1. Advanced Operations
You should only be using this section if you have received confirmation from Wise Owl Legal. The Advanced Operations in this section can break some Templates in Wise Owl if they are done incorrectly. Wise Owl Legal does not take responsibility for users who update templates without receiving the appropriate training.
1.1. Creation of In House Templates
In House Templates are templates that are created by your firm that are to be used for a more specific purpose outside of the Firm Specific Templates already provided by Wise Owl . If you would like more firm specific templates and do not wish to create them yourself, please contact the Wise Owl Help Desk.
Please note that Wise Owl Legal will not override your In House Templates but maintenance of these templates and ensuring they are kept up to date is your firm’s responsibility.
The Steps to create your own In House templates are:
- Create custom fields in your matter types (or use what is already in Wise Owl)
- Nominate Matter type
- Determine custom fields required
- Group Custom fields
- Upload custom fields into Wise Owl
- Select template fields to use
- Obtain or write your Word Document with placeholders for the soon to be merge fields
- Create a Word Merge using your Word Document and the Template Fields
- Insert the Template Field Merge Fields into your document
- Save, Upload to WOL and start using your Custom Templates!
TIP: We suggest for your first attempt creating templates that you use some custom fields already set up by Wise Owl Legal.
1.1.1. Selecting and Downloading your Sample Fields
Start by going into your Template Register and clicking on ‘Select Fields’.
This page may take between 10 and 60 seconds to load all the fields and won’t let you edit anything until the Loading is finished.
You will then need to make choices through the following options before selecting your fields.
Data Source: The Data Source is the type of data that the template will pull.
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Each level of fields will add more to the last. Eg: Firm is the smallest set, Matter adds more fields on top of that, and each Doc Group adds more fields on top of Matter.
Data Style: There are 3 types of Sample data that you can download. Fake Data, Random Data and Specific Data. This data is used for Preview Results in Microsoft Word Mail Merge.
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Count: This is a count of how many lines of Sample Data you would like in your merge fields. It only applies for Fake or Random data.
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Once you have made these selections, you can start finding and adding the fields you wish to include in your Sample Data.
TIP: We recommend that you include any fields you may use for that particular Document Group even if you aren’t using them for that particular template. This ensures that you only have to download 1 set of Sample Data per Document Group and not have to go through this process every time.
To Add Fields
To add fields to your list, scroll through the list on the left side of the page and click on the field name. This will add it to the ‘Fields to Include’ on the right side of the screen.
If you add a field that you do not want, you can select the red ‘x’ next to the field name on the right. You can also re-order the fields by selecting the up or down arrows.
Some fields will be too long for the Merge field requirements of Word and Excel (maximum of 40 characters long), these fields will come up in bold and will flag an error that will prevent you downloading your fields.
To fix this, you need to select an option from the ‘Shorten all Fields’ drop down.
Shorten All Fields will make all fields shorter using pre-set abbreviations
Shorten Long Fields will only make the fields that are in bold (i.e. too long) be shorter using pre-set abbreviations.
Pressing the icon of the scissors at the end of the row will also shorten that particular field
Once you have shortened the fields, the Download As .CSV button will un-grey and allow you to download your CSV file of Sample Fields.
TIP: Wise Owl Legal does not use the CSV you download to do actual mail merges. The CSV is entirely to assist you during template authoring. Wise Owl Legal uses its own proprietary engine to mail merge which is not subject to the limitations of MS Word.
Should you already have a set of Sample fields in a CSV file that you want to add to, you can Copy the first row of headings from your existing CSV file and paste it into the ‘Manual Fields section’ and press Add. This will automatically include all the fields you have pasted as Fields to Include.
You may also copy and paste fields in bulk from column A of the Data Dictionary.
TIP: there is no save button on this page, but you can always copy the first row of headings from your CSV to pick up from a previous merge if you find you forgot a field.
Once you have generated your Sample Fields spreadsheet, please save it somewhere safe and with a relevant name so that you can go back to it for any subsequent creation of templates.
1.1.2. Advanced Fields for Selection
Collection Fields
The database in Wise Owl Legal allows for an unlimited number of Contacts against a Matter. This allows great flexibility when entering data, but is impossible for Word to Mail Merge against. These fields have a hash symbol (#) to represent the item from the list of Contacts, and a plus symbol (+) to the left of them in the field list. They are termed “collection” fields.
When you add a collection field, you must select which item you want to reference in the collection, 1 for the first item, 2 for the second, and so on.
Common collection fields include AllClients, NonClientContacts, Addresses, ContactByType.
Often, there are shortcut or alternative fields which represent the same data as a collection field. Eg: the PrimaryClient_FirstName is the same as AllClients_1_FirstName. And PrimaryClient_Addresses_1_AsSingleLine is the same as PrimaryClient_FirstAddress_AsSingleLine.
SelectedContact vs PrimaryClient
TIP: You should usually include SelectedContact fields over PrimaryClient fields, as they provide more flexibility.
Fields starting with SelectedContact are special. They will pick their data from the contact you select on the New Document From Template page, or, if nothing is selected, the PrimaryClient. This lets you merge fields on a document or letter to a contact which is not the primary client, or even a contact which is not listed against the matter at all.
Note that you can merge a document against multiple contacts. The collection fields SelectedContactNumber_# allow you to merge against multiple contacts. When merging against multiple contacts, SelectedContact will be the first one selected.
ContactsOfType
Fields starting with ContactsOfType allow you to list the names of all the contacts of a particular type against a matter. Eg: ContactsOfType_Client will list all clients listed against the matter. ContactsOfType_OtherSide lists all Other Side contacts.
These fields are useful for listing all Will Makers or Beneficiaries as part of a mail merge.
Eg: Mr Joe Bloggs, Mrs Jo Bloggs, Bloggs and Co Pty Ltd.
Custom Merge Field Formats are used to control what fields are shown. These are non-standard Word formats, and only apply to Wise Owl merges. The full field list is below, but common formats are listed here:
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Code
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Field
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Example
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TFOL
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Title FirstName OtherNames LastName
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Mr Joe James Bloggs
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TFOLA
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Title FirstName OtherNames LastName, Address
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Mr Joe James Bloggs of 1 Bloggs St Bloggsville NSW 2000
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TFLK
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Title FirstName LastName (KnownAs)
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Mr Joe Bloggs (JB)
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LF
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LastName, FirstName
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Bloggs, Joe
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LTFA
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LastName, Title Firstname of Address
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Bloggs, Mr Joe of 1 Bloggs St Bloggsville NSW 2000
Any contact designated as a company will use the CompanyName field in place of name fields.
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Code
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Field
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Fn
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FirstName
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Ln
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LastName
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On
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OtherNames
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Cn
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CompanyName
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Ti
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Title
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Ka
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KnownAs
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Bn
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BillingName
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Ta
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TradingAs
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Lg
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LegalName
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Ad
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Address (formatted one line)
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A1
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Address (simple)
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ABOVE can only be used as a single field
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BELOW can be mixed
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T
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Title
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F
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FirstName
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O
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OtherNames
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L
...
LastName
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K
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(KnownAs)
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A
...
Address (formatted one line)
Doc fields
Fields starting with Doc reference the details of the document as it is merged. This lets you merge the document owner, creator or author.
Important Note: Wise Owl Legal only merges fields once. It does not keep your merge fields up-to-date with your data in Wise Owl. If you create a document authored by Darren Documents, and change it tomorrow to be authored by Dianna Doco, the document will still contain Darren’s name. You only have one chance to get fields starting with Doc right. Subsequent changes must be made manually.
1.1.3. Creating your word document with placeholders
This is where you drop all the fields into the document you have waiting to turn into a template.
Ensure that the document is appropriately formatted, named and ready for your fields to be inserted in to it and save it.
Creating ‘Placeholder names’ for where merge fields need to be dropped in are incredibly useful, as is highlighting the words that are to be replaced by merge fields. E.g. Typing ‘First Name Last Name’ will be an indicator to use the relating fields to those words.
1.1.4. Create a Word Merge using your Sample Fields
Now that you have your Word Document ready and your Sample fields downloaded, you can start your mail merge.
Follow the Steps below to create a Mail Merge.
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3. Click Next in the Wizard until you get to Step 3
4. Select “Use existing list’
Select “Browse…” to find your Excel document
Locate your Sample Fields Excel spreadsheet that you saved previously. (Note that if the spreadsheet is not closed, this will not work)
5. A pop up will appear asking about the File Conversion. Ensure that the selected Code is ‘Unicode (UTF-8)’ and select OK
6. The Merge process is complete and you can start adding fields
1.1.5. Insert Sample Fields into your Document
Now that you have connected your Word Document to the Merge Set of Sample fields, you can start adding in your fields.
There are two ways to add in fields to your document. One is through the dropdown available in word and the other is to insert all your fields in to another word document and copy and paste them from there.
Dropdown
The drop down is available through the Word Menu > Mailings > Insert Merge Field. From here you would need to scroll through the drop down until you find the correct field and repeat this for every field.
Word Document
The second option of using the word document is a lot more practical and user friendly. To do this, open a second word document and attach it to the mail merge as explained in ‘Create a Word Merge’
From the Insert Merge Field drop down, choose every field, one after the other so that they are all dropped in to your word document. From here, you can save your word document in to a safe place and then copy and paste the merge fields in to your templates. This saves having to find your merge field in the drop down list every time s this can be quite extensive.
You can also search your Merge Field Word Document by selecting CTRL + F to find your field easily.
QuickTips for formatting in Word Merge Fields
To quickly format your fields into Upper or Lower Case, Insert the following into the Merge field at the end. You will need to highlight the field and select Shift + F9 to reveal the full field.
\*Upper – For all Uppercase for that merge field
\*Lower – For all Lowercase for that merge field
E.g. 
There are also special date formats for date fields as well. These should follow Word’s conventions for dates. Eg:
1.1.6. IF Statements in Word
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- Simple IFs to enable / disable content or show alternate content:
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “Y”, “Content”, “Alternate content”)
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “”, “”, “Alternate content”)
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “”, “”, “Alternate content”)
- IF (MERGEFIELD <> “”, “”, “Alternate content”)
- Numeric comparisons:
- IF (MERGEFIELD > 1, “Two or more”, “Zero or one”)
- Merge fields in content:
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “Y”, MERGEFIELD_A, MERGEFIELD_B)
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “Y”, “Content MERGEFIELD_A More content”, “”)
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “”, “”, MERGEFIELD_B)
- IFs in content:
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “Y”, “Content IF(….) More content”, “”)
- New paragraphs or lines in merge fields:
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “”, “”, “Content
More content on new line”)
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “”, “”, MULTI_LINE_ADDRESS)
- Formatting in content:
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “Y”, “Bold Y”, “Italics Y”)
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “Y”, “half Bold Y”, “half Italics Y”)
- Nested IFs (arbitrary depth, but more than 3 levels is not recommended):
- IF (MERGEFIELD = “Y”, “Content Y”, IF(MERGEFIELD = “Z”, “Content Z”, IF(MERGEFIELD = “A”, “Content A”, “”)))
- IFs can be placed in:
- Normal document body
- Tables
- Header and Footer sections
Anything other than the above may not work and is not supported by Wise Owl Legal.
1.1.7. Save, Upload to WOL and Start Using
Once you have finalised entering all your fields to the Word Document, Save it and test the fields by going to Mailings > Preview Results
This will use the Sample Data that you downloaded earlier to fill your merge fields. Once you are happy with the end result, you can upload your new Template to WOL.
Uploading to WOL
In WOL, open the Template Register and select New Template.
From here you can set a Code that this Template will be known by, choose the file to upload and set the Data Source. The Data Source is as per above except there is an additional option of None – No Merge fields are included, which you may use to upload template with no merge fields such as a pre-formatted letter head.
Set your Doc Group if relevant and then select ‘Save Changes to complete the upload’
Now that you have successfully uploaded your Template, you can start using your template as per the instructions above.
Wise Owl Legal will do a test mail merge as part of the upload process, which may list errors to be corrected.
As a final test, you should Create a Document From Template using your new template, and check how it looksLegal should not be edited without proper training from the Wise Owl Legal support team.
Editing templates is an important step in the Advanced Operations of Creating In House Templates.
Please refer to the Advanced Documents Manual that can be provided by request from the Wise Owl Legal Help Desk.