Articles on: Documents

Document Types & Templates

πŸ“‘ Document Types & Templates

"Standardize your content, simplify your workflows."
Create, customize, and apply templates to keep documents consistent , easy to use, and audit-ready.



1️⃣ Getting Started


If you want to create your own document types or templates, go to:

πŸ‘‰ Workspace Settings β†’ Document Types & Templates (bottom left of the dashboard).



πŸ“Œ All custom types and templates are created and managed centrally here.



2️⃣ Custom Document Templates


Most document types provided by Brainframe include default templates.


You can also create your own templates, which are:

  • The initial text shown when creating a new document.
  • Fully versioned for audits.


How to create a template:

  1. Go to Workspace settings.
  2. Select Document templates.
  3. Click Add.



Templates can be made with:

  • πŸ“ Standard editor (simple text, markdown, variables).
  • πŸ“Š Advanced editor (OnlyOffice) for Word/Excel/PowerPoint.


πŸ“Œ Templates help you save time and enforce consistency across teams.



3️⃣ Standard Editor

The standard editor supports text, Markdown, and reusable variables.


β‘  Options when creating a template


  1. Template Title – Name shown when creating a document.
  2. Set as Default Template – Set this template as the default one for documents of this type.
  3. Editor Type – Choose Standard or Advanced.
  4. Markdown Toggle – Enable Markdown formatting.
  5. Template Content – The text to prefill documents.
  6. Preview Window – Renders Markdown in real-time.
  7. Add License – Attach a license.


πŸ’‘ Tip: Use the Insert dropdown which allows you to add frequently used text blocks, the current date and helper texts.




πŸ’‘ Use Variables, the last option of the dropdown, to insert placeholders that auto-update with document properties.




4️⃣ Advanced Editor (OnlyOffice)


Use the Advanced editor if you want your templates to remain in native Office formats.


Steps:

  1. Upload an existing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF file.
  2. Select the correct document type.
  3. Edit the content directly in OnlyOffice.



πŸ“Œ Great for legal, HR, or audit-heavy content where native file format must be preserved.



5️⃣ Custom Document Types


After creating templates, you can assign them to custom document types.


Create a document type

  1. Go to Document Types in the left menu.
  2. Click Add.


  1. Enable Identifier – Require unique IDs with optional prefixes (e.g., R-00x, CAPA-).

  1. Document Type Name – How it appears in β€œCreate Document.”
  2. Description – Tooltip guidance.
  3. Category & Icon – Assign to Security, Privacy, Quality, etc., and select the icon you want to associate to it.
  4. Properties – Set mandatory vs. optional properties.
  5. Approval Stages – Configure static (no changes per approval state) or dynamic (changes allowed) approvals, and assign approvers.

  1. Template – Prefill with a chosen template.
  2. Questionnaire – Attach Q&A tracking for audits.

  1. Linked Document Types – Suggest related types on creation.
  2. Track Maturity – Enable maturity tracking per document.

  1. Tracking type – Select whether you want to track based on creation date or last modification date.


πŸ’‘ Tip: To override Brainframe defaults, create a custom type with the same name as an existing one, and configure it as desired. (Requires page refresh to take effect.)


6️⃣ Configure default folder for a document type


To avoid having to add each document one by one to its folder, we provide a default configuration option which will automatically place all documents of a certain type into the folder it should be in. This is especially useful for types of documents that always belongs in a specific folder (e.g. for corrective actions, risks, incidents, supplier, vulnerabilities, ...).


This is the header you will see when modifying an existing or creating a new document type. To define the default folder this type of document should be placed in, click on the corresponding button.


This will open the following window:



Select Target Folder

  • Use the active folder (default: INBOX).
  • Or select an existing folder in the workspace.

New Item Behaviour

  1. Store all data in the same target folder as a document.
  2. Create a subfolder with the item name.
  3. Create a folder view with the item name.


πŸ“Œ Our common documents already have this feature enabled and pre-configured, but you can override them locally for full customization.



7️⃣ Applying Templates to Existing Documents

Templates can also be applied to existing documents:


During document creation

Use the ⭐ star icon to apply a template while creating a new document.



In EDIT mode

Apply a template while editing an existing document.



When applying a template, you’ll see:

  1. Source workspace
  2. Template name
  3. Search bar
  4. Template preview
  5. Format indicator (Standard, Markdown, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
  6. AI-assisted editing option
  7. License details (applied to all documents created from this template)
  8. Apply your configurations



8️⃣ Best Practices

  • πŸ“ Use Standard Editor for text-based templates with variables, and new documents your create.
  • πŸ“Š Use Advanced Editor when native Office formats must be preserved.
  • 🚨 Configure approvals for full audit compliance.
  • πŸ’‘ Review templates quarterly to keep them aligned with your policies.


🎯 Visual Checklist

  • [x] Custom template created
  • [x] Standard or advanced editor chosen
  • [ ] New document type configured
  • [ ] Approval stages assigned
  • [ ] Templates applied to existing docs


Updated on: 01/09/2025

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