This article offers avant-garde Microsoft Give-and-take (2010-2013) techniques for creating a protected template with fillable fields (or "Content Controls" in Microsoft terminology) for data that cannot exist completed by Clio's merge field tags. These techniques would be useful for creating protected trust receipts with Document Automation.

Related article: Tutorial - Using Document Automation to Create a Trust Receipt

If y'all are not familiar with Document Automation, please see the following support articles:

Using Clio'southward Document Automation
How to Create a Document Template

Contents

Showing the Programmer Tab
Adding Course Controls
Control Properties
Formatting Form Controls
Adding Editing Restrictions/Protection to your Template
Avant-garde Document Automation Webinar

Showing the Programmer Tab

The tools that you will demand to add together form controls to your template tin be establish in the Developer tab which is hidden by default.

To show the Developer tab,  click "File".

File.png

And so click "Options".

Options.png

In the Word Options window,

  1. Click on "Customize Ribbon" in the left-mitt sidebar.
  2. In the Tabs area on the right, bank check the box beside "Programmer".
  3. Click OK.

Customize_Ribbon.png

Calculation Form Controls

On the "Developer" tab  1, in the "Controls" group  2 are a number of available form control fields.

Developer_Tab.png

Some useful grade controls are:

To add a form control to your template, click in the document where yous desire the command to go, then click on the icon for the control that you want to add together.

Control_Added.png

To alter the default placeholder text on the control ("Click here to enter text" in the above example) click "Pattern Way".
To change the Properties of the control, click "Properties".

Design_Mode.png

Control Backdrop

Each control has options that can be accessed by clicking "Properties" with the control you desire to modify selected.

For example, this is how y'all will add options to a Dropdown Selection Control or specify the date format displayed when using the Date Picker Command.

Instance #1 — Rich Text Content Command Properties

RichText_Control_Properties.png

The example to the left shows the basic Belongings options available to form content controls.

  • Adding a name to the "Championship" field, volition display that name when the control is selected.
  •  The "Show as" dropdown box allows yous to change the bones appearance of the control's bounding box or tags.

  •  The "Locking" options are only useful if your template controls already comprise content that you do not desire to be inverse or delete. Do non check these options if you expect that the content may need to be added or changed in the content control.

Example #two — Philharmonic/Dropdown Selection Control Properties

Dropdown_Control_2.png

In addition to the properties detailed higher up, the Dropdown Listing Control Properties gives you lot the power to add options for the user to select from when completing the class.

To add a new selection to the dropdown control, click the "Add together" push button. To edit an existing option, click on information technology then click the "Modify" button. To delete an pick, click on it then click "Remove".

Example #3 — Engagement Picker Control Backdrop

Date_Control_2.png

The Engagement Picker Control Properties permit y'all to select the format of the date that is displayed when the user selects a mean solar day from the mini calendar.

Click on a engagement format in the selection area to select it, then click OK.

Formatting Form Controls

By default, the text that is input into a control will accept the aforementioned formatting as the line that it was added to.  To change the formatting of the text that is input into the control, highlight the control with "Design Mode" OFF and brand formatting adjustments as you would to any other text.

To change the diction or formatting of the control's placeholder text:

  1. Turn on "Design Mode".
  2. Highlight the placeholder text and make formatting adjustments equally desired.
  3. Turn OFF "Pattern Mode".

When formatting command placeholder text, go on in mind that the default styling of that placeholder may not brand it easy to immediately identify equally a form control. Adding a highlight or some distinctive styling to the placeholder will make it more visible in your document. When the terminate user types or selects content in the control, the placeholder formatting will disappear and the content will have the styling of that line in your document.

Adding Editing Restrictions/Protection to Your Template

Protecting your template can ensure that any user or Contact who may exist completing your merged documents will only be able to modify information that is in the course controls that you add to your template.

To restrict editing on your template:

  1. Get to the Developer tab.
  2. Click on "Restrict Editing"
  3. In the Restrict Editing sidebar on the right, cheque the box under step "2. Editing restrictions" and alter the dropdown to "Filling in Forms".
  4. Click "Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" under step "three. First enforcement".

    Restrict_Editing.png

  5. In the Beginning Enforcing Protection pop-up, enter in an optional password if you want the document to be countersign protected, or click OK if y'all do non want to add password protection.

    start_enforcing.png

  6. Save the protected template as a new version to ensure that you don't overwrite your original document.

Once uploaded to Clio, the protected template volition create new protected Word documents while still pulling information from Clio.

More information is available on Microsoft.com

Avant-garde Document Automation Webinar

In nether an hr, nosotros demonstrate advanced MS Word techniques for calculation conditional fields and class controls to your Word template. We as well demonstrate how to add together editing restrictions to your template. This advanced webinar is intended for users who are already comfortable with creating Word templates for use in Document Automation.

Click Here to view the recording.