Document templates (PDF, DOCX)

Document templates (PDF, DOCX) are the document models Nicoka generates from a record: a candidate's resume or anonymous resume, an evaluation report, a contract, a quotation, an invoice… You build them in a visual editor, mixing fixed text and record information that changes with each document. Setting them up requires customizing rights on the module concerned.

Open the templates

1. In the side menu, open Customizing > Store, then click Customize on the module concerned (for example ATS for candidates).
2. In the customizing menu, choose the entity (for example Candidates), then Document Templates.

The list shows the templates of the entity:

• Default ?: the template preselected when a document is generated from a record. You can change it directly from the list.
• Active: an inactive template is no longer offered on records.
• Upd. opens the template and Del. deletes it (after confirmation).

Below the list, Import a template from a .docx file creates a template from an existing Word document. If Ada is enabled in your workspace, Import a .docx file with Ada also offers to spot the texts to replace with record information.

Create a template

1. Click Create a new document template.
2. Enter the Label (the name shown to users), choose the Layout (Portrait or Landscape) and check the Entity.
3. Click Create. The template editor opens.

The templates provided by Nicoka (such as CV - Modèle 1) cannot be modified: open one and click Copy, at the top left, to start from a copy you can adapt.

Template settings

The top of the template page groups the document settings:

• Label, Layout and Entity;
• Type: PDF or Word document;
• Available for: click the pencil to restrict the template to some users instead of Everybody;
• Language: the language in which the document is generated;
• Don't display the header on the first page and Don't display the footer on the first page;
• Keep the previous editor's layout (spacing, header, font): useful for a template created with the previous editor, so that it keeps its look;
• Background image: an image placed behind the whole document (letterhead, for example);
• File naming rule: the name of the generated file, made of fixed values and record information.

At the top right, the arrows move to the previous or next template, and Preview generates a preview.

Build the document

The left part shows the document, in three areas: Header (repeated at the top of each page), Body and Footer (repeated at the bottom of each page). The right part lists the data you can insert: the fields of the entity (for example the candidate), the UI Components, the electronic signature fields and the list templates. Use the search field to find a field.

• To write fixed text (a title, a notice), click in a row and type.
• To insert record information, drag the field from the right part and drop it into a row. It is shown as a coloured tag, replaced by the record's value when the document is generated.

Add a row, a table or a page break

Hover over the limit between two rows: a + button appears. Click it to choose Add a new row, Add a table or Add a page break. The page break moves the rest of the body to a new page; the header and footer are repeated.

Format a row

Click in a row: a toolbar appears above it.

• text alignment (left, centre, right, justified);
• font size (from very small to XXL);
• bold, strikethrough, underline and italic, which you can combine;
• left, right, top and bottom borders, which you can combine;
• text colour, background colour and border colour;
• inserting an image;
• the number of columns, to split the row into several independent cells;
• the red bin, to delete the selected item.

The row menu

Click the icon to the left of a row to show its actions: delete the row, Display Rules, copy the row, or add an item below.

Add a table

A table lists the sub-items of the record: a candidate's experiences, skills or languages, the lines of an invoice…

1. Choose Add a table in the + menu.
2. Choose the Sub element (for example the experiences) and the Nb of columns, then click Add.

3. In the right part, open the section of the sub-element and drag its fields into the columns of the table. The table will show one row per sub-item of the record.
4. Click in a cell to set its alignment, size and style.

Show a part based on a condition

Display rules show a row only when a condition is met, for example hide the "Education" title when the candidate has no education.

1. Click the icon to the left of the row, then the Display Rules icon (the crossed-out eye).
2. In each rule row, choose If (or Else for the alternative to the previous rule), the field to test, then the condition: equal to, greater than, different from, empty, not empty, contains… Some conditions need a value.
3. Click the button to add a row for another condition, or the bin to remove one.
4. Click Save.

A row with a display rule is marked with an orange icon (the crossed-out eye) on its left.

Preview and use the template

Click Preview, at the top right of the editor: Nicoka generates the document with the most recently created record of the entity.

On a record, the print icon of the action bar lists the active templates: choose one to generate the document for that record.

In this example, the candidate has no education: thanks to the display rules, the "Education" section does not appear.