# Ensure Uniformity Across Documents with Templates This feature is only available to organisations on the Enterprise and Professional plans. Comm.care Templates offer a flexible structure for your Organisation's documents, ensuring consistency while streamlining business processes. A well-designed template includes the required information and document layout, and is automated to improve document production efficiency. This tutorial shows you how to utilise Templates in Comm.care to the fullest.  ## Default Templates - Ready to Use from Day One Good news! When your organisation activates the **CMS product**, Comm.care automatically creates a set of essential templates for you. This means you can start creating professional, structured documents right away without having to build templates from scratch. ### What default templates do you get As soon as you activate CMS (during signup or via the Credit Information modal), the system will set up these ready-to-use templates for you: - **Personal Plan** - Perfect for documenting participant goals and care plans - **Case Instruction** - For clear, consistent case instructions - **Progress Note** - To record service delivery and participant progress - **Note** - For general documentation and communication - **Assessment** - For participant assessments and evaluations These templates are designed with commonly used fields and layouts to help you get started quickly. You can use them as-is, or customise them later to better fit your organisation's specific needs. ### What happens to default templates if I cancel CMS If you decide to cancel your CMS product subscription, the default templates will be automatically removed from your organisation. However, any documents you've already created using these templates will remain in your circles—you will no longer be able to create new documents using these templates. > **Tip**: Although these templates are provided by default, you can still create your own custom templates. The default templates are just a starting point to help you hit the ground running. ## Finding Your Templates - Using Filters As your organisation grows, you might create many templates for different purposes. > The template filter helps you quickly find the templates you need. ### How to filter templates On the **Organisation > Templates** page, you can find templates using two methods: **Search by name:** Type the template name in the **Name** search bar to quickly find a specific template. **Filter by document type:** Use the document type filter to narrow down your list: - **Contractual & Financial** - View templates for service agreements, contracts, and billing documents - **Care Instructions** - See templates for wound care plans, medication plans, support plans, and assessments - **Care Documents** - Find templates for medication charts, review forms, and participant surveys - **Progress Notes** - Access templates for recording service delivery and participant progress - **Notes** - View templates for general communication and updates - **Organisation** - See templates for organisation-level documents (like policies) - **Incident** - Find incident report templates _(only visible if your organisation has QMS activated)_ - **Risk** - Access risk assessment templates _(only visible if your organisation has QMS activated)_ - **Feedback** - View feedback and complaint templates _(only visible if your organisation has QMS activated)_ You can use both methods together for even more precise results—search by name while filtering by document type to quickly find exactly what you need. > **Want to learn more about document types?** See our [Understanding Document Types in Circles](../features/circle-of-care/understanding-document-access.md) guide for detailed explanations of each type and when to use them. > **Tip**: If you're looking for a specific template, try filtering by document type first. This narrows down your search and helps you find what you need faster! <video src="help/Attachments/templates-filter-templates.webm" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video> ## Create Templates Templates are your organisation’s assets and help you maintain consistency across all documentation. Here's how to create your own custom template: ### Step 1: Choose Your Document Type Go to **Your Organisation Name > Templates > Add Template** When you click the **Add Template** button, you'll see a dropdown menu asking you to select what type of document you want to create a template for: - **Contractual & Financials** - For claims and billing-related documents - **Care Instructions** - For personal plans and assessments - **Care Documents** - For case instructions and participant care information - **Progress Notes** - For recording service delivery and progress - **Notes** - For general documentation and communication - **Organisation** - For organisation-level documents like policies and procedures - **Incident** - For incident reports _(only if you have QMS activated)_ - **Risk** - For risk assessments _(only if you have QMS activated)_ - **Feedback** - For feedback and complaints _(only if you have QMS activated)_ Select the document type that matches your needs, and the template creation modal will open. > **Not sure which document type to use?** Learn more about when to use each document type in our [Understanding Document Types in Circles](../features/circle-of-care/understanding-document-access.md) guide. <video src="help/Attachments/templates-choose-document-type.webm" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video> ### Step 2: Fill in the Basic Fields Once you've selected your document type, you'll see the template creation form with these fields: - **Template Name**: Give your template a clear, descriptive name so your team can easily find it later. - **Template for**: This field shows the access type for your template and is **read-only** (you can't change it—it's automatically set based on the document type selected in Step 1). This ensures your template is always used for the right kind of document. - **Description**: Add a helpful description explaining when and how to use this template. This is especially useful for training new team members! - **Document Title**: Enter the default title that will appear when someone creates a document from this template. You can customise this with placeholder text if needed. - **Document Description**: Enter the default description for documents created from this template.  ## Customised fields and components If your document requires more information, you can add new fields under the components such as **Text** (short text entry), **Textarea** (long textbox entry), **Checkbox**, **Date picker**, or **Tags** (multi-select entry). Just click on any components on the right to add it to your template. You can enter a default value for each of these customised fields. This will enable your employees to generate documents in a more structured, efficient, and precise manner. As a result, the need for manual typing is replaced by selecting options, minimising the likelihood of errors or unwanted entries. <video src="help/Attachments/templates-adding-custom-fields.webm" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video> ## Tips for using customised fields - **Setting fields to active/inactive**: All fields are active by default, but you can make any field inactive by clicking **the eye icon**. This makes the field read-only during document creation and updates. To enable changes, click the same button to switch the field back to active when updating the template and related document. <video src="help/Attachments/templates-field-active-inactive.webm" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video> - **Remove fields**: When you remove a field, it will be permanently removed from the documents created from the template as well.  - **Pre-filled components**: If you add these components to your templates, when you export the document as a PDF, the components will automatically fill with the relevant Circle (or Organisation) information from the related document. The usable components vary depending on the document type. <video src="help/Attachments/templates-prefilled-components.webm" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video> - **Template layout**: Arrange the components in your preferred layout by clicking the arrow icon at the top right of each component to move them up or down. <video src="help/Attachments/templates-layout-arrangement.webm" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video> You have now created your first template. Let's try to create a document from this template and see how convenient it is! ## Creating Documents From Templates Now that you've created your templates, it's time to put them to use! Here's how to create documents from your templates: ### For Circle Documents To create a [Circle's document](../features/circle-of-care/timeline-and-records.md): 1. Go to **Circle > Timeline > Add Document** 2. Select the **Template** you want to use from the dropdown 3. Fill in the required details > **Tip**: For progress notes created from an [appointment](../features/scheduling-rostering/appointments.md), you can also select a template when creating that appointment. This saves even more time! ### For Organisation Documents To create an [Organisation's document](policies-procedures.md): 1. Go to **Organisation > Documents > + Add Document** 2. Select the **Template** you want to use 3. Fill in the required details ### Filling in Template Fields Once you've selected a template, you'll notice that most fields are already pre-filled with the default values you set up. Simply review and update any fields that need customisation for this specific document. <video src="help/Attachments/templates-create-circle-document.webm" autoplay loop muted playsinline></video> > Note that you can see the name of the template you're using at the bottom right. You can also switch to another the template (if available) by clicking on the dropdown icon.  **Export to PDF file:** To export the document to PDF, just click on the **To PDF** button on the bottom right. The pre-filled components will be displayed in the exact order of the template (See the image below). You can also [export multiple documents](../features/progress-notes/exporting.md) with the help of filters in Circle's Timeline.  Comm.care Templates help save time and improve documentation consistency. --- ## Related Tutorials - [Understanding Document Types in Circles](../features/circle-of-care/understanding-document-access.md) - Learn about the different document types templates can create - [Timeline - Working with Records](../features/circle-of-care/timeline-and-records.md) - Where documents created from templates appear - [Staff Access to Circles](staff-management/circle-access.md) - Control who can create and view documents - [Organisation Roles](staff-management/roles-and-access.md) - Understand who can create and manage templates - [Circle of Care Overview](../features/circle-of-care/index.md) - Main Circle of Care documentation