Probatum Editor VS HTML Editor

Previously in Probatum, all document templates and client documents were created using a simple HTML web editor. While the HTML editor handled most document needs, a more robust downloadable editor was created in order to mimic the familiar experience of a word processing software. 

Both text editors are currently available in Probatum in order to maintain legacy templates and client documents. Additionally, the Probatum Editor can only be downloaded onto a Windows PC. A document that was created using an HTML template can only be opened in the HTML editor. Likewise, a document that was created using the Probatum Editor template can only be opened and edited using the Probatum editor. Because of this, it is highly recommended that an organization choose to standardize their documents using one editor or the other.

Before generating documents for your clients, document templates must first be created by your organization administrator. A tutorial on document templates can be found here. Once document templates have been created, follow the tutorials below to learn how to generate new client documents using both the Probatum Editor and the legacy HTML Editor. 

Accessing Client Documents and Attachments

Client documents can be accessed from the client screen by clicking “Documents” on the side menu. Here you’ll find a list of both documents that have been created using the document templates, as well as various types of attachments that have been uploaded into Probatum. The document list displays the title of the files and the date each file was created or uploaded.

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Creating a New Client Document

Once the organization administrator has created the document templates, users can quickly generate documents for their clients. Creating a client document merges the client's unique personal data or case data with the document template.

1. From the Documents and Attachments list, click the “Add New” button in the bottom right corner.
   
   

2. Select Create New Doc.
   
   
   
   

3. A dialog will open with prompting you to select the document template you wish to use. The template type will display beside the template name signifying whether it is an HTML or DOC template.
   
   

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4. If you are using an HTML template and it requires case data to be merged, select the appropriate case from the drop down menu.
   
   

5. Click Continue.
   
   

6. Here, you can edit the name of the document, as well as tag cases. Simply start typing the Case ID, and select the correct case when it appears in the list. Click the X beside the case if you wish to remove the tag.
   
   
   
   

7. If the template is a DOC template and you are using the Probatum editor for the first time in Chrome, you will need to follow the instructions on your screen and install the ClickOnce Launcher browser extension. This will only need to be done once. If this is an HTML template, simply move to the next step.
   
   

8. Click Open Editor.

Editing a Client Document in the Probatum Editor

1. If a document template contains merge fields that require case data, you will be prompted to select the case by navigating to the Data Merge tab on the blue toolbar. From there, use the Next/Previous Case buttons to select the appropriate case. 
   
   

    

2. To preview the document with case and client data, click View Merged Data. This will replace the merge fields from the document template with the corresponding case or client data.
   
   

    

3. Make any desired edits to the document. Text and paragraph options can be found on the Home tab of the toolbar.
   
   

4. When you are satisfied with your changes, open the File tab from the toolbar and click Save to Probatum.
   
   

    

5. From the File tab, you may also Print the document. 

   
   
   

Editing a Client Document in the HTML Editor

1. The document will open in the text editor. Notice that the tokens that were inserted in the document template have now been populated with the client's unique information. 
   
   

2. If you wish to make edits to the document, simply click anywhere in the document and the editor toolbar will appear.For more information about using the document editor to customize the document, see the "Using the Document Editor" tutorial above.
   
   

    

3. When you make edits to the document, you will notice an alert icon in the top toolbar that means "Changes detected". This will notify you if the document has unsaved edits. 

    

4. To save, click the checkmark icon in the toolbar at the top of the screen. 
   
   

5. When you are satisfied with your changes and wish to print OR if you simply want to view the document as a PDF, click the Preview button in the bottom right corner of the screen. 
   
   

6. The document will then be converted to a PDF and allow you to preview before print. The PDF Preview will display a new toolbar at the top of the screen. This toolbar contains controls for the PDF. From left to right, these icons allow you to:close the preview and return to the editor,zoom in, zoom out, page up, page down, and print the document. If you are satisfied with the appearance and format of the document, click the print icon in your PDF viewer. 
   
   
   
   

7. If you are not satisfied with the PDF and wish to make changes before printing, click the X in the toolbar to close the print preview and return to the document editor.

HTML Editor Tips

There are a few items to note when using the HTML editor. When creating a document, you may notice that the placement of your text seems to be different in the editor than in the PDF preview. For instance, you may type 2 lines of text in the editor, but when printed, it displays as 3 lines. This is because the page size is not defined until the document is converted to PDF. This is good to keep in mind as you create your templates. While sometimes it may make sense to simply use multiple spaces to move text to a specific part of the page, we strongly recommend the usage of Tables to position text. This will be covered more in depth in the "Utilizing Tables" section below. Below are a few more items to note regarding the usage of the editor.

Margins

The documents are created to have a default setting of 0.5in. margins. When you are creating a template, there is no need to worry about margins, since they are already defined. You may notice as you type in the editor, that the text seems to be spanning far across the page, but, as stated above, the printed PDF will define the page size and set the margins.

Font Size

The documents are created to have a default setting of 10pt font. You can change the font size, by selecting the entire document text, and choosing a different font size. 

Pasting Content from Another Document

While you can copy and paste content from other documents into your template, we strongly recommend using the "Paste as Plain Text" feature. When text is copied from a document, the text formatting is also copied. While this may seem ideal at times, it can create unwanted formatting. When you click the "Paste as Plain Text" icon, a window will open and you can simply paste the text content there. This will remove existing formatting and allow you to style the text once it has been pasted into the document. 

Utilizing Tables in the HTML editor

Tables are a very useful tool when creating templates for frequently used forms and documents. They are a great way to position text to ensure that it always looks good when printed. For example, you may wish to add some text to a document, but you want it to be on the right half of the page instead of the left. You can achieve this by creating a simple table with 2 columns, and set each column width to 50%. Here are a few tips on how to utilize tables to create a clean, polished document.

1. Click the Insert Table icon in the editor and use the grid to select the number of rows and columns for the table. The example below shows what you would select to insert a table with 2 rows and 4 columns. 
   
   

    

2. Once the table has been created, you can further customize it by right clicking the table and selecting Table Properties.
   
   

    

3. The Table Properties dialogue box will open. Each item of the table properties will be addressed below.
   
   
    
   
   WIDTH AND HEIGHT: It is strongly recommend that you leave the width at 100% in order for the table to stretch the width of the page. This is very important. The appearance of the document in your web browser may be slightly different from its appearance when printed. Leaving the height blank will allow the table to grow in height as you add text. 
   
   Setting a pixel value that appears to span the width of the page may cause some of your text to be cut off when printing if the table is too wide. However, setting a 100% width will solve this problem, because it always guarantees that the table spans the entire width of the page without being too wide.

   
   HEADERS: If desired, define headers for the table. The header cell has bold text by default, as seen below. The table can be formatted to have header cells along the first row or first column, or both.
   
   
   
   BORDER SIZE: Add a border value to the table. (The table pictured above has a 1px border applied.) If you set the border to 0, the table will appear in the editor with a faint dotted line around the table cells. This is merely for reference as you edit; no lines will appear when the document is printed.
    
   ALIGNMENT: Set the alignment of the text in the table cells to be left, right, or center. (Text in the header cells will center by default, but this can be changed by using the align icons in the editor's toolbar.)
    
   CELL SPACING AND PADDING: Set cell spacing and cell padding for the table. Cell spacing refers to the space between each table cell. Cell padding refers to the space between the content inside a cell and the wall of the cell. Examples are provided below.
   
   *This table has a cell spacing of 4 and a cell padding of 0. Notice the 4px space is between the table cells, and not within the table cells.
       
   
   *This table has a cell spacing of 0 and a cell padding of 4. Notice the 4px space is within the table cells (separating the text from the wall of the cell), and not between the table cells.
   
   
   *This table has a cell spacing of 0 and a cell padding of 0. Notice how crowded the table appears.
   
    

4. When you are finished with the Table Properties, click OK.
    

5. You may edit the table or table cells at anytime by right clicking on the table. Here you can delete the table, add rows or columns, edit the table/cell properties, or split cells. The options below will display when hovering over the Cell option in the first menu.
    

   
   
   Below are some examples of split cells. You may find it helpful to create a few tables and try this yourself.
   
   *This table was created with 2 rows and 1 column. However, the cell on the bottom row has been split horizontally. Now, there are 2 cells spanning the width of 1 column.
   
   

   
   *This table was created with 3 rows and 2 columns, However, the first cell of the first column has been split vertically. Now, there are 2 cells spanning the height of 1 row.
   
   

    

6. You may notice that the columns in the table vary in widths, depending on how much content is in each cell. You can set a fixed width for the columns by right clicking on a cell and selecting "cell properties". The cell width can be set to a percentage value. Below is an example of a table with fixed cell widths.
   
   

Uploading an Attachment

1. From the Documents and Attachments list, click the “Add New” button in the bottom right corner.

    

2. Select Upload File.
   
   

3. When the edit view opens, click Select File.
   
   

4. Choose the file you wish to upload from your local directory. Supported files include:
   .pdf
   .tiff
   .docx
   
   

5. Enter a Name for the attachment.
   
   

6. If you are satisfied with your entry, click the checkmark icon in the toolbar to save the record.
   If you wish to close the edit view without saving, click the x in the toolbar to cancel your changes and return to the previous screen.

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