The Ultimate Guide to Using Templatise

Anastasiia Kanarska
By Anastasiia Kanarska,
5th December |
7
Templatise: The Ultimate Guide

Have you ever wished that creating, managing, and customizing your documents could be less time-consuming and more intuitive? Whether you’re drafting contracts, preparing legal agreements, or customizing business reports, document workflows can often feel overwhelming. What if there was a way to automate these tasks while still working within the familiar Microsoft Word environment?

Now it’s possible with Templatise. This Microsoft Word add-in transforms the way organizations create and manage document templates, empowering them to work smarter, not harder.

By seamlessly integrating into Word, Templatise simplifies complex workflows with ease of use and advanced automation capabilities. Whether you need to build dynamic templates, integrate external data, or manage multi-language documents, Templatise offers a robust suite of features tailored for high-efficiency document management.

Why is Templatise a game-changer? It’s user-friendly, packed with robust features, and ideal for industries like law firms, finance teams, and other professionals where efficiency and accuracy are non-negotiable. Imagine being able to create complex, error-free documents in a fraction of the time, all while staying in the tools you are already used to.

This guide will walk you through the whole process from installing the add-in to creating your first document from a template. 

Ready to unlock the full potential of Templatise? Get started today and revolutionize the way you manage your documents!

Working with Templatise step by step

Getting started with Templatise is quick and straightforward! In just a few simple steps, you can install the add-in, set up your workspace, and begin creating dynamic templates directly in Microsoft Word. Now, let’s explore every step in detail.  

Installing Templatise

Getting Templatise is easy, and you can choose the method that works best for you:

Option 1: Install the Add-In from the Microsoft Store

  1. Open Microsoft Word and navigate to the Insert tab in the ribbon.
  2. Click Get Add-ins (or Store, depending on your version of Word).
  3. In the search bar, type Templatise and select it from the results.
  4. Click Add to install the add-in. Once installed, Templatise will appear in your Word toolbar.

 

Option 2: Install via Microsoft AppSource

  1. Visit Templatise on Microsoft AppSource directly.
  2. Click Get it now and follow the prompts to sign in and add the add-in to your account.
  3. Open Word, go to the Insert tab, and access it via My Add-ins.

 

Once installed, access Templatise by:

  1. Going to the Insert tab in Word.
  2. Clicking My Add-ins (or My Apps in older versions).
  3. Selecting Templatise from the list to load its task pane on the right side of your screen, ready for use.

Getting started: navigating the task pane

Once Templatise is installed, its task pane becomes your central hub for creating and managing templates:

  • Task pane overview: The task pane is located on the right side of the Word window. It’s where you’ll perform most of your template-related tasks, from inserting variables to customizing content.
  • Edit templates tab: This is your go-to area for building templates. Here, you can access options to create new templates, edit existing ones, and manage dynamic fields like variables and conditional content.

Creating and managing templates

Start your journey with Templatise by creating your first template:

Create a new template:

  1. In the Edit Templates tab of the task pane, click New Template.
  2. Assign a name to your template, select the language, and add relevant tags to make it searchable.
  3. Save your work to keep your template accessible.

 

Organizing templates:

  1. Use the Search bar to find templates quickly by name or tag.
  2. Apply multiple tags to templates for easier categorization and faster retrieval.

 

Workspace management

Templatise offers workspaces to streamline your organization:

  1. Default department workspace: share templates across teams for unified access.
  2. Private workspace: keep templates personal and secure. This is ideal for individual or confidential workflows.

Using variables to automate documents

Creating variables

Variables are the heart of automation in Templatise. Add them to simplify the document population. To create a variable, provide the question title and desired options. Type cannot be changed if a variable is already created or is a child of the Show/Hide group variable. You can select a simple variable format and add additional settings if needed.

Types of variables:

  • Text. Input fields for names, addresses, or other free-text entries.
  • Date. Preformatted date fields for consistency.
  • Currency. Automate currency entries with correct formatting.
  • Table/List. Insert repeatable data structures for items, schedules, etc.
  • Show/Hide. Toggle visibility of specific content sections based on conditions.

 

Binding variables to document sections

  1. Select a place or text range in the document where the answer should be placed and click the Connect button to bind your variable to the document.
  2. If the selected text appears multiple times in a document, you can connect all those appearances by selecting the checkbox Connect similar instances in the document.

 

Advanced features

  • Grouping variables. Combine related variables into logical sections for ease of use.
  • Repeatable structures. Connect variables to tables or lists to dynamically generate rows for varying data sets.

Read more about the Templatise features here.

Collaborating and managing roles

Understanding user roles

Collaboration in Templatise is role-based to ensure efficient and secure workflows:

  • Admin: Full control over templates, user permissions, and company settings.
  • Editor: Can create, modify, and manage templates but has limited access to user settings.
  • Reader/User: Restricted to using existing templates without editing capabilities.

 

Role impact on collaboration

Assign roles strategically to maintain template quality and streamline collaboration. Admins oversee the big picture, while Editors and Readers focus on specific tasks.

Using the Portal for advanced features

Access powerful tools through the Templatise Portal for deeper control:

How to access: open the Portal directly from the Templatise task pane in Word.

Key features for admins:

  • Manage profiles: customize your company profile for better organization.
  • Template management: upload, edit, and organize templates.
  • User management: add users, assign roles, and set permissions.
  • Data sources: link custom data sources to streamline workflows.
  • Custom lists and requests: handle template-specific lists and track change requests.
  • Subscription management: view and manage your plan directly on the Portal.

Creating documents from templates

Generate documents effortlessly with Templatise:

  1. Select a template: choose the desired template from your workspace.
  2. Populate variables: use the task pane to fill in the required variable inputs. Templatise updates the document in real time.
  3. Edit and customize: once the document is generated, make any final adjustments directly in Word.

Template promotion

Templatise provides a robust change management mechanism through its template promotion feature. This process allows you to manage updates to common templates efficiently while maintaining control over changes. Here’s how it works:

  1. Create a private copy:
    • A user who needs to modify a common template starts by creating a private copy of the template. This ensures that the original template remains unchanged and available to other users during the editing process.
  2. Modify the template:
    • The user makes the necessary changes or updates to their private copy. This could include adding new clauses, updating language to comply with new regulations, or improving formatting.
  3. Request for promotion:
    • Once the modifications are complete, the user submits a request for the template to be promoted. This request is sent to an administrator or a designated reviewer within your organization.
  4. Admin review and approval:
    • The administrator reviews the changes to ensure they meet organizational standards and comply with any legal or regulatory requirements.
    • If the template meets all criteria, the administrator approves the promotion request.
  5. Publish the updated template:
    • Upon approval, the modified template is promoted and replaces the previous version (or creates new template) in the common templates repository.
    • All users now have access to the updated template, ensuring consistency across the organization.

Benefits of using template promotion:

  • Controlled updates: Changes are reviewed before being made available to all users, preventing unauthorized or unintended modifications.
  • Version management: Keeps a history of template versions, allowing you to track changes over time.
  • Collaboration: Encourages team members to contribute improvements while maintaining oversight.

Templatise provides comprehensive analytics features that allow administrators to monitor template usage across the organization. Administrators can access detailed reports and insights to see which templates are being used and by whom.

Real-life use cases

Listing multiple parties in a legal agreement. When drafting contracts or legal agreements involving multiple parties, you can use Templatise to create a dynamic table that includes each party’s name, address, and role. This table will automatically adjust to accommodate as many parties as needed.

Nested data for corporate structures. When detailing corporate structures, you might need to outline parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliated entities. Templatise’s nested list functionality allows you to represent this hierarchy clearly, adding levels as necessary.

Automatically inserting attorney information. When drafting legal documents, you can have Templatise pull the responsible attorney’s details—like name, email, phone number, and bar number—directly from Microsoft Entra ID. This ensures that all documents include accurate and up-to-date information without manual entry.

Fetching client details from a CRM. Suppose you’re drafting a contract for a client whose information is stored in your firm’s CRM system. With Templatise, you can set up a data source that pulls client details like name, address, contact information, and account history directly into your document templates. This ensures accuracy and saves time on manual data entry.

Accessing corporate registry data. If you need to include official company information from registries like Brønnøysundregisteret, you can integrate Templatise with these services. For instance, when preparing legal documents for a Norwegian company, you can automatically fetch the company’s registered name, registration number, and registered address, ensuring that all legal documents contain verified information.

Multilingual legal documents. Suppose your law firm serves clients who speak both English and Norwegian. With Templatise, you can create a single template for legal contracts that includes both language versions. When generating a document, you can select the desired language, and the template will automatically populate the content accordingly. This ensures consistency and saves time compared to managing separate templates for each language.

Conclusion

Templatise is not just a tool; it’s a transformative solution for professionals who rely on precision and efficiency in document management. By combining advanced automation with seamless integration into Microsoft Word, Templatise empowers teams to handle complex workflows effortlessly within a familiar program. It’s an invaluable asset for organizations where accuracy, customization, and time savings are critical.

Ready to explore the full potential of Templatise and discover how it can enhance your document management strategies? Visit the Templatise homepage for more details, and start transforming your workflow right away.