Working with article templates in Smart Connection

Templates play a central role in the process of setting up and using a production process.

They make it possible to not only create content quickly — such as articles or layouts — but also ensure that this content contains the required (and allowed) components and styling for the publication in which that content is used.

This article describes how to work with article templates in Smart Connection.

Creating

Article templates can be created in InCopy or in InDesign.

• For InCopy, see Adding an article (template) to Enterprise using Smart Connection for InCopy.
• For InDesign, see Creating InCopy articles in InDesign using Smart Connection.

Set up the article with the components and styling that is required for the publication in which the article is used. In a typical production environment, multiple article templates are set up.

Tip: In Smart Connection, text variables that hold Enterprise-specific content can be added. These can be very useful for setting up templates. Following the same functionality as regular InDesign text variables, these Enterprise text variables make it possible to insert a variable in an article to automatically display the name of the Brand, Status, publication date and more. Because text variables are dynamic, the value of the Enterprise text variable on the layout can be updated automatically. For more information, see Working with Enterprise Text Variables in Smart Connection.

Note that the template is used as the source file when users create a new article. When doing so, they must choose an available template to base the article on. Make sure therefore to also use a descriptive name.

Editing

Editing article templates can only be done by using InCopy, not by using InDesign.

To open an article template in InCopy, double-click it in the Smart Connection panel or the Dossier panel while holding down the Alt key.

Using

To use an article template as an article, use one of the following methods:

• In InDesign:
• Drag it from the Smart Connection panel onto the layout.
• Double-click it in the Smart Connection panel to load it into the place gun and click (and drag) on the layout where the article needs to be placed.

The frames of the article template are placed on the layout and can be turned into an Enterprise article by using one of the regular methods.

• In InCopy:
• In the Smart Connection panel or the Dossier panel, double-click an article template, or right-click an article template and choose Create Article.