Template Configuration

A template configuration instructs ContactsLaw how to resolve assets in a document template to subscriber-specific resources (roles, fields, workgroups, etc), as well as specifying the document type used to catalogue newly-generated documents. Templates must be configured before they can be used to generate documents.

When listing templates:

• At the subscription level, all templates are shown. An indicator appears beside those templates which are available anywhere. You can also filter the list to only show such templates.
• At the workgroup level, only those templates which have been configured for use within that workgroup are shown. You can also include templates whose configuration is inherited from a parent workgroup or are available anywhere.

You can configure templates during document creation, via the Configure command. You can configure a new template for the first time in a particular business/workgroup via the Add Other command; this will create an empty configuration and add the template to the list.

Properties

A template configuration has the following properties:

• Template - The template to which the configuration relates.
• Workgroup - Optional. Add a specific workgroup to allow mapping assets to the roles and fields defined within it. Leave empty to make the template available anywhere. You can create multiple configurations to allow the same template to be used in different workgroups.
• Court - Optional. Add a court contact to limit the use of the template to those matters in the same jurisdiction. Matters may use either this specific contact or one of its branches.
• Document Type - The document type used to catalogue documents generated from the template. Also allows mapping assets to the roles and fields on the document type.
• Form - Optional. Add a form to allow mapping assets to its controls, or to the assets defined in the corresponding process. Only valid for documents generated as part of a process.
• Purpose - Indicates a special purpose (see below) for which the template is used; e.g. as an invoice template. ContactsLaw will select this template configuration when generating a document for the particular purpose.
• Upload - Determines whether documents generated from the template are uploaded by default.
• Set As Default - If multiple templates are configured for the same purpose, you can specify which configuration should be used by default. Note that workgroup-specific configurations always take precedence over the global configuration (if defined).

Purposes

• Normal Templates
  • Bank Deposit - Can be generated on-demand from a transaction group representing a bank deposit.
  • Batch Payment - Can be generated on-demand from a transaction group representing a batch payment.
  • Brief - Generated when a brief is finalised.
  • Email
  • Fax
  • Invoice - Generated when an invoice is finalised.
  • Letter
  • Receipt¹ - Can be generated on-demand from a receipt or transfer transaction.
  • Report¹ - Can be generated on-demand from any built-in report.
  • SMS
  • Statement - Generated when a statement (for billing purposes) is finalised.
  • Time Record - Can be generated on-demand from a time record.
• Fragments
  • Email Signature - Used when generating replies to emails.

¹ Since subscribers have the ability to customise the templates used for these purposes, care must be taken to comply with Legal Profession Regulations in the relevant jurisdiction. CPMS is not responsible for non-compliance arising from customised templates.

Asset Mappings

When initially configuring a template, the list of assets defined in the template will be replicated in the configuration. You must then indicate how each asset resolves to a subscriber-specific resource.

Depending on the asset hierarchy, assets may be resolved using specific resources, or resources relating to the document type and workgroup; such as roles or fields. Other types of assets are resolved implicitly by virtue of the parent asset. Additional options (e.g. address purpose, document filters) may also be provided for some asset types. The general principle is to be as specific as possible, but to leave anything obvious empty so that the default logic can be used instead.

Template configurations also allow multiple mappings for each asset; for example, a contact defined in the template might resolve to 2 different parties on the matter. You can arbitrarily add asset mappings using the Add Asset command.

Note: Changes to the template definition may invalidate the configuration or cause certain assets to stop working as originally intended; care must be taken to re-configure templates in this scenario.