Candidate Document Types
The Documaker Add-In for Microsoft Word is intended to be used for documents that are predominantly flowing text or distinct blocks of content. The Add-In is intended to provide an alternate authoring environment for the text of documents. It is not intended to be a complete form design tool. Documaker Studio provides excellent, user-friendly form design functionality. The Add-In extends Word functionality to provide its user with access to non-text entities such as pre-defined variables and graphics.
There are several common document types produced within the insurance industry that suggest particular features and accompanying functionality or authoring requirements.
- Bills and statements are typically very structured documents that contain a large number of data variables laid out in a specific structure. These documents tend to include calculations and overflow logic. These documents are generally very form-like and are best authored in Studio.
- Marketing material varies between simple, short text blurbs and highly-structured, full-color documents. Simple marketing statements are good candidates for Word authoring, however, the more highly-structured documents should be authored in Studio (or another design tool). The inclusion logic that determines when material is included is, of course, managed within Studio.
- Declarations are often long-flowing documents that contain highly flexible and dynamic tables. These documents may be good candidates for dual-authoring in which the text areas are authored in Word and the dynamic tables are created and managed within Studio. This is the case with many documents in which certain portions that deal with the layout of multiple data items should be authored in Studio.
- Policy documents and contracts generally contain a lot of text and very few areas of heavy data variable inclusion. Like declarations, these documents should be separated into appropriate authoring areas so long paragraphs of flowing text are authored in Word, while dynamic tables based on data variables are authored in Studio.
- Correspondence style documents may be free-flowing or highly structured and as such are candidates for either authoring tool based on the document’s structure.