Doc Templates

Doc templates are a premium feature that let you quickly create Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and more from a template. Set up doc templates for meeting agendas, presentations, invoices, and other docs you frequently duplicate (e.g. docs you create for every client, or every new hire).

For teams, doc templates help team members easily create the docs they need to do their job — with consistent doc names and organized exactly where they belong in Google Drive every time.


How doc templates work

Doc templates let you quickly create docs from a template — perfect for meeting agendas, client presentations, sales quotes, reports & more. You can create doc templates for personal use, or share them with your team so they can quickly and easily create docs from your team’s templates.

When you set up a doc template in Workona, you can choose any doc in Google Drive as the template's "source doc". This doc isn't changed in Google Drive in any way, it is just saved as a doc template within Workona.

Doc templates allow you to specify the default doc name (e.g. Meeting Agenda - {{Date}} ), default folder location (e.g. Meeting Agendas Drive folder), and default sharing permissions (e.g. Anyone at example.com can edit). When you create a doc from the doc template, these defaults will be initially set, but you'll be able to adjust them before creating the doc.

When you create docs from the doc template you've set up, we simply duplicate the source doc and give the copied doc the new name, folder location, and sharing permissions you've specified.

Your templates can be managed in the template manager.

Your team’s templates can be managed from team template settings in the admin dashboard.


Example doc templates

The doc templates you set up will appear in the New Doc menu.

Below is an example of what your New Doc menu might look like:

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New Google Doc

New Google Sheet

New Google Slides

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New Kickoff Meeting Agenda

New Client Presentation

New Customer Implementation Plan

New Sales Quote

New Customer Contract

New Invoice

New Email Newsletter Draft

New Blog Article Draft

New Quarterly Report

New Story Requirements Document

New Blank Interface Jamboard

New FeatureX User Interview Notes

New Post Mortem Meeting Notes

New Board Deck

New All Hands Deck

New Offer Letter

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

When you click on a doc template in the New Doc menu, you'll be able to name the new doc, select where to create it within Google Drive, and even adjust the sharing permissions.

We recommend setting up a default doc name for each of your doc templates. Default doc names help your team use the same naming conventions every time so docs will always be easy to find, and neatly organized in Drive.

For example, you might set these as the default doc names for the examples above:

  • Kickoff Meeting - {{Client}}
  • Welcome to AcmeAgency - {{Client}}
  • Acme Customer Implementation Plan - {{Customer}}
  • Acme Sales Quote - {{Company}}
  • Acme Sales Agreement - {{Customer}}
  • Acme Invoice - {{Client}}
  • Email Newsletter - {{YYYY/MM}} - {{Newsletter Name}}
  • Blog - {{Article Title}}
  • Quarterly Report - {{YYYY}}-{{Q#}}
  • {{Story Name}} Requirements
  • {{Feature}} Mockup
  • {{Feature}} User Interview Notes - {{User Name}} at {{Company}}
  • Post Mortem Meeting Notes - {{Sprint Number}}
  • Acme Board Deck - {{YYYY/MM/DD}}
  • All Hands - {{YYYY/MM/DD}}
  • Offer Letter - {{Candidate Name}}

Create a doc template

  1. Open Workona.

  2. Click the New Doc button at the top of a workspace, next to the search bar.

  3. Click New doc template (will initially appear as New Google doc template).

  4. Connect to Google Drive if you haven't already.

  5. Begin template setup by specifying the fields below, then click Set up doc template when you're done.

    • Source Doc: Select an existing Google Doc, Sheet, Slides, etc. that will be duplicated when you use the doc template. This source doc will not be altered in any way by Workona. Alternatively, you can create a new doc template from scratch by selecting Blank Google Doc as the source doc.
    • Doc Template Name: Think of the Doc Template Name as the text of the button you'll click to use the template. Workona will automatically add "New " to the front of the Doc Template Name (e.g. New DocTemplateName) within the New Doc menu.
  6. Optionally specify the default state of the fields that will be applied when you use the template (you'll be able to adjust any of the fields before creating the doc), then click Save doc template when you're done.

    • Google Doc Name: What docs (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.) will be named.
    • Google Drive Folder: The folder the docs will be saved in.
    • Google Doc Permissions: Who will be able to edit, comment on, or view the docs.
  7. To edit the content of the template's source doc, click Edit Google Doc template content. Your edits will apply when you create docs from the template in the future.

Keep Google Drive organized with consistent doc names
Have a naming convention for certain docs? Specify it in the doc template's default Google Doc Name to help you and your team name the docs the same way every time.

Use a doc template (create new Google Docs, Sheets, & Slides from a template)

  1. Open Workona.
  2. Click the New Doc button at the top of a workspace, next to the search bar.
  3. Click the name of your doc template in the menu.
  4. Edit the default fields (doc name, folder, permissions) if necessary.
  5. Click Create Google Doc. The new doc will open in your current workspace.
  6. Notice all of the content from your doc template is reflected in the doc you just created.
Create docs from your doc templates even faster
Use the shortcut OPTION-N (ALT-N on Windows) from anywhere in the browser, then search for the doc template you want to use. Learn more →

Edit a doc template’s settings

  1. Open Workona.
  2. Click the New Doc button at the top of a workspace, next to the search bar.
  3. Click Manage doc templates.
  4. Click the Edit doc template settings button (gear icon) that appears when you hover over the doc template you want to modify.
  5. Modify the fields below as desired:
    • Edit doc template step
      • Source Doc: Select an existing Google Doc, Sheet, Slides, etc. that will be duplicated when you use the doc template. This source doc will not be altered in any way by Workona. Alternatively, you can create a new doc template from scratch by selecting Blank Google Doc as the source doc.
      • Doc Template Name: Think of the Doc Template Name as the text of the button you'll click to use the template. Workona will automatically add "New " to the front of the Doc Template Name (e.g. New DocTemplateName) within the New Doc menu.
    • Set up doc template defaults step
      • Google Doc Name: What docs will be named.
      • Google Drive Folder: The folder the docs will be saved in.
      • Google Doc Permissions: Who will be able to edit, comment on, or view the docs.
  6. Click Save doc template.

Edit a doc template’s content

  1. Open Workona.
  2. Click the New Doc button at the top of a workspace, next to the search bar.
  3. Click Manage doc templates.
  4. Click the Edit Google Doc template content button (pencil & note icon) that appears when you hover over the template.
  5. The source doc will open and you can edit the doc's content as you normally would. Your edits will apply when you create docs from the template in the future.

Share a doc template with your team

  1. Open Workona.
  2. Click the New Doc button at the top of a workspace, next to the search bar.
  3. Click Manage doc templates.
  4. Click the Share doc template button (team icon) that appears when you hover over the doc template you want to share.
  5. Select the team(s) you want to share the doc template with, or create a team if you don’t have one yet. Doc templates cannot be shared with individuals, and you must be a member or admin of the team to share it with team members.
How can team members use the doc templates?
All team members will see the team's doc templates in the New Doc button and will be able to create docs from the doc templates you've set up for them. That means that new team members can start using the doc templates they need for their role on day one on the job.

Delete a workspace template

  1. Open Workona.
  2. Click the New Doc button at the top of a workspace, next to the search bar.
  3. Click Manage doc templates.
  4. Click the Delete doc template button (trash icon) that appears when you hover over the template.
  5. Click Delete to confirm you want to delete the template.

Manage doc templates

  1. Open Workona.

  2. Click the New Doc button at the top of a workspace, next to the search bar.

  3. Click Manage doc templates and the template manager will open and your personal and team doc templates will appear.

  4. Hover over the doc template you want to manage, then click the buttons that appear:

    • Edit doc template settings (gear icon)
    • Edit doc template content (pencil & note icon)
    • Share doc template (team icon)
    • Delete doc template (trash icon)

Manage team workspace templates

  1. Open Workona.

  2. Click the Teams button (team icon) at the bottom of the sidebar, or navigate to workona.com/admin/.

  3. Select the team you want to manage.

  4. Select Templates in the team settings sidebar.

  5. Select Doc Templates in the sidebar, and the team’s doc templates will appear.

  6. Hover over the doc template you want to manage, then click the buttons that appear:

    • Edit doc template settings (gear icon)
    • Edit doc template content (pencil & note icon)
    • Share doc template (team icon)
    • Delete doc template (trash icon)