This article covers how to use the Web Template Designer to build web templates. For information on creating Web Templates, please click here.

Whether you create a new template, copy an existing one to modify, or import a word document, you will need to use the Template Designer to design your document.

• You can change the name you gave the template using the Template Name field.

Before we build our modify template, it is important to understand the functionality of the template designer toolbar. Please Note: Although the icons you see resemble the icons you would see in Word; their functionality may differ slightly. The Template Designer works using HTML. Word does not.

1. Bold
2. Italicize
3. Underline
4. Strikethrough
5. Select Text Color
6. Select Background Color
7. Left Align
8. Center Align
9. Right Align
10. Justify
11. Add Bullet Points
12. Add Numbered List
13. Increase Indent
14. Decrease Indent
15. Sub_script
16. Super^script
17. Insert a Hyperlink
18. Remove a Hyperlink
19. Insert an Image
20. Insert a Table
21. Choose a Font
22. Font Size
23. Allows you to choose formats for text including various headings, quotes and paragraphs
24. Clean Formatting. If you import a word document and find the word formatting does not fit your memo, this button will remove said formatting.
25. View HTML. If you understand HTML you can read the HTML behind your template and modify it if you wish.
26. Toggle Full Screen. This button expands the Template Designer to fill your screen. Click it again to return to the default size.
27. Use this button to print your document. This will print the template allowing you to preview it.
28. The Merge Fields drop down menu allows you to select fields that correlate to information through Ventures. This is how you add data from Ventures to your Template. We will cover how to do this a little later in this article.
29. The Question Mark button will load a page that contains a list of every merge field and the location in Ventures that it pulls data from.
30. The Preview button allows you to preview the form you are building. It uses information from the last loan you were working on. Keep this in mind as it can impact your preview, for example if you have 504 specific merge fields in your document but the last loan you were working on was a commercial loan, when you preview your document, the preview will use data from the commercial loan, and you may see empty spaces that would otherwise be filled with data from a 504 loan. This does not mean you have built your form incorrectly.

•  Use the designer to build your document. If you have converted a document you will already have text entered. Once the document contains the information you want it to, you are ready to add merge fields.
• In our example below, we are using a letter that was imported to Ventures. In preparation for importing, we went through and highlighted all the places where we think merge fields will need to be inserted. You don't have to do this, but it is good practice when you first start using Web Templates.

Merge fields are how the system knows what data to pull from the loan when you generate the document. There are a lot of merge fields and it is impossible to remember them all. To help with this we have created a reference list of all the fields. You can access this by clicking the question mark button (labeled 29 in the diagram above). This will take you to a page that contains a list of all the merge fields and exact field they correspond to in Ventures. 

• Go through your document and enter the relevant merge field where you want data to pull from the loan.
  • Place your cursor where you want the merge field to be inserted. Select the merge field from the merge field dropdown menu (labeled 28 in the format bar pictured above).

    

  • The merge field will appear in the document.

    

  • To remove a merge field, place your cursor in front of it and click backspace on your keyboard. 
• Some merge fields may have additional options you need to select. We have an article covering the variety of options merge fields give you, you can click here to view it. When you add a merge field, click it to ensure there are no options for you to set. Get in the habit of doing this with every merge field. For example when we click the Loan # merge field in the example above, we have a variety of options to choose from. The options will differ based on the merge field. Click Ok after making your selections.

• Use the preview button periodically to ensure the form is pulling the data you want it to pull. Remember this uses information from the last loan you were working on to populate the preview. If the last loan you worked on was a 7A loan, and you are building a form with a lot of 504 specific merge fields, when you preview the document, the 504 specific merge fields will be blank as there is no 7A equivalent for them. 
• Once you have finished designing your document and you are happy with the preview, click save.

After using the Template Designer to design the document, click on the General Tab. You can also do this part first if you wish, the order doesn't matter.

The General Tab contains a variety of settings for your document. Every time you create a web template, make sure you go into the General tab and adjust the settings to fit your needs.

• You can enter a description for the template, users will be able to see this.
• You can note a publisher, form number and version number.
• The options section lets you choose what loan phase the document should be available in. You can select as many as you need to.
• You can assign the document to a custom category if it is not already assigned to one. The categories dropdown lets you assign specific loan types to the document. If set the document will only be usable for said loan types.
• The types field allows you to specify the loan type if you have multiple loans of that type. For example in the categories field you may select commercial loans, but in the types field you could select several types of commercial loans if you have different types set up in your system.
• The disabled check box will disable the document. This stops it from appearing as an option in the documents section.
• If you want to use the document in the bulk letters section of Ventures, check the Enabled for Bulk Merge option.
• You can set if you want the document to generate in a portrait or landscape orientation.
• You can set a header template for the document, this is where you can include your company logo using the header logo option, if you imported a logo for your organization.
• You can choose a footer template in this section as well.
• You also have additional options governing headers and footers including the margin from the top and bottom of the page, along with whether you want the header and footer to appear on only the first page, or all the pages except the first page.
• Finally you can use the margin section to specify the margins on the document. Ventures has prebuilt default margin sizes as options, but you can use the custom option to select your own.
• When you finish building your template. Click save.