Is There A Way To Auto Fill Template In Word

In August 2019 I published a post titled 'Auto-populating certificate templates via a form in SharePoint'. The suggested model was based on using a SharePoint 2010 workflow in SharePoint Designer.

In July 2020, Microsoft announced that it would turn off SharePoint 2010 workflows for newly created tenants from 1 Baronial 2020, and would remove the ability to run or create these workflows from existing tenants from 1 November 2020. It recommended that organisations utilize Power Automate instead. (Source: Microsoft Ending Workflows for SharePoint 2010 Online Next Month).

This postal service details an culling option, with no workflows required – but with the same prepare – that may be sufficient in most cases. At this sage (September 2020), there does not announced to exist an out of the box selection with Power Automate that volition create a document (from a content type) when a new document gear up is created.

Overview

The alternative option requires the post-obit elements:

The document set feature enabled.
New site columns for each unique metadata required in the output documents.
New document set up and document content types, both with the same metadata.
One or more Word certificate templates.
A SPO site with a document library. It is recommended that a defended library (e.k., 'Customer Agreements') is created for this purpose.

Notation – the person who does this must exist a Site Collection Administrator.

The main difference with the earlier model is that in that location is no workflow to create the document/s. Instead, the end user creates and saves (without modification except a name) the document into the library/document ready where the custom metadata is stored. The method below and then auto-populates those new documents with the required metadata.

This pick does not use a separate list every bit the metadata details can exist extracted from the document sets.

Enabling the document prepare feature

The document set feature must be enabled via Site Settings > Site Collection Administration > Site drove features. If y'all don't run into this option, you don't have the required level of permission.

It may exist a skilful idea to actuate the Document ID Service at the same fourth dimension as this can be a useful additional piece of metadata in the final documents.

New site columns

From the aforementioned Site Settings area, become to the Web Designer Galleries section to add together the required new site columns. Directly below that option is where you create new site content types.

The Site Columns section has a very large number of default columns that come up with every SPO site. Check to make certain the required columns don't already exist, or are not-recommended column names (similar 'Library').

Assuming the required columns do not exist, select the 'Create' option to create a new custom column. A couple of points to keep in heed here:

Requite the column a name that is obvious (piece of cake to find).
Don't put spaces between words but capitalise each word (e.one thousand., 'ClientName', 'ClientAddress'). From experience, this space can cause the metadata element to wrap to a second line and cause issues.
Go on in mind that the 'Single line of text' is free text. If you want controlled choices, use the Option option instead.
Date and Time may require some tweaking to get the right format in the output Word document. Information technology may exist easier to use 'Single line of text' if some dates may vary or aren't exact.
Don't use the 'Yes/No' option. Instead, apply a Pick column with those options instead.
Person or Grouping is simply for internal names recorded in Active Directory (Advertizement). If yous need to insert any other proper name, utilize the single line of text.

The additional cavalcade settings that may be useful are:

Require that this column contain data. If inverse to 'Yes', this metadata field volition be mandatory.
Enforce unique values. Generally not used unless there is a requirement to enforce unique values (eastward.g., unique client IDs).
Maximum number of characters. This can be useful to restrict the number of characters. For instance, 'Postcode' volition only take iv characters. Don't use the number field for postcodes.
Default text. This pick is useful if in that location is a requirement to have a default value, especially from a choice listing, or if the value volition commonly always exist the same (although that could also exist simply added to the text of the certificate template.
Column formatting. Don't utilize this if the content is to be copied to a document template.
Column validation. This may be useful to ensure that but certain characters are entered. For instance, postcodes volition never have a alphabetic character, only numbers.

Echo this process until all the required metadata columns be.

New document set content type

Create a document set content type so the output Word documents (and any other digital content) can be stored in the same 'folder'.

To create a new document set content blazon, return to the Site Settings and, under Spider web Designer Galleries, select 'Site content types'.

Requite the new content type a name that is obvious for its purpose (due east.yard., 'ClientAgreementsFolder').

Importantly, change 'Select parent content blazon from' > Document Set up Content Types, and 'Parent Content Type' > Document Set.

Open the content blazon that has been created. Under the 'Columns' section, add the columns 'from existing site columns'. The example below shows a series of site columns that were added. Don't remove any of the other columns.

In the above example. the 'Title' column is hidden (default setting). If yous click this column, you will see the option under the 'Alter Content Type Column' to brand it required, optional or hidden. Generally, these settings should non exist changed.

New Document Content Blazon

Now, create a new document content blazon. Give the content type a name that reflects its purpose. Ensure that 'Select parent content type from' is set to 'Document Content Types' and 'Parent Content Blazon' is set to 'Document' as shown beneath.

The next step is to add together the 2 content types to a document library.

Adding the content types to a document library

All the steps below can be carried out past a Site Possessor.

Open up the library where the content types are to be added and become to Library Settings (via the Cog/Gear option). In the Library Settings, under 'Advanced Settings', click the option to 'Allow management of content types' (alter from No to Yes).

If yous don't want other folders to be created in this library, change 'Make 'New Folder' control available' from Yes to No.

A new section will at present announced in the Library Settings – 'Content Types'.

To add the two content types that were created, click on 'Add together from existing site content types', select each content blazon from the list that is displayed, and click OK.

The ii content types should now appear in the list of Content Types and the custom site columns should appear in the 'Columns' list.

Click on the document set up content blazon (e.g., 'ClientAgreementsFolder'). The custom columns should be visible. Now, we need to share these columns with the custom document. Click on 'Document Set Settings'.

From the list of 'Available Site Content Types', chose the custom document content type that was created in a higher place. Ignore the 'Certificate' content blazon.
In the 'Shared Columns' section, check the box against all the custom columns.
Click OK.

The steps higher up will mean that all the custom columns in the document ready will be shared with the the document content blazon. When you return to the Library Settings, you volition see under the 'Columns' section that the columns are now shared with the two custom content types also as the default Document content type (which tin can be ignored).

Add the Discussion template to the document content type

Now, add the Word template to the document content type. Annotation that this stride is Not washed at the Site Content Types level, but at the local library level.

Ensure the Word certificate template is in the latest version of Word (e.one thousand., docx) and has all the text required. Information technology tin exist updated at any time (run into beneath) but it is important to ensure that the document is as complete as possible, and the sections where the metadata is to be placed is obvious. One way to do this is to put text such as CLIENT NAME in the body of the document. Avoid using highlights equally this can be troublesome (but not impossible) to remove.

From the Library Settings, Content Types section, click on the custom certificate content type (e.1000., 'ClientAgeements'). Click on Advanced settings.

Click 'upload a new document template' and add the document template. The proper name of the template should be obvious. Information technology is possible to get dorsum and edit the template at any time later on it has been uploaded. This is usually much easier if a change is required, compared with uploading a new template and having to re-link all the metadata.

Connect the metadata to the document content

From the Document Template section above, click on 'Edit Template'. This should open the document in the installed Word application. These steps cannot be carried out using Word Online.

Place the cursor in the body of the text where the metadata is to be placed. Click on the 'Insert' tab in Word, and then click on 'Quick Parts' in the text section.

Click on 'Document Property' and the custom columns will appear.

When you select each property, the word certificate volition brandish it as shown beneath. Continue this procedure until all the required metadata is added to the document:

Equally noted before, it is usually much easier to edit an existing template 'in identify' instead of uploading a new version because the steps involved in adding the metadata to the template must be repeated if a new template is uploaded.

Motorcar-populating Discussion documents

At present that all the elements are in place, metadata is added automatically to the Word template as follows.

Beginning, open the certificate library. Click on '+ New' and cull the document set content type (e.g., Customer Folder).

Fill up in the metadata elements required, and then click 'Save'.

Now, open the document set/binder, and click on the document content type (e.k., 'ClientAgreement'). This volition open the Word template.

Don't change the certificate, just click File – Save As. This should brandish the listing of SharePoint sites on the right. Give the document a name, then choose the relevant site (e.thousand., 'Client Agreements'), so the relevant library and document set/binder and press salve. This is the most complicated part of the process once it is set up.

The template document, with all the metadata elements, should now appear in the document library under the document set/folder. As it is a Word document, it is possible to ask someone to sign on glass, and so 'save as' a PDF.

If the document requires a sensitivity label and these are enabled, this tin can exist added directly from the Word document menu when it is created.

Other relevant documents (eastward.one thousand., emails) could be added to the same folder, including drag and drop from Outlook or other locations when the library is synced to File Explorer.

Note that the metadata elements that were added to the document in this way course role of properties of the document. These properties, which will remain with the certificate if it downloaded or attached to an electronic mail, can be viewed from the 'File – Info' department of the Word document.

Summary

The disabling of SharePoint 2010 workflows in SharePoint Designer has removed the power to automobile-create a document in SharePoint with the required metadata. Nevertheless, it is not particularly difficult to prepare a site, with two custom content types, 1 of which contains a document template, to achieve the same outcome without whatever workflow at all. The only complicating factor is the requirement to salve the document template back to the library – without making any changes at all.