The Microsoft Word integration is a core functionality of Smokeball.Â
Generating documents from Forms & Precedents Library saves time and ensures accuracy for your firm's drafted documents.
The integration embeds powerful tools and real-time matter information directly into Word, allowing you to effortlessly populate data and manage documents without leaving your drafting environment.
When you open a document in Word, you will see a dedicated Smokeball Ribbon (1) and Smokeball Toolbar (2):
Smokeball Ribbon
The Smokeball Ribbon sits in the Word Home tab in the top-left corner of your document, and features the following key actions:
Click on the headings below for more information on each action.
Save & Close
Save & Close: Saves your document directly to the associated Smokeball matter and closes it, perfect when you've finished working on the document.
Select the arrow in the bottom right corner to access the additional Save options below:
- Save: Saves your changes without closing the document, so you can keep working on it.
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Save As: Allows you to name the document or, for existing files, create a new copy with a different name. Ideal for saving variations or preserving the original version.
Note: Save As also lets you choose a different folder within your Smokeball matter to save the document. By default, files are saved to the Documents folder, but they can be easily moved and organised in the matter as needed.
Share
Share: Shares the document via secure message with Smokeball's Client Portal. The Client Portal is used to securely message and share files with any client or third party, and includes a chat feature for easy reply. Learn more about the Client Portal.
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Optional: Select Require Multi-Factor Authentication when sending messages for added security. This will require the receipient to go through multi-factor authentication before they can access to the document.
Send
Send: Allows you to send the document via the Client Portal or Email
- Client Portal attaches the document to a secure message sent through Smokeball's Client Portal.
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Email gives you the option to attach the document as a Word or PDF file in a new email, or insert the document content directly as the Body Text of the email.
Sign
Sign: Can be used to add electronic signatures and send to InfoTrack's SignIT via DocuSign.
Learn more about InfoTrack and DocuSign.
Close
Close: Closes the document without saving any changes. Use this action when you do not want to save changes, or to simply close out of Word.
Best Practice: Always save or close documents using the actions in the Smokeball Ribbon rather than the standard Word close button. This ensures Word remains open in the background, leading to faster document loading times and a smoother, more seamless experience.
Smokeball Toolbar
The Smokeball Toolbar appears down the right-hand side of the Word window. Expand by clicking on the toolbar to access matter details and additional automation options.
The Smokeball Toolbar includes the following features and actions. Click on the headings below for more information on each action.Â
Letter / Form / Matters buttons
These buttons are quick-links to the following actions:
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Letter: allows you to create a blank letter.
- Note: selecting Form from the drop-down arrow will allow you to create a new attendance note.
- Note: selecting Form from the drop-down arrow will allow you to create a new attendance note.
- Form: opens the Forms & Precedents library, where you can generate an existing form or precedent document.
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Matter: is only available on documents that are not yet saved to a Smokeball matter. Use this option to search for an existing matter to assign the document to, or create a new matter directly from the document.
Document merge disabled
This banner will appear when you re-open existing documents that are already saved to a Smokeball matter. By default, Smokeball won't automatically update any previously saved documents when they are re-opened as you may just be viewing the document without wanting to update. Select Update now and resume merge to update your existing document with the latest matter data. Learn more about updating previously saved documents.
Matter Details
The Smokeball Toolbar in Word mirrors the Matter Details list from your Smokeball matter. This allows you to view all relevant matter data directly within your document, without needing to switch back to the matter window.Â
You can also add or amend data as you work in the document. Double-click on any item to open its data window for editing. Select Save or OK to save and close the window after making changes, or Cancel to close without saving.Â
Did You Know?
- Your document updates in real time as you save changes in the toolbar, no need to regenerate the document to reflect updates.
- Any data you add via the Word toolbar is automatically saved to the matter window, so you only need to enter data once, no need to remember to update the matter separately.
Additional automation options
At the bottom of the toolbar there are some additional automation options to help get the most out of the automated documents. Some of these options will only appear if relevant to the specific document that you are working in.
- Run questions for this form: Available in documents with Ask automation, such as those that display a pop-up question when the document is first opened. Use this option to re-run the questions and update responses within the document.
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Replace references...: Allows you to swap an automated precedent field with a different matter field. This is particularly useful when you need to insert data for a different contact type on a one-off basis, without risking error from manually overtyping fields.
- Â Matter settings: Allows you to add uncommon fields or contacts to the matter. You can also view matter changes in Matter History.
- Change the matter: Use this option to continue working on the document in a different matter. This can be useful when drafting the same document for multiple matters, or if the document was initially generated from the wrong matter. Before changing the matter, make sure to select Save or Save As from the Save & Close dropdown to avoid losing any work.
- Provide feedback on this form: Allows you to easily submit feedback about a Smokeball document directly to our Product team.Â
Smokeball Envelopes
Within the Word Mailings tab, you can also find the Smokeball Envelopes integration. Use this feature to labels or envelopes that automatically populate with the details of your letter receipient.
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Did You Know?
- You can use the Smokeball Ribbon or Smokeball Toolbar to easily save documents created outside of Smokeball back to the appropriate matter. From the ribbon, select Save to Smokeball then search for and select the relevant matter. Alternatively, expand and search from the toolbar.