This guide provides step-by-step instructions for setting up and managing Word templates for lists in Legatics. These enable your organization to maintain brand consistency and produce professionally formatted documents.
Note: Word templates can be tricky to setup. If you're having trouble, contact us at support@legatics.com and we can help out!
Before you get started
Please read our article that provides an overview of how Word templates work in Legatics. It'll make setting up list Word templates faster and more straightforward!
Heads-up: The article also explains text and table styles, and how to set them up. Be sure to read that section.
Step A: Prepare your Word files
In this step, you prepare your Word files so they're ready to upload to Legatics in Step B. We recommend following them as outlined to ensure a smoother setup process.
Important: Make sure you're working in a .docx file. Other Word file types - such as .doc - aren’t supported.
1 - Design your template
You can fully customise your Word templates to reflect your branding - cover pages, headers, footers, and more. This is your opportunity to create a modern, professional look that matches your house style.
While we can’t assist with the design itself, this is the ideal first step before diving into the technical setup. We recommend involving your design or marketing team to help ensure your templates are polished and on-brand.
Images: If you're adding images to your template, set them to wrap behind text and send them behind text
2 - Add text style for table titles
You need to create one text style (see this article to learn about text styles and how to create them). This controls what the titles above tables look like in the exported document.
Hint: Give your style a clear, easily recognisable name - such as LegaticsTable Title. This makes it easier to identify the style when the template is uploaded.
3 - Add table style
You need to create one table style (see this article to learn about table styles and how to create them). This will control what all tables in the export look like, being the status key and the list content itself.
Hint: Give your style a clear, easily recognisable name - such as LegaticsTable. This makes it easier to identify the style when the template is uploaded.
4 - Add placeholders
You can insert placeholders into your template to automatically pull in specific information from the matter. When the export is generated, these placeholders are replaced with the relevant data.
Placeholder | Populates with |
matter_name | The name of the matter |
matter_description | The description of the matter |
client_number | The number given to the client of the matter |
matter_number | The number given to the matter |
download_type | The name of the list |
download_date | The date the list was exported by the user |
table_placeholder | The data in the list |
When adding placeholders, keep in mind the following:
Mandatory placeholders | You need to include table_placeholder for your templates to work. Only include this placeholder once. |
Optional placeholders | All other placeholders are optional. You can use them as many times as you want. |
Improving placeholder recognition | To make sure placeholders are recognised, when you add placeholders into your templates:
|
Step B - Upload your Word files to Legatics
Follow the steps below to upload each Word file you created in Step A. Complete all the steps in this section before uploading another Word file.
1 - Upload your file
From the Admin System, go to Templates > Word from the sidebar.
Select the Lists tab
You'll see two upload boxes: one for Landscape templates and one for Portrait templates.
Upload your template file into the appropriate box
2 - Assign styles
After uploading the file, you’ll need to assign the styles you created in the Word file so Legatics knows which style to apply to each element in the export.
Good to know: Both landscape and portrait have the same styles
Table title style
Select the text style you created in Step A2. Note: This field will display all text styles from your Word file, so be sure to select the correct one.
Table style
Select the table style you created in Step A3. Note: This field will display all table styles from your Word file, so be sure to select the correct one.
Sections inside table
Lists can have sections, which group rows together. Sections can be at multiple levels. In the exported document, each section appears as a merged cell spanning the width of the table.
You’ll need to specify the following for sections:
Fill colour | For 3 section levels |
Text colour | For the text inside each section level |
Note: The fill and text colour set for Level 3 will also apply to all subsequent levels
To set the colour:
Click the colour box to open the colour picker
Enter your colour using RGB, HSL or HEX values
Click outside the picker to save your selection
3 - Test your template
Before saving your changes, click Test in the bottom right corner to download a sample file populated with dummy data. This allows you to preview how your template will look to users once it's live.
4 - Save your settings
Once you're happy with the setup, press Save to apply the template.
Great job: The template will now be available for anyone using your matters.
Managing templates
Replacing your Word file
If you want to replace your template Word file, simply press Replace next to the template's name. This will let you pick a new file to upload. Once it uploads, you'll need to follow the steps above to apply it to your environment.
Downloading your Word file
To get a copy of the underlying Word file template, simply press Download next to the template's name. This is helpful if you want to change the template, and means you don't have to save it somewhere internally!