Plan Your HotDocs Project

Gather and Review Documents

Before you can automate any templates, you must first identify which documents you want to include in a set of templates. You should gather all of these documents into one central location. Documents you should consider are those you routinely create for clients.

As you review your documents, you’ll probably realize you’ve created the same type of document for multiple clients. While each of these documents contains generally the same content, some documents may contain unique or different paragraphs or clauses. To capitalize on the work you’ve already done, create a HotDocs Model where you copy all of these text variations. Then, when you automate the template, you can use HotDocs scripting to include or omit these different paragraphs, depending on the user.

Define the Audience

Another point to consider is your audience. Are you the only one who will use the automated templates, or will you share your work with others, perhaps in your firm or more broadly? If others will use the templates, how do you plan to distribute these templates to them? (Template distribution options are covered later in this document.)

As you identify your audience, you should also consider their experience in using the types of documents you are automating. If your users don’t have the same understanding or experience you do with the documents, you may need to change the way the templates are automated to help them better understand the documents. For example, you may need to include additional resources to help users better understand how to answer questions in the interview.