Assigning a Template

You can assign a template to an entry in the Fields tab of the Metadata dialog box or in the Fields tab of the Metadata Pane in the document viewer. Assigning a template to an entry will automatically apply that template's fields to the entry, allowing you and other users to input relevant field data. In addition, templates are useful as entry categorization. For instance, applying an "Invoices" template to documents allows you to quickly find invoices in your repository.

Entries can only be assigned one template at a time. Choosing the right template for a document or folder is a key step in making retrieval easier. It is important to assign a template that correctly categorizes the document and contains relevant fields. See Tips for Working with Fields for more information.

By default, new documents are automatically assigned a template when created. (This default does not apply to newly-created folders.) The default template used for new documents can be configured in the General node of New Documents Options dialog box. (The default template may be set to "No template assigned," in which case new documents will not be automatically assigned a template.)

New folders are not assigned a template by default.

Tip: You can also assign individual fields to a document, with or without assigning a template. For example, you might want to apply an "Invoices" template to a document, and also store the document's priority in a "Priority" field that is not part of that template. You could do so by applying the "Priority" field independently of the template. For information on assigning individual fields, see Choosing Individual Fields.

If an entry has already been assigned a template, changing it to a different template with different fields will cause all original template field information to be lost. If the two templates share one or more fields, however, the values for those shared fields will be retained.

The Reports template contains three fields: Author, Type, and Category. The Invoices template contains three fields: Customer, Date, and Amount Due. If you change a document's template from "Reports" to "Invoices," all field values will be lost.

The Prospects template contains three fields: Name, Interview Date, and Position. The Employees template contains three fields: Name, Hire Date, and Department. If you change a document's template from Prospects to Employees, the Name field's values will be retained because it is shared by both templates, but all other field values will be lost.

Note: If you do not have the rights to view a particular template, it will display as No Template Assigned.

To assign a template to an entry in the Windows client

  1. Open the Metadata dialog box or Metadata Pane for any entry.
  2. Select the Fields tab.
  3. In the Template option, select the template you want to assign to the entry. The fields that belong to the newly selected template will appear.
  4. If you are working in the Metadata dialog box, click OK to save your changes. If you are working in the Metadata Pane of the document viewer, save the document to save your changes.

To assign a template to an entry in the web client

  1. Open the Metadata dialog box or Metadata Pane for any entry.
  2. Select Fields.
  3. In the Template option, select the template you want to assign to the entry. The fields that belong to the newly selected template will appear.
  4. If you are working in the Metadata dialog box, click Save to save your changes. If you are working in the Metadata Pane of the document viewer, save the document to save your changes.

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