Overview: Master templates control the visual layout of letterheads, page margins, page numbers, and the generated document’s general structure alongside the content template. The Master template editor uses a split-screen layout with an Editor on the left and a Visualiser on the right, giving users a live preview of their configuration as they work.
Please refer to the Glossary for definitions of key terms used in this article.
Accessing the Templates page
Navigate to Active Documents by clicking the Active Documents logo.
In the global documents list page, click the Templates tab to access the Templates Library.
Create a new Master template
To create a new Master template, in the Templates List page, click New Template.
A pop-up will appear with two options: Content template and Master template.
To create a new Master template, click on Master template.
Filling out the template details
Template Configuration
Once a template type is selected, a slide-out will open where you can fill out the template configuration details:
Field | Description |
Template Title | The name of the template. This is a required field. |
Template Cabinet | The cabinet this template belongs to. This is a required field. |
Type | The assigned template type for this template. This is not a required field. |
Once all required fields are complete, click Create and Edit to open the template editor.
Using the template editor
The Master template editor uses a split-screen layout. The Editor sits on the left and is where you add text, images, and content for the Master template. The Visualiser sits on the right and provides a live preview of the letterhead configuration as you work.
Sidebar menu
The sidebar menu is open by default and sits to the left of the editor canvas. It can be hidden or shown using the sidebar toggle icon in the toolbar.
The sidebar has two tabs:
Page Setup controls the letterhead, content margins, and page numbers applied to the Master template.
System fields consist of standard fields that will be populated automatically from data stored in the Active Platform and organised by category.
Page Setup
The Page Setup tab controls how the Master template’s letterhead, margins, and page numbers are configured. Each setting can be updated at any time; every change or updates done to the letterhead selection will trigger the regenerate button to display. Click Regenerate, and the Visualiser will regenerate to preview the changes.
First page
Select the letterhead to apply to the first page of the document. When a letterhead is selected, choose how it should behave using one of the following options:
Letterhead wraps content: Document content will sit within the letterhead’s designated content area. The letterhead and content appear together on the first page. The Visualiser will show the content template placeholder positioned within the letterhead.
Standalone cover page: The letterhead will be used as a full cover page. Document content begins on the following page. The Visualiser will indicate that no body content appears on this page.
Note: Letterheads must be created before they can be selected here. For more information, refer to the support article: How to set up letterhead.
Subsequent pages
Select a letterhead to apply to all pages following the first page. This field is optional, leave it empty if the same letterhead should carry from the first page. Only populate this field if a different letterhead is required from page two onwards.
Note: When the letterhead selected for subsequent pages differs from the first page, a yellow banner will display in the Visualiser to indicate the difference.
Content Margins
Content margins define the printable area within the page where document text and content are constrained. The letterhead will always span the full page regardless of margin settings.
First page and subsequent page margins are configured independently, allowing different margin settings for page one and page two onwards. For each, select from the available margin presets or set the top, bottom, left and right margins manually.
Tip: After updating margin settings, click Regenerate in the Visualiser to preview your changes.
Page Numbers
Page number display is off by default. To enable it, check the Show Page Numbers checkbox.
When enabled, the following options appear:
Type of configuration | Description | Available options |
Format | Select the page number format to display |
|
Position | Select where page numbers appear on the page |
|
Don’t show on first page | When enabled, page numbering starts from page 2 | Checkbox option to enable or disable |
Note: After updating margin settings, click Regenerate in the Visualiser to preview your changes.
Editor Canvas
The editor canvas is the left panel of the split-screen layout. It works like a standard document editor and shares the same toolbar option as the content template editor.
When a Master template is opened, the canvas displays three areas:
Add your intro here…. Any text added here will sit above the content template. Click to type an introduction, paste content or insert system fields.
Content template placeholder, displayed in the editor in a grey-coloured box indicates where content templates will be assembled when a document is generated. This area cannot be edited directly.
Add your sign-off here…. Any text added here will sit below the content template. Click to type a sign-off, paste content, or insert system fields.
When a letterhead is selected in Page Setup, a banner displays in the editor area confirming the selection for the First Page and Subsequent Pages. When no letterhead is selected, the banner will display: No letterhead selected.
The letterhead selected in the Master template will be the default used when this Master template is selected during document generation. Users can adjust the letterhead as part of the generation process without overriding the original template configuration.
Visualiser
The Visualiser is the right panel of the split-screen layout. It provides a preview of the letterhead configuration applied to the Master template, including how the letterhead displays across the first page and subsequent pages.
Opening and closing the Visualiser
The Visualiser opens automatically the first time a letterhead is selected in Page Setup. To close it, click the ‘X’ button in the Visualiser panel. To reopen it, click the Show Visualiser button.
The split between the Editor and Visualiser can be resized at any time by clicking and dragging the centre divider.
Regenerate the preview
After making changes to the letterhead selection, display behaviour, content margins or page number settings, click Regenerate in the Visualiser to update the preview.
The Regenerate button appears automatically when changes are detected.
Saving and publishing templates
Templates use a version-controlled editing model, where only one published version of a template can exist at a time. A template can also hold one draft version alongside its published version, but not more than one. Understanding how this works will help you make changes without disrupting documents already in use.
Draft and published states
When a Master template is first created, it can be saved or published.
Saving stores the template as a draft. Draft templates can be opened and edited at any time but are not available for document generation.
Publishing makes the template available for document generation. Published templates display with a Published status in the Templates list.
Editing a published template
Opening a published Master template from the Templates list will display it in read-only mode with an information bar at the top of the editor that indicates this state, and a clickable link for users to create a draft version and make changes.
To begin editing a published template, click on the link in the banner to create a draft.
Once a draft is created, the information bar turns yellow and displays Draft editing in progress. A link in the bar allows you to return to the published version at any time.
Saving changes to the draft keeps the published version unchanged. When you are ready to apply your changes, publishing the draft will replace the current published version.
Note: Updating and republishing a template does not affect documents that have already been generated from it. Changes will only apply to new documents generated from that point forward.
If a document was generated before the update and is still being worked on, it will need to be regenerated to reflect the updated template.
Viewing template versions and status
The Templates list displays the current status of each template: Published or Draft.
For templates that have a draft alongside a published version, both states are visible in the list.
The Versions control in the editor toolbar provides access to the full version history for a template.