Template Creation Basics

Creating templates in Smokeball is a great way to get everything organized in one place, save time, and improve accuracy on every document.

As part of your onboarding process, Smokeball will automate some of your templates for you. However, it is also possible to directly add templates on your own.

Follow these steps to add any template to Smokeball.

Create a Template in Smokeball

1. Open a matter, then select the Forms & Templates button in the Action Bar. 
2. Navigate to the folder you want to add your template to and select Add a form/letter.
3. Follow the prompts and add your document. 
4. Select Browse for an existing document if uploading an existing document or Create a new template from a blank document. 
   • Note: You can upload a PDF or Excel document into the form and template library. You'll need to change the view on the bottom right of the screen to have those files visible. You cannot automate Excel spreadsheets.
   • Only PDFs with fillable fields can be automated. If you want to add a PDF as an automatable template, select the Is Automated PDF document checkbox on the Add a Form/Letter window.
   • If you add a PDF form without checking the Is Automated PDF document checkbox, the PDF template will open in your default PDF software (e.g., Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF, Nitro PDF, etc.) and will not be able to use Smokeball automation fields. 
5. Name the document.
6. Choose a container type from the Container dropdown menu (for Word templates) and change the library location of the template. Containers are a great way to quickly add a letterhead or caption header to a template and save time automating Word documents.
7. Select the Create button. This will open a copy of your template in Microsoft Word for you to review and edit.

Modify and Save Your Template in Microsoft Word 

1. Use Smokeball's Automation Toolbar in Word to edit your template. 
   • You can add automation to your template by doing Field Insertions, Asks, and Conditional If/Then/Else Statements.
   • Learn more about the basics of Automation.
2. Once you have made any changes, select Save & Close to save your Word or PDF template.
3. The template will be available to use in your Forms & Templates Library. 
   • To make changes to the template, right click and select Modify.

Did You Know

• You can select the addressee on a form once you select a container. 
  • The form will be generated based on the container selected using the addressee’s details.
• Templates can only be modified by users with the appropriate Form Changes permissions. Learn more about setting up your staff and user permissions in Smokeball Settings. 

• If you find yourself generating a document outside of Smokeball, create a quick template for easier access from the Forms/Templates Library. 
  • You can create a quick template from Word on the Smokeball ribbon.

• To add a PDF or Excel file, you may need to select the dropdown menu when browsing your computer. PDF and Excel Files will not be able to be automated, but you can open and save changes directly to a matter utilizing this feature.