Templates are prebuilt designs that we can use to standardize a certain layout. In this tutorial, we’ll talk about how to add and use custom SharePoint templates on document libraries.
Document templates can be stored and reused to standardize processes and bring consistency within an organization. They’re generally pre-formatted in some way that informs the use of the document.
Importance of Using Document Templates In SharePoint
The main reason for using a document template in SharePoint is that it saves time for its users. Rather than having to spend time formatting a type of document each time we use it, we can just save a document template and then reuse it. Additionally, using templates can ensure uniformity as it keeps everything formatted properly.
For instance, if we are a car company, we usually have a quote Excel file for the sales people. In this example, we have a Quotes folder.
Inside this folder, we have some sample Excel quote files for Honda and Ford.
As we open these quotes files, we can see that they have different formats which can be confusing for the one who wants to check them or create a new quote file for another car company.
Moreover, if another user needs to create a quote file, they might have another way of making it.
We can provide a template that the sales users can use every time they need to create a quote. Then, we can upload that on our SharePoint.
Uploading Document Templates On SharePoint
For this tutorial, I created a sample quote template that I want the users to use every time they’ll create a quotation. On this template, I added the name of the company, slogan, quotation, date, and so on.
To upload a template on SharePoint, just click the New button then click Add template.
After that, select the template that you’ve created. For this example, I’ve created a template named as Price Quote Template.
We’ll see a notification that our template was already uploaded.
The users can now use this template. They just need to click the New button.
Then, we’ll see that the quote template we’ve uploaded was added to the list. Again, this is useful because if the users are adding quotes, we can tell them not to create a quote Excel file on their own way and just use this template that we’ve provided instead.
For this example, I’ll delete these two sample quote files that don’t have the same format.
Using SharePoint Templates For Documents
To use the template that we’ve added, just click the New button then click on that template.
As we can see, instead of having a blank excel file and creating a quote from scratch, we now have a quote template that we just need to fill out.
After entering the needed details for this quote, we can now rename it. This is a sample quote for Ford, so I named it as Ford.
Every time a user needs to create a quote, they can just use our quote template. With this, we can also have templates for price quotes, call sheets, meeting notes, and many others. Note that we can also do this for Word or PowerPoint files.
But what if we don’t want the users to create their own Excel workbook or Word document anymore? We can also do that. First, click the New button, then click the Edit New menu.
Uncheck the options that the users can use when adding a new file. For example, if we have a template for an Excel workbook, then we can uncheck the Excel workbook here.
We can also arrange our options. For instance, we can drag our quote template and put it on top if we want to.
To save the changes, just click Save.
Then, if we click on the New button again, we’ll see that the Excel workbook was not on the list and our quote template is now at the top.
We can easily bring back the Excel workbook if we want to. Just go to the Edit menu again and tick the Excel workbook checkbox. Make sure to save every time you make some changes.
If we want to remove a certain template, just click on the ellipses then click Delete.
***** Related Links *****
Adding SharePoint Files To Your Computer
SharePoint Sites: A Brief Overview
SharePoint Site | Layout And Menu Walkthrough
Conclusion
To conclude, SharePoint templates provide a great opportunity for streamlining our work, especially the document creation process. In this tutorial, you were able to learn how to upload and use custom document templates on SharePoint.
Having this feature on SharePoint is very powerful as it forces our users to organize and create cohesive document formats. Hopefully, you were able to grasp its usage and importance.
All the best,
Henry
