Using templates

Templates save a checklist of documents so you can reuse it across contacts instead of typing the same list every time. They're useful for anything you request repeatedly — a standard intake packet, a recurring compliance checklist, a closing file.

Creating a template

Create a new template from Templates, or turn a request you've already sent into one. The second route is usually easier: build the request you actually need, send it, and if you find yourself building the same one again, open it and choose Save as Template from the ⋯ menu.

Save as Template opens a new template filled in from the request: its title as the name and as the request title, every item with its section, instructions, file type and attached files, and its message sequence. Nothing is saved until you click Save Template, so rename it and check it first. Open-ended collections have no checklist, so the option isn't offered on them.

Some things belong to that one client, so they aren't copied:

• Fillable forms keep their fields and layout, but not your client's answers. Labels you wrote are kept.
• E-signature: your client becomes The recipient of each request, so each new request is signed by its own contact. Signers you typed in by name and email stay. Other contacts on the request are left out, and a note at the top of the template tells you which. Text you typed into the document before sending is cleared.

Open-ended collection templates

A template can also make an open-ended collection instead of a checklist. At the top of the template editor, choose Open-Ended Collection, then set the accepted file types and the instructions for your client. In New Request, switch to Open-Ended Collection and the Template list shows these templates only; picking one fills in the title, file types, instructions and message sequence. Instructions you've already typed yourself are kept. Switching an existing checklist template to open-ended removes its items, and you're asked to confirm first.

Template name and request title

A template has two titles. The Template Name is only for your team — use whatever helps you pick the right one, such as "FL Intake – v2 (divorce, kids)". The Request Title is what your client sees: in the email subject, the text message and at the top of their portal.

The quickest way to use one is from Templates: open the template and click Use Template. New Request opens with that template already picked, the same as choosing it from the list, so all that is left is to choose the contact.

In New Request, the Template list sits at the top of the window. It groups your templates by practice area (or, for templates without one, their category), shows how many items each has, and filters as you type — "rfo" finds every template with RFO in its name.

When you start a request from the template, its Request Title fills in the request's title, and you can still change it for that request. If you leave Request Title blank, the template name is used instead. A title you've already typed yourself is never replaced when you pick a template.

Forms and signatures

Attach a PDF to a template item and open the ⋯ menu on it to turn it into a fillable form or set it up for e-signature, the same as in a request. Every request made from the template starts with that setup already in place.

A template item can also carry more files for the client to read, up to 10 per item, the same as in a request (see Creating a document request). Every request made from the template includes them.

Because a template doesn't know who it will be sent to, the e-sign signer to pick is The recipient of each request. When you create a request from the template, that signer becomes the request's contact. If you send it to several contacts as one shared request, it's the first contact you picked; if you send each contact their own copy, it's each of them. You can also add a fixed signer by name and email, such as someone at your firm, and they're added to every request made from the template.

Messages that go with it

A template can name the message sequence its requests use — the emails and texts the client gets, from the first request to the completed notice. Pick it in the template editor; the picker lists sequences for the template's own practice area first. When you start a new request from the template, that sequence is already selected, and you can still choose a different one for that request. Leave it on Default and requests use your firm's default messages.

Sharing

Templates are shared across your organization, so any team member can start a request from one. You don't need to rebuild them per person.

Editing

Editing a template doesn't change requests you've already sent — only new requests created from it. Sent requests are snapshots, so a client who is halfway through uploading won't see items appear or vanish underneath them.

How many you get

Template count is limited by plan:

See Plans and billing for the rest of the limits.