DGJ: Templates creation and editing

Document Generation for Jira gives tools for customizing documents templates to match your specific needs.

To manage templates, open 'Templates' page accessible from App configuration section, or select 'Templates' menu from Jira side menu if the feature was made available by administrator.

IMPORTANT! for non-admin users, 'Templates' page will only show:

  1. templates where logged in user is the author
  2. templates created by other users but only those who have 'Can Edit' flag set in template permissions dialog

In the opened window, you can browse and edit existing templates or create new ones.


The actions menu allows to delete a template, or to disable it. Disabled templates are only visible in 'Templates' menu, and are excluded from the list of templates available to Jira users while exporting / generating documents.

Search and filter

Templates can be filtered either by the name, user who created or edited a template, or context the template can be used for. 




Create/update author filter Context filter

Create template

To create a new template, click 'Add' button at the top right corner of the screen. 

Edit template

To edit template, find it in the list and click either its name or its thumbnail. Alternatively, you can select Edit from right-hand actions menu () which opens the template editor.  You can edit template, by updating its name, description, content, default format, context, export and access options.

Template Editor

You can view, create and quickly modify templates by using a template editor. Templates have HTML format. For the convenience of users, we provide two ways of working with the templates:

  1. Visual editor. Much like any text editing tool out there, it is easy to use and has familiar interface. It is great for creating simple templates and quick editing.
  2. Code editor. It is intended for advanced users, experienced with HTML and CSS. It allows to create more complex templates.

You can switch between two modes at any time, by clicking 'Code view' button located in the upper tool panel. 

Insert Jira fields

You can insert a special text tag, which when generating the document will be replaced by data from Jira, like issue key, assignee, or comments. 

For example, issue summary can be inserted the next way:

{{[issue.summary]}}

In editor, fields can be easily inserted by clicking on 'Field' button. All available fields will appear in the drop-down menu as shown below. 

See Template syntax to learn more. 

Template format

Document generation supports two types of templates:

  • HTML: Can be used to generate simple templates. Such templates can be created in online template editor mentioned above. Document Generation cannot guarantee that styling is going to be exported exactly as provided in HTML, so it requires fine tuning.
  • DOC/DOCX: Recommended to generate complex templates. The templates of this kind shall be initially created in external tools like Microsoft Word, or similar. This template type is convenient for users who are not familiar with HTML. DOC templates are known to export styling much better than HTML templates.
    Online template editor will only show a preview of DOC template, and editor will be highlighted in grey. Please note, online editing is not supported. You'll have to make all the necessary changes in DOC file via external tool, and upload the updated template file to Jira. In case original template file is lost, Document Generator provides a link to download the existing template.

Export options

You can specify file formats that users will be allowed to export to. Also, the default format for current template is specified.

At the moment, following formats are available:

  • pdf
  • doc
  • png

Context

There are three available contexts:

  • Issue. This context is used to export a single issue. This kind of template will only be available for selection on single-issue view.
  • Issue list. This context enables a bulk issue export. Templates will be available on issues list views, like search results, for example.
  • Worklogs. This context is used to create the templates for reports, that are based on worklogs. As result, a user is able to filter this type of reports by groups and/or users, as well as the timeframe. Document Generation app allows selection of these templates on list views. Also, worklog reports can be generated from our another app, Work Time Calendar. For details, see Integration of Document Generation with Work Time Calendar for Jira

Access

Once a template is saved, Edit Access button becomes enabled for the template permissions setup.

See Templates permissions.