That was @FCP. And it works brilliantly (v17.6.39).
Personally, I think dropdown labels and primary/secondary templates are enough. As things currently stand, everything comes up in the primary template, and additional action is required only to switch. The primary template is the default, and only when there are special circumstances do you need to do anything else.
If the selection capability were to be extended any further, there are two obvious options. The first would be to set a default template for every tab. That way, a template created for sales quotes would automatically be used for sales quotes. In my opinion, this option could be marginally useful. But the need for it can be reduced by setting the primary template to be the one most frequently used. You would only need to switch templates in less common situations.
The second option is your idea of setting a template for every document. As I see it, that would be almost as irritating as the former practice of always reverting to the in-built template. You would need to remember to do this for every single transaction entered. Otherwise, you would be prone to accidentally generating improperly formatted documents, such as when emailing a bunch of sales invoices.
Leaving things as they now stand has an additional benefit. It will encourage development of more comprehensive custom templates with conditional tests for those special situations. As a result, users will be nudged towards your original goal of having only one custom template that covers all things. Secondary templates would become truly secondary.
Point taken. You know your users much better when I do.
I do love liquid engine myself it does work very well and I do agree that easiest and best way to have single template with logic in-build.
There is 3 little features that would make building logic within liquid easier.
Could we expose non printable custom fields in template maybe in different array
This way we could use default printing iteration with access to variables that can act as controls for template only
Could we have custom variables at business level
There are some thing that is business scope like T&C, Shipping Policies etc
Could we expose all item fields like name, description etc.
It would allow building more generic templates, that could be just copy pasted from library and custom fields added by user, with specific text not hard-coded within template.
Yes, it was me that suggested the drop down list. Thank you for the quick response. These changes solve all my problems (hopefully some other peopleās too), as I can now choose whichever template I want to work from in a particular section and it keeps the selected template as the default, so no more switching theme each time I change screen or move from edit to view and back. Many thanks
@lubos I want the plain templete to be the default when i go to invoice and view the invoice it always changes to my Custom templates. i only have one Custom template.
Perhaps the plain template could be shown in the Templates list under Settings without allowing its code to be edited. Then the list order and primary template selection could be adjusted in one of several ways:
With a arrow like line items on an invoice
A check box for primary
A dropdown Status box
A Position or Order field
An editable Name field, into which number prefixes could be inserted
The latest version (17.6.42) does it a bit differently.
When you create new document, you will get default view. This is how it was before but this time, when you switch the template, Manager will remember template choice on that particular document. So if you edit document or come back to it later, it will be still shown using the template which was last selected.
Iāve installed and tested this. While it addresses the case of a user who uses Plain for most things and Custom for only a few, it ignores the rest of us who created custom templates because we want to use them all or most of the time. Under v17.6.42, we are now back to having to switch templates on every single new transaction we enter. Just as bad, old transactions that were created using a custom theme now display with the plain template. So the burden falls not only on new transactions, but old ones as well.
I argue strongly for the ability to set a persistent default template, whether plain or custom. Let switching be the exception, not an aggravating, mandatory step for every transaction.
This seems a step backwards, not forwards. And it undermines your goal, @lubos, of encouraging users to have a single custom template. If they do, the program cannot be made to use it universally.
As I understood from @lubos he wants to encourage users to use single template.
All customisation and switching can be done in liquid template itself, without need to touch switch button ever. and now when we have persistent selection of templates it works perfectly.
Without having logic that determines transaction to template relationship you will be switching them all the time, and somehow I thought it was how it worked before.
Liquid is very versatile and you can build single template to cater for all scenarios, but you need to know programmingā¦
I guess multiple template switching scenario will be only option for users who cannot build liquid logic. This was driving my previous suggestion to have simplified logic builder for such users.
I think we could build some guides and tutorials how to build such logic with sample code snippets for people to get on.
Hahah Iskleriusā idea still relevant until manager can handle different format of templates by built-in. Something like WYSIWYG editor or drag and drop object (for average user).
Not any more, @isklerius . Version 17.6.39 incorporated persistent selection of the primary template. Version 17.6.42 reversed that, so the default is to the plain template until you take a conscious action to select your custom template on every single transaction you enter or call up from the past.
The program remembers the template you selected for an individual invoice (or other transaction). That is what @lubos intended for v17.6.42. But it does not remember a primary template any longer. So you once again need to select the template for every new transaction entered or old one called up.
My sense from reading various usersā comments was that the ability to select a template and have it persist through edits, views, and new transactions was what most people wanted.
This is excellent! Had a chance to test today. Going back and viewing a previously created document and it remembered which template was used .
Maybe if manager could select the last used template for that particular document type when creating a new document? Then switch template if you required a different one?
(Iām fine exactly how it is but maybe preferable for other users?)
hmmm, Able to called up last used template for that particular customer or supplier would be brilliant if its a regular. If the business is the type always have new customer or supplier will have to put extra effort. Fair enough.
Plain template is the standard now [17.6.44]. I have modified the plain template in order to suite the need of the company. Now everytime a document is being made, the user has to switch from Plain template to the preferred modified template.
Is it possible to have the user to decide which template should be the standard?
arrow like line items on an invoice
Iskleriusā idea still relevant until manager can handle different format of templates by built-in. Something like WYSIWYG editor or drag and drop object (for average user).
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