Mark Up the Document Set

The process of marking up a document for template automation includes identifying the text in the document that will change, depending on the person for whom the document is being created. Once identified, you indicate the variable that should replace that text. Variable information includes names, dates, numbers, and so forth.

How you mark up the document depends on your project and your needs. Following are some options:

  • You can create a HotDocs Model using the HotDocs Markup Tools. Once the document is marked up, you can convert it to HotDocs template format. (See Introduction: Create HotDocs Models for details.)
  • You can manually mark up word processor documents and store the markup information in a spreadsheet application, such as Excel. You can then take the marked up documents and create templates from them, referring back to the spreadsheet for specific information about how the template should be automated.
  • Another option is to simply print a copy of each document in your set and mark up the documents by hand. You can write directly on the printed document what variables should be used and identify which properties should be assigned to these variables.

Regardless of which markup option you choose, you should try to address these questions in the markup:

  1. How should variables be named? While it might not seem important at first, defining a naming scheme up front will save you time later when you need to manage a large list of components. For example, should you name related variables using a consistent format (like Client Name, Client Address, Client City, Client State, etc.)?
  2. Which variables can be reused in other templates in the set? When templates require the same information, you should mark the variables using the same name. This way, when users save answer files after assembling a document, the answers can be used with those other documents. This saves the user from retyping common answers.
  3. How should answers in the document be formatted? For example, should text answers be written using all capital letters? Should number answers be numeric (7) or spelled out (seven)?
  4. How much information does the user need to know in order to answer certain questions during the interview? How should questions be phrased, punctuated, and capitalized? Should they contain examples of possible answers?
  5. How much additional information should be included with variables? For example, when should variable resource (or help) information be included? How much is too much?
  6. What other information should be known about the variables? For example, are there restrictions or limits for answers? Should an answer be formatted a certain way? If the answer must be calculated, what kind of calculation should it be? (For a complete list of properties you can assign to the different variables, see Appendix 1: Variable Properties.)
  7. What text in the document should be included only under certain conditions? For example, if there’s a paragraph about the client’s spouse, but the client isn’t married, you wouldn’t want to include the paragraph.

You can also mark in the document where lists of answers should be merged and where boilerplate text should be inserted. See Appendix 2: Template Instructions for details.