Document Template Overview

Merge fields allow you to automatically insert information from WorkGuru records into your document templates. When a document is generated, WorkGuru replaces each merge field with information from the related record.

For example:

This allows you to create libraries of professional templates that automatically populate with the correct information every time exactly how you want it to look. Not every document has access to every field. The available fields depend on the type of document being generated:

• Quotes
• Invoices
• Projects
• Stock Sales
• Purchase Orders
• Purchase Order RFQs
• Project Groups
• Assets
• Credit Notes
• Production Jobs
• Leads

Templates are available in a dropdown when printing or emailing from the appropriate document source.

Available Fields

Document merge fields are broken down into 3 types:

• Universal Fields - Can be placed anywhere within a supported document template and do not need to be inside a repeating table.
• Table Fields - Table fields allow you to display repeating information from WorkGuru in your document templates. Unlike Universal Fields, which can generally be placed anywhere within a template, Table Fields must be placed inside a correctly configured table with an Alt Text Description field set within your template. When the document is generated, WorkGuru automatically repeats the relevant table row for each applicable record. Merge fields and Table Alt Text are case sensitive and must be entered exactly as displayed. See: Table Fields Reference
• Custom Fields - Custom fields can also be included in supported document templates that match the custom field type.

Document Templates

Templates are created or edited using the Microsoft Word .docx format. When a supported field is added to the document from WorkGuru's MergeField library, it will print the associated field data from the WorkGuru source. The formatting of the document template is primarily controlled by native Word functionality (number of pages, layout, colours, format, font, text size, headers, footers etc). It is recommended to layout the document with hidden tables so you are in full control of what prints where, especially with PDF conversion. Workguru does allow you to some limited formatting functionality to highlight line items with headers when printing table fields.

Document Template Rules:

• Layout and formatting - Layout and formatting is all controlled by Word. If you need the output to be bold, italics, different font, size, colour, etc, just format the WorkGuru merge field (including the square brackets) the way you want the output text to look like.
• Fields- Merge fields must be entered exactly as shown in the field library.
  • Example:
  • [ClientName]

  • Merge fields are:

  • Case sensitive
  • Must include square brackets
  • Cannot contain additional spaces

  • Correct:

  • [ClientName]

  • Incorrect:

  • [clientname]
  • [Client Name]
  • ClientName
• Margins - Custom margins may also impact the final layout when it comes to printing so we also recommend sticking with the default margins selectable within MS Word.
• Word Version - Ensure the Word document is NOT saved in the 2007-2013 Word document format. This is not compatible with WorkGuru's PDF converter and will cause an error. Save in the current Word format (.docx) with the compatibility checkbox NOT selected.
• Images
  • Compatible - tiff, tif, png, bmp, gif, jpg, jpeg formats are the accepted image file types.
  • All images must be inline with text for the PDF converter to pick up. Especially when placed within tables.
  • Images need to be in either the JPG or PNG format to be picked up by the PDF converter correctly. 
  • Not compatible - Image groups, Word drawings, word art, watermarks and other non-basic features. Note: we recommend only 1 image on the template as more can introduce issues when printing.
• Tables - Some fields require a table to display properly. When WorkGuru generates the document, the product line row is repeated for each applicable product on the transaction. For detailed instructions, see Table Field Setup in WorkGuru Document Templates. Tables require:
  • A header row
  • A repetition line row containing your merge fields
  • The correct Alt Text Description.
  • Only one table of each type on the document.
• MS Word Objects - Objects such as lines, formulae, shapes, etc are not supported.

Troubleshooting

• The merge field is blank - This indicates the field does not have any data to print. Edit the source document and populate the relevant field for the document template to display.
• Merge Fields Appear Instead of Values - If you are seeing the actual merge field such as [ClientName], this indicates either:
  • There is a typo in the merge field text.
  • The merge field is not compatible with that document template type. Eg: Invoice number cannot be displayed on a Quote template as it doesn't exist at the quote stage.
• Tables not displaying - Tables are designed to be hidden if there is no data provided to the document when printed.   If the table is expected to display date and isn't, ensure that the correct table description is set in the table's properties correctly. Note - depending on the layout of the word document, a table that can't display correctly may also prevent non-table information from displaying on the template as well.

Need More Fields?

WorkGuru regularly adds new merge fields.

If you cannot find a field you require, contact WorkGuru Support with:

• The document type
• The information you want to display
• An example of how the field should appear

Our team can confirm whether an existing field is available or if an enhancement is required.