PDF Document Templates

Sometimes you want to create a document that has some myClubhouse fields in it. While this can often be achieved with a mail merge, for simple documents like Membership Cards, this can seem a little unnecessary and tricky to do on a more ad-hoc basis. PDF Document Templates allow you to upload a template and choose which fields will be included and where. You can then generate the documents as needed, and in some cases, allow members to do it themselves.

In this example, we are going to create a Subscription Card that shows some basic details about the Subscription it is attached to.

Creating a Template

1. Create your document and save it as a PDF.

2. Log in to your myClubhouse site.

3. Navigate to Admin > Settings > PDF Document Templates.

4. Click “Add Template”.

   Open

   

5. Complete the wizard:

   Open

   

   1. Name: The name of the PDF template.

   2. Description: Enter a short description about the template.

   3. Type: Select the type of document you are generating. This will impact which fields are available.

      1. User-based Document: For documents relating to individual users.

      2. Subscription-based Document: For documents that are linked to individual Subscriptions.

      3. Membership Card: For print at home membership cards for members.

      4. Horse Membership Card: For print at home membership cards for horses.

   4. PDF Template File: Click “Choose File” and locate the PDF created in step 1.

   5. Template Layout Elements: Each element will be populated with a field from myClubhouse that relates to the user/Subscription that it is being generated for. You set where you want them to be on the page so they can line up with your PDF design.

   6. Click “Add”.

   7. Complete the wizard:

      1. Field: Select the myClubhouse field that will be populating this element.

      2. Format: Some fields, especially dates, can be shown in different formats, so you need to choose an option here.

      3. Position: Set the position for the element based on the distance from the top left hand corner of the page. NB - It’s unlikely that you will get this right on the first try, there is some trial and error involved. So take a rough estimate and we will come and tweak it later as necessary.

      4. Text Style: Set the styling for the element, likely matching the text style from your template.

         1. Font Family: Select the font for the field.

         2. Font Size: Select the font size for the field.

         3. Colour: Select the text colour.

         4. Style: Check any stylings you want to add to the text for this field.

      5. Text Alignment: Choose how the text is aligned in relation to the rectangle defined in the “Position” field above.

         1. Horizontal: Choose to have left, centred, or right alignment for this field.

         2. Vertical: Choose to have the text be centred, put to the top, or the to the bottom of the rectangle for this element.

      6. OK: Once happy with the details, click “OK”.

   8. Repeat until you’ve added all of the fields for your template.

   9. OK: Once happy with the details, click “OK” to save the template.

6. You now need to see how the PDF looks with the fields filled in.

7. Click “Test”.

8. Complete the wizard:

   1. Subscription: Start typing the name of a member and select their name from the dropdown and the appropriate Subscription if there is more than one.

   2. Generate: Once you have selected a member, click “Generate”.

9. Open the PDF file that has been generated and check the fields.

10. Note that in the screenshot above, the fields do not correctly align with their headings, so we need to return to myClubhouse and click “Edit” next to the template.

11. Click “Edit” next to the Template Layout Elements to adjust their placement.

12. Click “OK”.

     

13. Repeat steps j-m to see if the fields are now in the right place.

14. Keep making small adjustments until you are happy with the placement of the Fields.

Using a Template

User and Subscription based documents can be generated in bulk from the Member Directory and Browse Subscriptions respectively. Membership Cards (for humans and horses) can be generated in bulk from Browse Subscriptions or Browse Horse Subscriptions, as appropriate. NB - there is an extra step before you can generate Membership Cards, as covered in this guide: Membership Cards

This is an example from the Subscription Card Template created above:

1. Navigate to Subscriptions > Browse Subscriptions.

2. Filter the results to show the members you want to generate PDF documents for.

3. Click “Generate Documents” and select the Template from the dropdown.

4. The PDF will be downloaded, with all the cards in a single PDF document.

5. Print or distribute as necessary.

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