What it does
Document generation turns a template into a finished document for a specific person, program, or site, resolving system merge fields from live data and any custom values you supply. The result lands as a draft, ready to edit and review. Bulk generation produces one document per learner in a group in a single run, with the option to email the results as attachments.
Who it's for
Program administrators and coordinators generate documents in the program portal, institution administrators can generate from the institution portal, bulk generation is program-portal only, and the Generated Documents list is visible in all three portals.
How it works
Single generation. Start from a template's row actions on the Document Templates page by selecting Generate. The wizard shows the template and asks for the target — a person, a program, or a site, depending on what the template targets (free-standing templates skip this step). It then presents a form for the template's custom merge fields; required ones must be filled before you can generate. System fields resolve automatically. When it finishes, you land in the new document's draft workspace.
Bulk generation. For a whole cohort, select Bulk Generate from a template's row actions. Pick a group from the template's program, optionally an academic year, and fill in shared field values that apply to every document in the batch. The run shows per-learner progress and finishes with a results summary separating successes from failures, each failed row with its error message. From the results, Send Documents by Email emails the generated documents as PDF or Word attachments — you write a subject and message, and can also request a zip archive for yourself.
Generated Documents list. Everything generated appears here, searchable by template or person name and filterable by workflow status (draft or later stages your institution defines). Each row opens the draft workspace, and the list supports a background CSV export of matching rows.
Before you start
You need a template already published — generation always starts from one; see the document templates article.
Bulk generation needs a template that targets a person and is scoped to a program, opened from the program portal.
Have any required custom field values ready — the Generate button stays disabled until they're filled in.
Do this
From the Document Templates page (
/document-templates), open the row actions menu on a template and select Generate → you should see the Generate Document wizard.Choose the target — a person, program, or site, matching what the template targets → you should see the Merge Field Values panel (free-standing templates skip this step).
Fill in any required custom fields, then select the Generate button → you should see the new document open on its draft page.
You're done when
✓ The new document shows on the Generated Documents list.
✓ Its status shows Draft.
✓ Opening the row shows the resolved content in the draft workspace.
Boundaries and limits
Generation always starts from a template. There is no free-form "new generated document" without one.
The generation wizard is available in the program and institution portals. Bulk generation is program-portal only, for templates that target a person and are scoped to a program.
Bulk generation works on groups: you pick an existing group from the template's program, not an ad-hoc list of people.
In a bulk run, custom field values are shared across the whole batch. Per-person custom values need generating individually, or editing drafts afterward.
Bulk email attachments are PDF or Word. Recipients are the learners each document was generated for.
A failed learner in a bulk run does not stop the batch. Failures are listed in the results summary so you can follow up.
The Generated Documents list export is CSV, delivered through a background job.
Common questions
Q: Why is the Generate button disabled? A: Either no target is selected — for person, program, or site templates — or a required custom field is empty.
Q: Some learners failed in my bulk run. Do I have to redo the whole batch? A: No. The results summary lists each failure with its error. Successful documents already exist. You can generate individually for the learners that failed.
Q: Where do generated documents go? A: To the Generated Documents list. Each one opens in a draft workspace where you can edit content, track status, and send it for review.
Q: Can I email documents to people other than the learner they were generated for? A: No. The bulk email step sends each document to the learner it belongs to.
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