Document Creator — Generating Documents from Tickets
Document Creator lets you generate official PDF documents — such as work orders or service confirmations — directly from ticket data, using document templates that you design yourself.
Documents vs. reports
A document is a snapshot: it is created from the ticket data at the moment you generate it and never changes afterwards. A report is live: it is regenerated every time you download it and always reflects the current state of the ticket. Use documents whenever you need a permanent record of what the ticket looked like at a specific point in time — for example, when the work was ordered or completed.
What you need before you start
The Document Creator module enabled on your instance. It is disabled by default — contact Singu support if you would like it activated.
Permissions:
Managing document templates (DocumentManager → TemplateManage) — lets you see the Document Templates page under Tickets and create, edit, and archive templates. This is intended for administrators.
Create documents (Ticket → DocumentCreate) — lets you generate documents from a ticket.
View documents (Ticket → DocumentView) — lets you see the Documents tab on ticket details and download existing documents.
Tip: The Documents tab on a ticket is visible only to users with the View documents permission. To generate documents, a user needs both View documents and Create documents.
If you don't see Document Creator anywhere, it is almost always one of three things: the module is not enabled, you are missing the required permission, or you are looking in the general settings instead of the Tickets area.
Where to find it
Template management: sidebar → Tickets → Document Templates.
Document generation: open a ticket → ticket details → Documents tab.
Creating a template (administrators)
Go to Tickets → Document Templates and click Add template.
Fill in the template information:
Name (required) — e.g. "Work Order", "Service Confirmation".
Prefix (required, up to 8 characters) — the beginning of every document number generated from this template. It must be unique across your instance so that document series never collide. The prefix cannot be changed after the template is saved — choose it carefully.
Description (optional) — also shown to the person generating a document, so use it to explain what the template is for.
Build the template structure. A template has three sections:
Header — up to 3 items, repeated on every page of the PDF.
Body — unlimited items.
Footer — up to 3 items, repeated on every page of the PDF.
Add items to each section. Items map to ticket data (for example: Ticket ID, Property, Responsible, Visit list, Ticket description, Equipment list, Company info, Logo) or are static content you type in yourself (Text field, Separator, Dotted line). Each item has an info box explaining what it shows and where the data comes from. Item values are not stored in the template — they are pulled from the ticket at the moment a document is generated.
Reorder items by drag and drop. Items can be reordered within their own section, but cannot be moved between sections.
Click Preview to render the template with sample data and adjust as needed.
Save the template:
Save as draft — the template is stored but cannot be used to generate documents yet. It is marked with a Draft chip on the list.
Save and publish — the template becomes available for document generation. A template must contain at least one item before it can be published.
Note: A published template cannot be switched back to draft. If you no longer need a template, archive it using the trash icon on the template list — archiving hides the template from use but does not affect documents already generated from it.
Generating a document (all users with the permission)
Open a ticket, go to its details, and open the Documents tab.
Click Generate. (Users with view-only permission see the list of existing documents and can download them, but cannot generate new ones.)
Select a template. Only published templates appear on the list — drafts and archived templates are hidden.
Review the information shown:
the template description,
the list of ticket data that will be included in the document,
a company information warning, if your company name or address has not been configured in the application settings. Company details printed on documents come from the application settings — ask your administrator to fill them in before generating.
Optionally click Preview to see the document with this ticket's actual data.
Click Generate and save. The document appears on the list with its creation date and author, and can be downloaded or opened at any time.
Document numbering
Every document gets a number in the format:
Prefix – Ticket ID – Sequence number
For example, AR-152843-6 is the sixth document generated from the template with prefix "AR" for ticket 152843. The sequence number counts the documents generated from that template for that ticket.
How the generated PDF looks
Header and footer items repeat on every page of a multi-page document.
Ticket fields with no value are printed as a dash ("-").
If no logo is configured on your instance, the logo item is simply omitted.
What not to use it for
Do not use Document Creator for invoices or other financial/tax documents. Document numbering is not guaranteed to be gap-free, which financial documents typically require by law. Work orders, proformas, and service confirmations are appropriate use cases; invoices are not.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I edit the prefix of my template?
The prefix is locked once the template has been saved. This protects the uniqueness of document number series. If you need a different prefix, create a new template.
Why doesn't my template appear when generating a document?
Only published templates can be used for generation. Check the template's status on the Document Templates list — if it shows a Draft chip, open it and use Save and publish.
Why don't I see the Documents tab on a ticket?
The tab requires the Document Creator module to be enabled and the View documents permission on your role.
Can I delete a document after it was generated?
No. Documents are permanent snapshots by design — that is what makes them a reliable record.
Can I change what an already generated document contains?
No. Editing a template only affects documents generated after the change. Existing documents never change.