Build and Edit a Merge Template

1. Prepare the document that you'd like to use as the merge template. The templated content (e.g. the award letter content) should be ready to go before you begin the next steps.
   • The document should be prepared in Microsoft Word or a similar program. 
2. Click Communications in the upper navigation bar, and then click Merge Templates.
3. Click the Process drop-down and select the process for which you'd like to generate merge fields. 
   • For example, if you're creating an award letter template for your Spring Process, you'd select the Spring Process. This ensures that the merge fields you copy and paste into your template will pull the intended information for requests in that process. 
4. Click Generate Merge Fields. 
5. A document should have downloaded in your browser named something similar to "Fields-Spring Grant Process", which you can then click to open.
   • This document contains all the available merge fields related to the process you selected.
   • Refer to the Merge Fields Explained section below for more details on this document and what it contains. 
6. Highlight and copy a desired merge field within the Fields document.
   
   
7. Paste the copied field into your template exactly where you'd like the information from that field to populate.
   • Do not use the "Keep Text Only" option when pasting a merge field, as that removes the field code in the background. More information on field codes is available at the end of this section.
   • Continue adding all desired merge fields, being mindful of spaces and punctuation surrounding the merge fields.
     
     
8. Save the changes to your Word document merge template. 
9. Back in your GLM or SLM site on the Merge Templates page, click Add New Template, and then select the template file from your computer. 
10. Name the template, enter an optional Description, and then click Save.
    • The Name becomes the file name when generating merge documents using this template. Be mindful of this if you intend to attach documents to an applicant's request using this template. 
    • The Description is for internal purposes, and can help you remember specifics of the intended use for this template. 
11. The document now appears in your list of available merge templates, and can be used to generate merge documents from your site.
    
    

When you generate the merge fields for a process, note that some sections of fields are not process-specific. For example, the Primary Contact section contains fields from the registration pages. If you only include fields in your merge template that are not process-specific, that merge template can be used to generate documents for requests in any process. 

Other sections of fields are process-specific. Keep in mind when generating a merge document, it's generated for a request within a certain process. If the merge template you use includes process-specific merge fields, data will only populate in those fields if they exist with a matching field code in the process for that request.

Example

Let's say that you include the Amount Requested field from your Spring Process application form in a merge template. You realize that you'd like to use this merge template for your Fall Process as well. If you copied your Spring Process to create the Fall Process and kept the Amount Requested field on the Fall Process application, you could use that same merge template to generate documents for both processes. That's because the field code for the Amount Request field, meaning the code behind the Amount Requested merge field, is the same for both processes since the Fall Process was created as a copy of the Spring Process. 

Once you've built and saved a merge template in your site, follow the steps below to edit the template if needed.

1. Click Communications in the upper navigation bar, and then click Merge Templates.
2. Click the File Name of the template you need to edit.
   
   
3. Open the file that downloads to your computer. 
4. Make the necessary edits to the document and save your changes.
5. On the Merge Templates page, click Add New Template, and then select the template file from your computer.
   
   
6. Name the template, enter an optional Description, and then click Save.
   • The Name becomes the file name when generating merge documents using this template. Be mindful of this if you intend to attach documents to an applicant's request using this template. 
   • The Description is for internal purposes, and can help you remember specifics of the intended use for this template. You might find it helpful to add a note in this field indicating that this is the updated version of the merge template.
     
     
7. Click the X next to the old version of the merge template to delete it from your site.