering the questions and adding or removing explanatory text/sections.
Adding conditionality to your template pack
On the Pack Info page, select 'Manage generation condition' next to a template and use the questions from the pack questionnaire to determine which templates should be generated. This ensures that only the necessary templates are generated.
Questionnaire History
Enter the Questionnaire History tab to see all previously saved versions of the pack questionnaire. If necessary, you can also revert to older versions of the questionnaire using the ‘Revert’ button.
Performance mode for Template Packs
For complex or very extensive Template Packs, this feature will increase the speed at which users can navigate through and complete the pack questionnaire. Performance Mode temporarily disables the live-preview feature of documents within the pack.
With Performance Mode activated, these previews will not automatically update as users make changes to their answers in the questionnaire. Instead, users are required to manually refresh the document by clicking "Update document(s)" and see the most current version based on their inputs.
By default this option will be disabled and the pack will be in "performance mode", if you are working with a simple pack you can tick this box to enable live preview instead.
Managing questions and templates in a Template Pack
For more information on making updates to a template pack, please refer to this article – "Managing Templates and Questions in a Template Pack "
Launch the pack
Finally, save the pack and launch it directly from the template pack page or guide your users to navigate to the “Create” tab and then access the ‘Template packs’ option, click on the relevant pack to launch it. Users that don't have access to templates will be able to create packs directly from the create tab.
To learn more about how to launch a template pack and interact with an already generated pack, refer to the article "Launching a Template pack".