# Template Editor

> Design templates in the online, MS Word compatible editor: open one with an excerpt, insert merge fields, blocks and image placeholders, preview and save.

- **Product:** ReportingCloud
- **Section:** Documentation
- **Kind:** Topic
- **Path:** ReportingCloud > Portal > Template Editor
- **1734 words**
- **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/template-editor/
- **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/template-editor/llms.txt
- **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/template-editor/llms-full.txt

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You don't need MS Word to design a ReportingCloud template. The ReportingCloud portal has an online, MS Word compatible editor with a ribbon, in which you write and format the document and insert merge fields, merge blocks and image placeholders from lists filled with sample data. A preview shows the merged result before your application sends real data. The editor is the Document Editor of [TX Text Control .NET Server](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/llms-full.txt), and the templates it saves are ordinary files in your [template storage](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/templates/llms-full.txt).

### What a Template Is

A template is a document with placeholders that ReportingCloud fills with your JSON data:

- A *merge field* is replaced by one value, such as a name or an invoice number. [Merge Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/fields/llms-full.txt) explains how a field finds its value.
- A *merge block* is a part of the template, typically a table row, that is repeated for each item of an array, such as the lines of an order. [Merge Blocks](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/blocks/llms-full.txt) explains how blocks work.
- An *image placeholder* is replaced by an image from the data. [Images](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/images/llms-full.txt) describes the image data.

The animation shows a letter that receives the merge fields `FIRSTNAME` and `NAME`, a merge block with `ARTICLE_NAME` and `PRICE` for the ordered articles and a `TOTAL` field below it.

![Letter template gaining merge fields and a repeating order block](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/reporting-cloud/creating-template.b325a265.webp)

The editor takes the names of fields and blocks from a *datasource excerpt*, sample JSON data in the same structure as the data you merge. Create one before you design a template for your own data, as [Datasource Excerpts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/datasource-excerpts/llms-full.txt) describes.

### Open a Template in the Editor

1. Click **My Templates** in the side menu.
2. Click **Edit** beside an existing template, or create a template with **New Template...**, as [Template Storage](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/templates/#create-a-new-template) describes.
3. The **Select Datasource Excerpt** page opens. It shows the name of the template and a preview of its pages.
4. Choose the excerpt that matches the template under **Select datasource excerpt file:**. The default is **No datasource**. On the Extreme plan, the page also has **Select Group (optional):** for the groups of [template designers](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/templates/#share-templates-with-template-designers).
5. Click **Edit Template**.

    ![Select Datasource Excerpt page with the template preview and Edit Template](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/reporting-cloud/portal-template-overview.a1156400.webp)

The editor loads the excerpt together with the template and fills its lists with the excerpt's tables and fields.

### The Editor Window

![Online template editor with the sample invoice template open](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/reporting-cloud/portal-template-editor.8ed47768.webp)

The bar at the top holds **Back**, which leaves the editor, **Save template**, the name of the template and the **Auto save** switch. Below it, the ribbon has the tabs **Home**, **Insert**, **Page Layout**, **Reporting**, **View**, **Proofing** and **Permissions**:

- **Home** formats text and paragraphs and applies styles. Its font list offers the fonts that are installed on the ReportingCloud servers, which include Windows fonts and many, but not all, Google Fonts, so a document looks the same in the editor and after the merge. [Supported File Formats](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/overview/file-formats/llms-full.txt) describes the fonts. While **Use Local Clipboard** is switched on, you paste content from the clipboard of your computer with the keyboard shortcuts.
- **Insert** adds pages and page breaks, tables, images, shapes, charts, barcodes, hyperlinks, bookmarks, headers, footers, page numbers, text frames and symbols.
- **Reporting** holds everything for merge fields and merge blocks and the preview. Older versions of the editor label this tab **Reports**, as some screenshots in this documentation show.

The screenshots of the older **Reports** tab show these groups:

| Group | Buttons |
|---|---|
| Data Source | **Select Master Table**, **Edit Data Relations** |
| Merge Fields | **Merge Field**, **Insert Special Field**, **Field Properties**, **Delete Field** |
| Merge Blocks | **Merge Block**, **Edit Merge Blocks** |
| View | **Show Field Codes**, **Show Field Text** |
| Preview | **Preview Merge Results** |

### Insert Merge Fields

1. Set the input position where the value should appear.
2. On the **Reporting** tab, open the **Merge Field** drop-down. It lists the tables of the excerpt: **master** holds the fields at the top level of the JSON records, and every nested object or array has a table of its own, named like its property. The lists show every name in lowercase: an excerpt key `InvoiceNumber` appears as **invoicenumber**.
3. Point to a table and click a field, such as **invoicenumber** in the **master** table. The field appears in the document with its name between « and ».

The same drop-down has **Insert Custom Merge Field...**, which inserts a custom merge field at the input position, and **Highlight Merge Fields**, which gives a merge field a gray background while the input position is inside it. [Template Design](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/template-design/llms-full.txt) designs a complete invoice this way.

### Insert Merge Blocks

1. Set the input position on an empty line.
2. On the **Reporting** tab, open the **Merge Block** drop-down and click a table that comes from an array of the excerpt, such as **items**.
3. In the **Insert Merge Block** dialog, check the columns under **Select Table Columns** that the block should contain, such as **description** and **name**.
4. Choose **Table Row** to insert the block as a table row; **Add table header row** adds a row with the column names above it. The other option is **Plain Paragraph**.
5. Click **OK**. The block is inserted and marked in red.

To nest a block, insert a table row inside the outer block with the context menu and insert the inner block there; [Nested Blocks](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/nested-blocks/llms-full.txt) walks through it.

### Insert Image Placeholders

1. On the **Insert** tab, open the **Image** drop-down and choose **Image Placeholder**.
2. Right-click the placeholder, point to **Select Object Data Source** and choose the table and the field that holds the image data, such as **master** and **image**.

The image data is a Base64 string in the JSON data; [Images](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/images/llms-full.txt) shows an excerpt with an image and the merge result.

### Preview the Merge Results

1. On the **Reporting** tab, click **Preview Merge Results**.
2. Confirm the dialog that opens with **OK**.

The editor shows the template merged with the data of the excerpt: the fields hold their values, and each merge block is repeated for the items of its array. In the preview, the **Navigation** group has **First Record**, **Previous Record**, **Next Record** and **Last Record**, which move between the records of an excerpt with more than one record.

### Save the Template

Click **Save template** to store the template under its name in the template storage. From then on, the Web API merges the new version.

When **Auto save** is switched on, the editor saves the template at intervals while you change it. Switch it off when you want to try out changes without storing them. If you click **Back** with unsaved changes, the editor asks whether to save them.

### Next Steps

- [Datasource Excerpts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/datasource-excerpts/llms-full.txt): create the sample data that fills the editor's lists.
- [Template Design](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/template-design/llms-full.txt): design an invoice template for your own data from start to end.
- [Merge Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/fields/llms-full.txt): field names, formats and how the merge fills them.
- [Merge Blocks](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/blocks/llms-full.txt): repeat table rows for the items of an array.

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## Nearby

- **Previous:** [Template Storage](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/templates/llms-full.txt)
- **Next:** [Datasource Excerpts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/portal/datasource-excerpts/llms-full.txt)