How-toReviewed 2026-09-29

Put a starter document template into use

Review one of the six starter templates that come as drafts, preview it against a real record, publish it, and switch on the system workflow rule that sends it automatically.

Put a starter document template into use

Every organization starts with six ready-made document templates, all in Draft so that someone can check the wording before any customer sees it. Nothing can be generated from a draft. Review each one you need, publish it, and, where a system workflow rule sends it automatically, switch that rule on.

Starter template Record type How it is used once published
Demand letter (standard) Demand Rule "Demand issued: email the demand letter (system)", or Generate document on a demand.
Allotment letter (standard) Booking Rule "Booking created: welcome mail with allotment letter (system)", or the booking's Documents tab.
Offer letter (standard) Termsheet The Letter choice when an offer is issued (see Issue an offer).
Term sheet (standard) Termsheet Rule "Buyer term sheet issued: email it (system)".
Receipt (standard) Payment Generate receipt on the payment page; rules "Receipt cleared: generate the receipt (system)" and "Receipt cleared: acknowledge by email (system)".
Cost estimate sheet (standard) Estimate Generate document on an estimate.

Before you start

  • Set up a letterhead, so the letters carry your branding.
  • Have at least one real record of the template's type to preview against (an issued demand, a booking, an estimate).
  • Permissions, in the role editor's words:
    • on Document Templates, View to open templates, Edit to save changes and publish to publish (the default Administrator, Sales Manager and Legal & Documentation);
    • the View permission on the record's module to preview;
    • the Edit permission on Workflow Rules to switch a rule on. In the default roles only the Administrator has it.

Steps

  1. Open the account menu in the top bar, choose Settings, then Documents > Templates, and set Status to Draft. You see the starter templates: "Demand letter (standard)", "Allotment letter (standard)", "Offer letter (standard)", "Term sheet (standard)", "Receipt (standard)" and "Cost estimate sheet (standard)". See Document templates.
  2. Click the name of the one you need, for example "Demand letter (standard)". The template designer opens with the bar "Drafts cannot be used yet. Publish the template to offer it on demand records and in workflows." See Document template.
  3. Read the Body, and check Letterhead and Document title under Details. The wording is standard and uses merge fields that fill from the record.
  4. In the Preview panel, search for a real record of the template's type (an issued demand for the demand letter), pick it and click Preview. The letter renders for that record, numbered "<prefix>-PREVIEW". Click Open PDF to see it as it will print. Nothing is saved.
  5. If your organization words things differently, change the body and click Save draft. You see "Template saved." Preview again to check.
  6. Click Publish. The dialog "Publish template" reads "The draft is snapshotted as version 1. Documents generated from now on use it; earlier documents keep the version they were made with." Add Notes (optional), for example "Wording approved by legal", and click Publish. You see "Published as version 1." The status becomes Published and the draft bar goes.
  7. If the template is sent by a system rule (see the table above), open the account menu, choose Settings > Workflows > Rules, set the Active filter to Inactive only and search for the rule's name, for example "Demand issued: email the demand letter (system)". Its row carries a "system" tag and its Active switch is off. See Rules.
  8. Switch on the rule's Active switch. You see "<rule name>" activated. The rule is checked against your permissions and you become the user its runs act as.

What happens next

  • The template is offered under Generate document on every record of its type, and to workflow rules. See Generate a document from a record.
  • With the rule on, the document goes out by itself: the demand letter is generated and emailed to the buyer when a demand is issued, the term sheet when a buyer's term sheet is issued, the allotment letter with the welcome mail when a booking is created, and the receipt with the acknowledgement when a receipt clears, each only when the buyer has an email address. The covering emails come from message templates; review their wording under Message templates before switching a rule on.
  • Each rule's runs appear under Settings > Workflows > Runs, and each document it makes is filed on the record and in Generated documents.
  • Later wording changes are saved as a draft and published as a new version. See Revise, retire or reopen a published template.

If something goes wrong

  • "body_html: <problem> (line <n>)" when saving, or "Template could not be rendered: <error>" in the preview: a merge tag was broken while editing. See Template will not save, publish or render (trouble.documents.template-syntax-error).
  • A preview message starting "Missing permission": you lack the View permission on the record's module. See No access (trouble.admin.no-access).
  • A rule run fails with "Template <CODE> is not published", or Generate document reads "No published template for this record type": the template is still a draft or was retired. See Nothing to generate (trouble.sales.no-published-template).
  • Switching the rule on fails with "You do not have permission to do that.": the rule's actions need a permission you don't hold, or you lack the Edit permission on Workflow Rules. See No access (trouble.admin.no-access).
  • "MAIL_SERVER is not configured; the message was logged": emails from the rule aren't leaving the system. See Email shows as logged (trouble.documents.email-not-delivered).

Related

  • Document templatesScreen

    The list of your organization's document templates (demand letters, offer letters, termsheets, agreements, allotment letters, receipts, cost sheets), with filters and the actions to create, duplicate, open or delete one.

  • Document templateScreen

    The template designer: write a template's wording with merge fields, set its letterhead, title and page layout, preview it against a real record, and publish, retire or restore its versions.

  • LetterheadsScreen

    Set up the branding wrapped around generated documents: logo, header and footer, page size, orientation, margins and page numbers, for the whole organization or for one project.

  • RulesScreen

    Every automation rule in your organization, system and custom, with filters, the switch that turns each rule on or off, and shortcuts to edit, test, clone, see the run history of or delete a rule.

  • RuleScreen

    One automation rule's page: read or change its basics, trigger, conditions and actions, test it against a record, clone or delete it, and switch a system rule on or off.

  • Message templatesScreen

    The list of your organization's message templates: the wording that Send email actions and campaigns use, with filters and the actions to create, open or delete one.

  • Booking documentsScreen

    The letters and agreements generated for one booking, such as the allotment letter, together with the receipts of its payments and the letters of its demands, with the button to generate another from a published template and the icons to preview, download, email, void or delete each one.

  • EstimateScreen

    One estimate version: its charges by group, payment plan, approvals, unit and parking hold and validity, with the lifecycle actions to send, finalize, request approval, approve or reject, extend, cancel, version and book.

  • Society & TenantsScreen

    On a redevelopment project, link the society being redeveloped, keep its members and the project's landowners and PAP tenants, and give each of them an offer that allots new units and sets the benefits the developer pays.

  • Set up a letterheadHow-to

    Create the organization's default letterhead with its header, footer, page size and margins, upload the logo, and optionally add a project's own letterhead, so generated letters carry your branding.

  • Design a new document templateHow-to

    Create a document template for a record type, write its wording with merge fields, repeat a table row for line items, show a block only when a condition holds, preview it against a real record and publish it so people can generate documents from it.

  • Revise, retire or reopen a published templateHow-to

    Change a published document template without disturbing the version in use, publish the changes as a new version, go back to an earlier version, and take a template out of use or bring it back.

  • Generate a document from a recordHow-to

    From a booking, demand, opportunity, estimate or offer, pick a published template and a format, generate the numbered document, check it on screen and download it; every document is also listed in the organization-wide Generated documents log.

  • Issue an offer with its letterHow-to

    Publish the offer letter template once, then issue a draft offer so the letter is generated and filed with it and the offer moves to Issued.

  • Document templates, published versions and letterheadsConcept

    A document template is an HTML letter with merge fields written for one record type; publishing it freezes a numbered version that generation uses while the draft stays editable, and a letterhead (the template's own, else the project's, else the organization's default) supplies the logo, header, footer and page layout around it.

  • System rules and starter templatesConcept

    The 53 automation rules, six email templates and six draft document templates every organization starts with: which ship switched on, why the customer-facing ones ship off, what is locked, and how to switch, clone or customise them.

  • Workflow rules, conditions, actions and the rule ownerConcept

    What a workflow rule is made of (one kind of record, one trigger, conditions, ordered actions, an optional chained event), how conditions and action settings are evaluated, how versions, tests and clones work, and why every rule has an owner whose permissions its runs use.

  • Template will not save, publish or render: a tag, expression or the HTML is wrongTroubleshooting

    A document template, message template or rule action that carries a broken merge tag is refused when saved or published, names the field and the line; a template that parses but fails while filling in a record, or whose HTML the PDF or Word engine cannot lay out, fails at preview, generation or sending; the editor's own dialogs and fields have their own checks.

  • Generate document has nothing to offer: no published template for this record typeTroubleshooting

    Documents are generated only from published document templates of the record's type; the starter templates (cost sheet, allotment letter, offer letter and others) ship as drafts, so until someone publishes one, Generate document has nothing to pick, offers issue without a letter and workflow rules that generate the template fail.

  • Email shows as logged or refused: the mail server is not configured or rejected the messageTroubleshooting

    Outgoing mail is sent through a mail server set up for the installation, not inside the app; while none is configured every email (document, campaign, workflow, invitation, verification) is only logged and reported as not delivered, and when the server refuses a message the recipient is marked failed; the person who runs the installation configures mail, then you resend.

  • "No access" or "You do not have permission": your role lacks a permissionTroubleshooting

    Every screen, button and picker is gated by a permission on a module; your role decides which you hold, so a missing one shows as a No access card, a refused action, a greyed-out button with a hover reason, or a picker that explains which permission it needs.