Create and publish your first template

The ribbon button generates documents from templates — your own branded Word files with {{token}} placeholders that Templ8r fills from Dataverse at generate-time. Until at least one template is published, the Generate modal dropdown is empty. This article takes you from a blank .docx to a live, role-scoped template.

Step 1 — Add tokens to your Word file

Start from whatever branded .docx you already use — quote, invoice, order confirmation. Type tokens where you want live data:

• {{ordernumber}} — a column on the record
• {{customerid_account.name}} — a value one lookup away
• {{order_details.productname}} in a table row — repeats per line item
• {{totalamount | currency:GBP}} — with a format hint

Full token grammar — lookups, multi-hop chains, conditionals, functions, format hints — is in how tokens work and the worked-example reference at /templates/authoring. Don't worry about getting every logical name exact — the wizard auto-suggests and flags the ones it can't match.

Step 2 — Upload in the portal wizard

Go to portal.templ8r.co.uk/templates/new (or Templates → New template). The wizard has four steps shown in the progress bar: Upload → Configure bindings → Preview → Publish.

1. Drag your .docx onto the drop zone.
2. Give the template a name (what users pick in the modal).
3. Choose the entity it generates from — Sales Order, Invoice, Quote, Opportunity, Account, Contact, Case, or any custom table. This must match the entity you wired the ribbon button on.
4. Click continue. Templ8r scans the file for tokens and auto-suggests a binding for each.

Step 3 — Fix the bindings it couldn't match

The Configure bindings step shows every token as a row with a confidence pill:

• high / medium — auto-bound, almost always right. Spot-check, leave alone.
• low — auto-bound but uncertain. Verify the picked column.
• unmatched — Templ8r couldn't find a column. You must pick one from the Source dropdown.

The header reads "X of Y tokens bound". Clear every unmatched row before moving on — an unbound token renders literally as {{token}} in the output. For lookup and multi-hop tokens, the Source dropdown lets you walk the relationship chain (order → customer → primary contact). Auto-suggest re-runs the matcher if you've edited the file.

Step 4 — Preview

The Preview step renders the template against a sample record so you can confirm tokens resolve, repeating rows clone correctly, and currency/date hints format the way you expect. If something's off, jump back to Configure bindings — the progress bar lets you click any completed step. When it looks right, continue to Publish.

Step 5 — Set who can use it, then publish

The Publish step is also where you set the template's role allow-list — which Dataverse security roles see it in the modal:

1. Leave the allow-list empty → every user in your tenant sees the template. Simplest; fine for a first template.
2. Pick one or more roles → only users holding one of those roles see it. Use this to keep, say, an internal credit-note template off the sales team's modal.
3. Click Publish. The template flips from draft to published and is immediately live in the ribbon modal.

Editing a template later

• Re-do bindings: Templates → Edit opens the visual mapper at /templates/<id>/visual. Adjust any binding, hit Auto-suggest to re-scan, Save.
• Change who sees it: Templates → Roles at /templates/<id>/roles.
• Replace the Word file: upload a new version through the wizard — run a new template, or re-upload and re-bind.

Next

With a published template, you're ready to generate your first document from any record.