How to Create Document Templates for Document Libraries
February 12, 2007
With SharePoint, there’s a feature that helps with source control for document templates. Using Content Types in combination with document libraries we can have a set of document templates that users can choose from, edit and save without over-writing the original document.
Here are the steps to implement this:
1. Create a Document Library
2. Within the site that contains that Document Library, go to Site Actions > Site Settings
3. Under the Galleries section, click on Site Content Types
4. Click the Create link at the top of the list.
5. Give your Content Type a name and description.
6. Under Parent Content Type choose “Select parent content type from: Document Content Types” and “Parent Content Type: Document”
7. If this is the first time you’re creating a new Content Type, then you should choose to place it in a “New Group” and give it a meaningful name.
8. After creating the Content Type, you have the option of customizing some of the settings. Click on ‘Advanced Settings.’
9. Choose to upload a New Document Template.
10. Leave the rest of the default settings and press OK.
Now we’ll have to go back to the Document Library that we had created earlier. Within that Document Library:
11. Click on Settings > Document Library Settings
12. Under the General Settings Section, click on ‘Advanced Settings’
13. If ‘Allow management of content types?’ is set to No, change it to Yes. Leave the rest of the settings, and click OK.
14. Under the Content Types Section, click ‘Add from existing site content types’
15. Now you’ll have the option of choosing the from the menus, the Content Type Group and Content Type that was created earlier. You’ll want to add it to the list of ‘Content Types to add:’
16. Go back to the Document Library, click the arrow next to the ‘New’ button and you should now have a new Document Template to choose from!
February 13, 2007 at 7:26 am
We are embarking on the Sharepoint journey and are always seeking models to build on.
Thanks for the tip!
February 13, 2007 at 9:35 am
You’re very welcome!
June 7, 2007 at 10:12 am
[...] I previously wrote about using Content Types and Document Templates here: http://blog.henryong.com/2007/02/12/how-to-create-document-templates-for-document-libraries/ [...]
July 2, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Good one,
Please suggest me for the below requirement.
I have list of templates. I will upload those templates into document library, whenever I open the uploaded template, It opens and making changes to the same template it is not allowing me to saves as document.
How to handle the above situation.
July 3, 2007 at 10:19 am
Hi Vijayaraja,
If the document library is read only, you will not be able to save a document back to it.
May 9, 2008 at 11:32 am
Is it possible to have different “New” menu items based on what folder you are viewing in the document library, or do you have to create different document libraries to have different new menus?
May 12, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Hey Darren, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this demo’ed somewhere. Most likely by a SharePoint MVP….maybe jopx? Not sure.
June 15, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Thanks for an excellent explanation. It was the most concise one I’ve found and has helped me get up and running with this excellent feature of Sharepoint.
June 26, 2008 at 5:16 am
hi there
i am trying to edit a knowledge based article template . please advice how can i do that?
i just wanna add more textboxes and combo box in it to store information.
Thanks
June 27, 2008 at 1:24 am
[...] I wanted to have my own templates inside a Sharepoint 2007 Document Library; check this great post! [...]
July 16, 2008 at 9:12 am
Excellent step-by-step! Thanks!!!
December 12, 2008 at 2:42 am
Very comprehensive!
Wish there were a step by step on SharePoint explained just like this!
Parul
January 18, 2009 at 9:05 am
[...] how can I create a document template in SharePoint? Use this link. May help. http://blog.henryong.com/2007/02/12/…ent-libraries/ — Amir Mehrani http://sharepointroad.wordpress.com "Madelon" <Madelon> wrote in [...]
February 19, 2009 at 9:34 am
Thanks for the tutorial!
April 16, 2009 at 1:31 am
Hi Henry,
Iam Beginner for Sharepoint.I Need to do Customize Document Library in Sharepoint Using Code.I Tried as You Given Explanation,But it is Through UI.But I Need to do with coding as a dll.Is it Possible in C#.
April 17, 2009 at 11:54 am
Hi Subbu, yes everything you can do in the UI, you can do programmatically in code.
April 28, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Hi, under general settings > advanced settings, is there a way to have “Allow management of content types” always default to yes? (maybe from a central admin section?)
When I create new libraries I want the New button to offer excel templates by default without having to go through the above instructions. Reason being, eventually there will be hundreds of libraries across the site and i don’t go through all of these steps 100s of times.
April 29, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Hey Mike, there’s no central setting for that “Allow management of content types” section to be yes by default. Although, you can create a Document Library template that has the document template attached to it by default.
Another thing you can do is utilize a Powershell script that can change this setting for you. Or you can send me a $20 dollar bill and I’ll do it for you
July 7, 2009 at 5:04 am
Is is possible to make a document auto-fill some parts with user attributes from the sharepoint account (such as name, company, whatever..)? That would be awesome but I haven’t found a way to do it..
February 11, 2010 at 12:21 am
Hi Joao, I wander if you have found a way to auto-fill some parts of document template…?
September 9, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Thanks – really easy to follow. very useful.
December 30, 2009 at 7:38 am
Great article.
January 4, 2010 at 9:25 pm
nice thanks
February 2, 2010 at 4:16 am
Hello Henry,
thank you very much for this article.
It’s exactly what I was looking for.
Michael
February 19, 2010 at 8:26 am
Thank you so much. Looked around a bit to find, but this was wonderful.
May 29, 2010 at 12:17 am
I created a document template from which lot of other documents are created. If the text in the template changes, they are not being reflected in the existing documents created from the old template.
Is there a way to ensure that any changes to the master template are relected on existing documents too?
Thanks
June 22, 2010 at 5:43 am
Thank You for this information, It was very useful and I was looking for this only
June 28, 2010 at 1:46 am
I have list of templates. I like to upload them 10
in one job. Also in the “root” of mos2007, because I don’t want to replace many times when the templates are stored on many places on our mos2007 document libraries.
June 28, 2010 at 1:48 am
My Question above was: How can I Upload theme in one job?
August 23, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Can I add a list template at the folder level instead of at the library level?