# Templates Url: https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Administration/Templates-50280/ Last updated: 2026-09-21 Section: Administration > Templates A template is a printable document you design once and then use for every purchase or sale — a bill of sale, a purchase agreement, a delivery checklist, a disclosure sheet. You lay out the wording and the layout, mark where the information belongs, and Dealersip fills in each record’s own details when the document is printed. Every template is built for one side of the business, Sale or Purchase, and belongs to your dealership alone. Templates are managed at **Administration → Templates**. To print one, open a purchase or a sale and choose it from the print list there. ## In this section - [What a template is](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Whatatemplateis-50286/) — how a template turns into a finished document. - [The Templates list](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/TheTemplateslist-50287/) — finding, activating and deleting templates. - [Creating a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Creatingatemplate-50288/) — creating one and naming it, and how saving works. - [The designer screen](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Thedesignerscreen-50289/) — the designer: toolbar, panels, page and properties. - [Putting data on a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Puttingdataonatemplate-50290/) — placing data fields, and repeaters for printing lists. - [Page setup](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Pagesetup-50291/) — repeating a header or footer on every page, page numbers and page breaks. - [Designing with Bella](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/DesigningwithBella-50292/) — building a template from a description, or from a picture of an existing form. - [Printing a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Printingatemplate-50293/) — printing from a purchase or a sale. - [Why did a field print blank?](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Whydidafieldprintblank-50294/) — what to check when something prints empty. Questions and answers captured on a purchase or a sale come from [Forms](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Forms-50279/). ## What a template is A template is a printable document that Dealersip fills in with real data. You design it once — a bill of sale, a purchase agreement, a delivery checklist, a disclosure sheet — and from then on any purchase or sale can be printed onto it. The template is the stationery. The purchase or sale supplies the words. ### Every template belongs to one type A template is built either for **Sale** or for **Purchase**. The type is chosen when the template is created, and it decides two things: which screen offers the template for printing, and which data the template is allowed to use. A Sale template can print sale information; a Purchase template can print purchase information. **The type cannot be changed afterwards.** If the wrong one is chosen, the template has to be deleted and built again, so choose it deliberately at the start. ### Templates belong to your dealership A template created by your dealership is visible and printable only within your dealership. ### How the printing works A template holds ordinary text and layout, plus **data fields** — markers that stand in for information such as the customer’s name, the vehicle’s VIN or the selling price. When somebody prints a purchase or a sale, Dealersip replaces every data field with that record’s real value and produces a PDF. The template itself is never changed by printing, so the same template serves every record. Templates are managed at **Administration → Templates**. **Related:** [Creating a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Creatingatemplate-50288/), [Putting data on a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Puttingdataonatemplate-50290/), [Printing a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Printingatemplate-50293/) ## The Templates list Go to **Administration → Templates** to see every template your dealership has built. Across the top the screen counts **Total Designs**, **Active** and **Inactive**. Below that a line reports how many records are currently shown, and the list is sorted by name. ### Finding a template Three controls narrow the list, and they work together: - a status filter offering **All Statuses**, Active or Inactive; - a form-type filter offering **All Form Types**, or a single type such as Sale or Purchase; - a **Search designs…** box that matches the template’s name and its type. ### What each row shows Every row carries the **Design Name**, a pill showing the **Form Type**, the date and time it was **Last Updated**, and a **Status** pill reading Active or Inactive. At the left of the row are two icons: a pencil (**Edit design**), which opens the designer, and a bin (**Delete design**). When no templates match, the list reads “No document designs found. Use Create New to add one.” ### Active and Inactive **Active** does exactly one thing: an inactive template is not offered in the print list on purchases and sales. It has no other effect. Untick it to take a template out of circulation without losing it. ### Deleting a template The bin icon asks “Delete this design?” and then deletes the template. There is no check on whether it has been used — a template printed hundreds of times deletes just the same. Documents already printed are PDFs and are unaffected, because each one was produced at the moment it was printed. ### There is no copy Dealersip cannot duplicate a template. To reuse an existing design as a starting point, open it, copy its HTML from the HTML view, create a new template, and paste the HTML in. **Related:** [Creating a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Creatingatemplate-50288/), [Printing a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Printingatemplate-50293/), [What a template is](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Whatatemplateis-50286/) ## Creating a template A template is created from the Templates list, and the first choice you make cannot be undone later. 1. Go to **Administration → Templates**. 2. Open **Create New** at the top right. It is a menu rather than a plain button: it lists your form types under the heading “Choose a form type”. 3. Choose the type this template is for — **Sale** or **Purchase**. The designer opens with an empty page. 4. Type a name into the box at the top left of the designer, beside the type badge. 5. Build the template. 6. Leave **Active** ticked so the template is offered when printing. If **Create New** shows “No form types defined”, no form types have been set up yet and no template can be created. ### Naming is not optional A template cannot be saved without a name. Attempting it is refused with “Design name is required.” ### Saving happens by itself Dealersip saves your work as you go. The indicator beside the name reports what is happening: **Unsaved changes…** while you are editing, then **Saving…**, then **Saved**. If something goes wrong it reads **Save failed**. There is also a **Save** button in the toolbar for saving on demand. While the template still has no name the indicator stays blank and nothing is saved, because a template cannot be stored without one. Name the template first, then build it. If you try to leave the designer with work that has not been saved, your browser warns you before the page closes. **Related:** [The designer screen](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Thedesignerscreen-50289/), [Putting data on a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Puttingdataonatemplate-50290/), [What a template is](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Whatatemplateis-50286/) ## The designer screen The designer opens when you create a template or click the pencil icon on a template’s row. It has three columns: a panel of building blocks on the left, the page you are designing in the middle, and the properties of whatever is selected on the right. ### The toolbar Along the top, from left to right: a link back to the Templates list, a badge showing whether this is a Sale or Purchase template, the template’s name, the **Active** tick box, the save indicator, **Undo** (Ctrl+Z), **Redo** (Ctrl+Y), a button that opens the HTML view, **Bella** for designing with the assistant, and **Save**. ### The left panel: Elements and Data The **Elements** tab holds the building blocks, grouped by kind: - **Text** — Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Paragraph, Text, Bold text, Small text, Line break and Horizontal rule. - **Layout** — Section, 2 columns, 3 columns, 4 columns, Page break and Spacer. - **Table** — a two-column table and a three-column table. Drag an element onto the page, or click it to drop it inside whatever is currently selected. Blocks can only be placed inside something that holds them — the page itself, a section, a table cell or a repeater. They cannot be placed inside a data field. The **Data** tab lists the information this template can print, and is covered in its own topic. ### The page The middle column is the printed page. Click anything to select it and see its settings on the right. Clicking selects the smallest thing under the pointer, so a click inside a table normally selects one cell rather than the table. Above the properties you will see a trail of links such as *Section › Table › Table row › Table cell*. Click any step in that trail to select that container instead. There is also an upward arrow beside the element’s name that selects its parent one level at a time. ### The right panel: Element The **Element** tab shows the settings for the current selection, and its contents change with what is selected. You may see: the element’s **Text**; appearance settings such as font, size, colour and alignment; row and column buttons when the selection is inside a table; **Vertical align** for a table cell; an image address, an **Alt text** box and a **Paste image** button for pictures; a **Printing** section for page headers and footers; **Margins** for the four sides; **Borders** for each side, its style and colour; and **Edit CSS** for setting styling by hand. ### The right panel: Global Styles The **Global Styles** tab applies settings to the whole template rather than one element. Choose an element type and every element of that type takes those settings, unless that particular element has been styled itself. This tab also carries **Page setup**, and a **Document CSS** box for rules the controls do not cover. ### The HTML view The HTML button in the toolbar opens a drawer showing the template’s underlying HTML. It is read-only until you press **Edit HTML**, at which point the button becomes **Lock**. Your changes are not applied as you type. Pressing **Lock** applies them to the page and rewrites the box with Dealersip’s own tidied version of the HTML, which is why the text you see afterwards may differ from what you typed. Anything the designer does not recognise may be reshaped or dropped, so treat the HTML view as a tool for small corrections rather than wholesale rewriting. **Related:** [Putting data on a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Puttingdataonatemplate-50290/), [Page setup](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Pagesetup-50291/), [Designing with Bella](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/DesigningwithBella-50292/) ## Putting data on a template A template becomes useful when it prints real information. That is what the **Data** tab in the left panel of the designer is for. ### What the Data tab holds The Data tab lists the information available to this template, arranged into **objects**. What appears depends on the template’s type and on how your dealership is set up, so read your own list rather than assuming. A Sale template typically offers your dealership’s own details and the sale itself; a Purchase template typically offers the dealership, the purchase, and lists such as the vehicle’s pictures, its special features and its check list. Any group of any form built for that side of the business also appears here, listed under the name of the form it came from. Click an object to expand it and see its fields. Each field shows a short label with its exact name beside it. A search box at the top of the panel filters the whole list by field, object or form name. ### Placing a data field Drag a field from the Data tab onto the page. It appears as a small chip, and when the document is printed the chip is replaced by that record’s value. A field may be placed anywhere on the page, or inside a repeater belonging to its own object. Dropping a field into a different object’s repeater is refused, with the message “That field can only go outside a repeater or inside its own object’s repeater.” ### Repeaters: printing a list Some information is a list rather than a single value — the pictures of a vehicle, the items on a check list, the questions in a form. A **repeater** prints whatever is inside it once for every row in that list. Beside each object in the Data tab is a **repeater** badge. Drag it onto the page and it becomes a box: anything you put inside repeats, and anything outside prints once. Drag it onto a table row instead and that row is wrapped, so the row repeats for each item — which is how a printed table of items is built. An object holding a single row prints once. Placing such an object in a repeater is harmless: it simply prints once and never repeats. Getting a form’s questions and answers onto a template is covered in [How a form reaches a printed template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Howaformreachesaprintedtemplate-50285/). **Related:** [How a form reaches a printed template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Howaformreachesaprintedtemplate-50285/), [The designer screen](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Thedesignerscreen-50289/), [Why did a field print blank?](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Whydidafieldprintblank-50294/) ## Page setup A long document rarely fits on one page. A purchase agreement with a full disclosure questionnaire often runs to two or three. When that happens, the dealership’s letterhead should still appear at the top of page two, the terms should still sit along the bottom, and the reader should be able to tell which page they are holding. ### Repeating a block at the top or bottom of every page 1. Open the template from **Administration → Templates** by clicking the pencil icon on its row. 2. Click the block you want repeated, usually the letterhead across the top of the page. Because clicking selects the smallest thing under the pointer, use the trail of links above the properties — *Section › Table › Table row › Table cell* — and click the step that represents the whole block. 3. In the properties on the right, on the **Element** tab, find the **Printing** section. 4. Tick **Print on each page (header)**. The block is now outlined on the page with a small **PAGE HEADER** label in its corner, so you can see at a glance which block carries the role. A footer works the same way: select the block — a terms and conditions box, for example — and tick **Print on each page (footer)**. Leave the block where it sits in the document. Dealersip lifts it out when printing and draws it on every page. If you copy the letterhead to the top of the second page yourself, it prints twice on page one. ### What can and cannot be marked A template has one page header and one page footer. Ticking **Print on each page (header)** on a second block quietly moves the role to it, so check the labels on the page if you are unsure which block currently holds it. The **Printing** section appears only when the selection can carry a role. A section, a table, a paragraph, a heading, a horizontal rule or an image can be marked. A single table row, a single cell, and anything inside a repeater cannot — a row that repeats for each item of data cannot also be pinned to the top of every page. If the **Printing** section is missing, use the trail of links to select the block that contains your selection. ### Printing page numbers Page numbers apply to the whole template, so they are set on the other tab. 1. In the properties on the right, click the **Global Styles** tab. 2. Under **Page setup**, tick **Print page numbers**. Each page is then printed with **Page 1**, **Page 2** and so on at the bottom. Only the page’s own number is printed; Dealersip does not print “Page 1 of 3”. ### Forcing a new page To start a new page at a particular point, open the **Elements** tab on the left, find **Page break** under **Layout**, and drag it onto the page where the break should fall. Everything after it prints on a new page. ### Page size and margins Printed documents are Letter size with a 20pt margin on all four sides. This applies to every template and is not set per template. **Related:** [The designer screen](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Thedesignerscreen-50289/), [Printing a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Printingatemplate-50293/) ## Designing with Bella Bella can build a template for you, or change one you already have. Open it with the **Bella** button in the designer toolbar; a chat panel appears which you can drag aside while you work. ### Two ways to ask **Describe what you want.** Tell Bella the document you need and what should appear on it — for example, a bill of sale showing the customer, the vehicle, the price breakdown and a signature block. Bella asks a question if the description is not clear enough to build from, and loads the finished template onto the page when it is. **Show it an existing form.** If you already have a document you want reproduced, attach a picture of it and ask Bella to copy it. Use **Attach or paste image** at the bottom of the chat, or simply take a screenshot and press Ctrl+V in the chat box. Pictures must be PNG, JPG, WEBP or GIF, and under 4 MB. PDF files are not accepted, so a PDF has to be turned into a picture first. ### Making changes Bella can see the template currently on the page, so you can keep asking for adjustments in plain words — make the header bigger, add a column for tax, move the signatures to the bottom. Each answer replaces the template on the page, and nothing is stored until you save. If a request is unclear, Bella asks rather than guessing, because changing the wrong part of a document is harder to spot than an unanswered question. ### Previous chats The clock icon at the top of the panel lists your earlier conversations, so you can reopen one and continue it. **New** starts a fresh conversation. ### What Bella will not do Bella works only on document templates in this designer. Anything unrelated is politely declined. ### Always check the result Bella writes the template; you own it. Read what it produced before saving, particularly on documents that carry legal weight, and confirm that every value it placed is the one you intended. **Related:** [The designer screen](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Thedesignerscreen-50289/), [Putting data on a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Puttingdataonatemplate-50290/), [Page setup](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Pagesetup-50291/) ## Printing a template Templates are printed from the record they describe: a Sale template from a sale, a Purchase template from a purchase. Only **Active** templates are offered, and only those belonging to your dealership. ### Printing from a purchase 1. Open the purchase. 2. Choose **Print Form** at the bottom of the screen. It opens a list of the active purchase templates, by name. 3. Click the template you want. The finished PDF opens in a new tab, ready to print or save. ### Printing from a sale 1. Open the sale. 2. The print control is split in two. The main part prints the standard invoice. The small arrow beside it opens the list of active sale templates. 3. Click the arrow, then choose the template you want. The PDF opens in a new tab. On a sale that has not been saved yet the button reads **Print Invoice**, because a template needs a saved record to draw its information from. ### Each printing is fresh Dealersip builds the PDF at the moment you print it, using the record as it stands. Change a price or correct a name, print again, and the new document reflects it. A PDF you have already saved or emailed is a finished file and does not change. ### If a template is missing from the list Check that it is **Active**, and that it was created for the right type. A template built for Purchase never appears on a sale, and a Sale template never appears on a purchase. **Related:** [Why did a field print blank?](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Whydidafieldprintblank-50294/), [The Templates list](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/TheTemplateslist-50287/), [Page setup](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Pagesetup-50291/) ## Why did a field print blank? A printed document sometimes shows a label with nothing beside it, or a section that has vanished entirely. There are four usual explanations. ### The record has no value for that field The most common cause, and the simplest. If the purchase has no stock number recorded, a stock number field prints blank. Open the record and check the value is actually there. ### A form was never filled in A form’s questions print whether or not anybody opened that form on the record. If nobody answered it, the questions print with blanks beside them. That is intended — it is what lets you print a blank questionnaire for a customer to complete by hand — but if you expected answers, open the purchase or sale and fill the form in. ### A whole section disappeared A repeater prints once for each row of information it has. With no rows there is nothing to print, so the entire block disappears rather than leaving an empty frame. A vehicle with no pictures prints no picture rows at all. ### The wrong field was chosen Some fields print only in particular circumstances. On a form question, the tick-box fields are empty for a question that expects typed text, and the combined question-and-text field never carries a Yes or No. If a column of answers is blank, check which field the template uses — see [How a form reaches a printed template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Howaformreachesaprintedtemplate-50285/). ### Still blank Open the template in the designer and check the field on the page is the one you meant. A field’s printed label is your own wording, so a heading reading “VIN” may sit beside a field carrying something else entirely. **Related:** [Putting data on a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Puttingdataonatemplate-50290/), [How a form reaches a printed template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Howaformreachesaprintedtemplate-50285/), [Printing a template](https://dealersip.com/KnowledgeBase/Printingatemplate-50293/)