How to create your Smart Layout Content Source

Setting up a Smart Layout Content Source will enable your proposal writers to insert beautifully formatted lists into Word or PowerPoint documents in just a few clicks. To learn more, see Introduction to Smart Layouts.

There are two pre-requisites to setting up your Smart Layout Content Source:

1. Create your Smart List
2. Create your Layout Template Library

If you have your Smart List and Layout Template Library ready, let’s get started!

1. Navigate to Manage > Content Sources
2. Click the “Add” button
3. Choose the last option: "Smart Layout

This will bring you to the Smart Layout creation form that will guide you through your Content Source setup: 

The Smart Layout Content Source setup includes the following elements:

1. Name:  Name your Content Source in a way that users will easily know what they will find there.
2. Smart List: Select the Smart List you want to associate with this Smart Layout Content Source.

3. Title and Description: Select the Smart List fields you’d like to use for the display of search results returned for this Content Source. Note: 'Short Text' or 'Long Text' field types are the exclusive options available for these selections.

4. Modified: The default selection here is “System modified date”, which represents the date that a record was last updated in QorusDocs. However, if you have other DateTime type fields in your Smart List, you have the flexibility to choose one of those to better represent when the record was last modified. For example, you might have an integration from an experience management tool into a Smart List, and instead of using the date that the record was updated to the Smart List, you might want to use the date that the record was last updated in your experience management tool. 

5. Linking to the layout template: This is where you paste in the URL to your SharePoint layout template library. Click the Apply button to proceed. 

6. Search Location Image:If you’d like a custom icon for this Content Source, click to clear the default icon, and then click again to upload your custom icon.
7. Search View: By default, “Grid” is selected, which will give your users access to making multiple Smart Layout selections from a user-friendly grid. However, if you prefer a search experience where users can select just one record at a time from the Search panel, select “Panel” instead.

After you’ve made all of your selections, simply click the Create button at the bottom and you’ll be all set to start making great-looking proposals in less time.

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Field Mapping for Smart Layout Content Sources

We encourage you to reach out to a member of our team before attempting this on your own.

Once your Smart List and corresponding Smart Layout Content Source are established, the next crucial step is mapping the fields from the Smart List to the Layout Templates. The approach to field mapping varies based on your layout design. 

1. Fixed Design:

   • This format is only available through an integration, which is completed by our Professional Services team. Please contact your CSM to find out more.

1. Floating Design (also known as "tombstone" style):

   • This involves arranging shapes within the document.
   • To map fields, simply add the Smart List field name to the Alt Text of each shape where you want the field value to display.
   • Important Tips for Floating Designs:
     • For image tags, include "_tsimage" after the field name (e.g., CompanyLogo_tsimage).
     • Grouped fields must be sequenced (e.g., 1-10 or A-Z)

Floating Design Template Mapping

When designing and building your template, make sure it reflects your organization's specific style. The example below is just for show, focusing on a PowerPoint template. The main goal here is to walk you through the steps of making your own template, a process that works just as well for both PowerPoint and Word documents. This guide is designed to give you the insights and tools you need to create templates that truly capture your organization's character.

Let's get started:

To begin, we suggest you create your template from within your Smart Layout Template Library. If you need assistance with that, click here to find out more:

Once you have your template open, you can begin designing your structure with shapes. These shapes will act as placeholders for the information you want to be inserted there from your Smart List database:

Once you have your shapes in place you can assign your Smart List data field to their respective shape placeholder.

To achieve this:

1. Right-click the shape
2. Select "View Alt Text"

Once you have selected the "View Alt Text" option, you will notice the "Alt Text" box appear on the right side of your screen.

Now, for each shape, you will assign a Smart List data field in each Alt Text box. In this example, I have created a template for "Our Experiences". For this, I will be assigning the following Smart List fields:

• Client
• Practice
• LongDescription (avoid spaces, maintain consistency with your Smart List Field)
• Logo (due to this being an image field you MUST add "_tsimage" to the end of your image field name)

Grouping

Now that you have created the general template to your liking you can group the design and duplicate it across your template page.

Let's begin with grouping all your Smart List template fields:

1. Select all your shapes, with the defined "Alt Text"
2. Right-click all the selected shapes
3. Select the "Group" option

Once you have grouped the layout you can assign the number 1 to it in the "Alt Text" box. This will define what information you want per grouping.

As you copy past more groupings you will need to update the "Alt Text" to ascend by 1 with each pasted grouping, as illustrated below: 

That was quite a bit of information, so let's recap to make sense of it all:

Design Process:

Field names CAN initially be included in the shapes' text for clarity during the design process but are replaced by actual data when documents are generated by the Tombstone merge engine. Need to clarify this as I have not yet seen an example of 'visible' text in a shape in a template.

Key Components:

• Groups and Shapes: Essential elements in templates. Each has an "Alt Text" property used as an identifier.
• Groups: Serve as containers for shapes. Each group can represent a data row or record in a list, which can then be translated into a search result within QorusDocs to be inserted into documents.
• Shapes: Represent individual data fields within a row or record. The "Alt Text" for a shape corresponds to the field name assigned in QorusDocs.

With all said and done your final product should look a little something like this: WAITING ON GROUPING FEATURE TO BE RELEASED

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