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Using an Automated Document

To create a new document using HotDocs, first choose and automated document, referred to as a "template." To open the HotDocs library of templates, click the D button that appears on your word processor's button bar. This example uses MS Word, but it works the same way for WordPerfect. The HotDocs library appears, showing folders that work like those in MS Windows Explorer and MS Help files. Double-click to open the nested folders until you find the template you need.



Click the Assemble button to begin completing the document. You have the option of viewing the template before beginning in case you are not sure you have chosen the one you need.

HotDocs offers powerful options for reusing information about a client or matter that may already have been recorded during the generation of a previous, related document. Clicking the Open or Last allows the reuse of such information. Click New and OK to begin completing answers that will be used in generating a new document with the template.



Here is the most important part of HotDocs for the user who wants to create a new document, the Interview window. HotDocs can present any number of these windows, grouping questions in any order. You type or select answers assisted by various optional controls, such as the pop-up calendar button shown here.



After working through all the questions, you are presented with one last window:



Your answers are saved in an Answer file that is separate from the new document you generate. This separation allows you to reuse some or all of the answers in a future version of the same document or in other documents for the same client or matter. The Save As option is useful in situations where you want to generate multiple, similar documents for different people who may have a number of the same answers and a number of different ones.

After saving the Answer file, your new document appears automatically in your word processor:


You may proceed to modify the final document in any way you wish. This flexibility means that you don't have to completely automate the template before you can make use of it. It is better to have a mostly automated document that requires a little tweaking than to have to wait until you have perfected, including all conceivable text and options.



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