HTML Forms User Guide

The ExForms Excel Add-in includes an HTML template editor for building fully custom layouts. You can design templates visually, insert data tokens, and use the AI assistant to scaffold sections faster.

📖 This is a User Guide
This documentation explains how to use the Excel Add-in interface for HTML templates. For other document types, see the PDF and Word guides.

Capacity and add-on packs
HTML templates use document-generation capacity when you produce output, and the built-in AI tools use AI token allowance. Form and AI add-on packs let you extend those limits without changing your main subscription, which is useful when you need extra output or extra AI help in one area, including on Free-plan accounts.

What You Can Do

  • Design custom HTML templates with full layout control
  • Insert data tokens that map to Excel data
  • Use AI assistance to generate sections and layout ideas
  • Preview rendered output before sending data

Open the HTML Editor

  1. Open the ExForms add-in in Excel.
  2. Open an existing template set or create a new one from Set of Forms.
  3. In Edit Set or Add New Set, click Create HTML Form.
  4. The HTML editor opens in a separate window.

Build Your Template

Insert Tokens

Use tokens to bind Excel values into your HTML. The editor supports tokens in the format:

  • {{FieldName}} for single values
  • {{group.field}} for repeating rows (tables)

Examples:

  • {{CompanyName}}
  • {{invoice.total}}

Repeating Tables (Advanced)

If you want a row to repeat for each item in a table, place {{group.field}} tokens inside the table row you want to repeat.

Tip: Keep the repeating row simple. One row template is easier to map and render.

Use ExForms AI and Ask Eve

The HTML editor exposes two AI entry points:

  • ExForms AI for generating or refining HTML and CSS directly in the editor
  • Ask Eve for guidance, troubleshooting, and workflow help

Both AI entry points check plan allowance and available AI tokens before they open.

ExForms AI

ExForms AI works best when you include:

  • The goal of the section
  • The data fields you plan to use
  • The desired layout (columns, cards, table)

Sample Prompts

  • "Create a clean invoice layout with a header, summary cards, and a line-items table. Use tokens like {{CompanyName}}, {{invoice.date}}, and {{items.description}}."
  • "Generate a two-column employee profile section with photo, name, title, and department. Use tokens for name and title."
  • "Build a pricing table with three tiers and placeholder tokens for plan name and price."
  • "Add a footer with totals and a disclaimer area using {{invoice.total}} and {{invoice.notes}}."

Best Practice: After the AI generates a section, review and adjust the tokens to match your Excel names.

Ask Eve

Use Ask Eve when you want help deciding how to structure the template, where to put repeating sections, or how to approach mapping and conditional rules before you start editing.

Map Tokens to Excel Tables

After you add tokens, map them to Excel tables and columns so the HTML engine knows which data to use.

  1. Save the template.
  2. In the HTML editor toolbar, click Mapping (next to ExForms AI).
  3. Choose a Parent Table for top-level tokens like {{CompanyName}}, then click Save Parent.
  4. For each Child Table group (tokens like {{items.description}}), select the table and columns, then click Save Child.
  5. Both sections suggest tables and columns automatically from the token names — review the suggestions and adjust any that are wrong before saving.

Notes:

  • HTML mapping uses a Parent Mapping section for top-level data and a Child Mapping section for repeating groups.
  • If you add new tokens, save again and use Refresh in the mapping panel.
  • The mapping binds by table name. If you later rename the Excel table, re-open the mapping, select the renamed table, and save again.

Save and Validate

  1. Click Save to store the template HTML, CSS, and current rules.
  2. Use Mapping and Conditional Rules to validate the template structure.
  3. Return to the template set and run a test document-generation flow with workbook data to review the rendered result.

Conditional Rules

Conditional rules let you show, hide, enable, or require sections based on Excel data.

Open the Rules Panel

  1. In the HTML editor toolbar, click Conditional Rules.
  2. Click Add Rule to create a new rule.

Build a Rule

  • Rule type: Choose visibleIf, enableIf, requireIf, actions, or a trigger.
  • Target selector: Click Pick and select the element you want to control.
  • Expression: Use {Field} tokens, and/or, and parentheses.

Example:

{OrderTotal} > 10000

Actions Rules (Multiple Targets)

Use the actions rule type to show, hide, enable, or require multiple selectors in one rule.

Scope Selector (Limit a Rule)

If you want a rule to apply only inside a specific section, set a Scope selector. For example:

  • .line-items to keep a rule inside the line-items block.

Row-Level Rules (Repeating Tables)

Rules can be evaluated per row inside repeating tables. Use helper tokens like:

  • {rowIndex}
  • {rowName}
  • {rowTitle}

Validate Your Rules

Click Validate in the rules panel to check selectors and token usage before saving.

Troubleshooting

Tokens Do Not Fill

  • Confirm the token name exactly matches the Excel field or table column.
  • Avoid extra spaces inside {{ ... }}.
  • Read the message shown with the generation result. If a mapped table is not in the workbook — for example because it was renamed after mapping — Send Data now says so and names the table. Re-open the mapping, select the current table, and save that section again.

Repeating Rows Not Rendering

  • Ensure the repeating row uses {{group.field}} tokens.
  • Confirm the group name matches the Excel table mapping.
  • If the generation result warns that a child table is not in the workbook, open Child Mapping, select the current table for that group (the columns fill in automatically), and click Save Child.

Layout Looks Different After Preview

  • Use simple table structures and avoid overly complex nesting.
  • Check your CSS for fixed widths or absolute positioning.

Next Steps

  • Review the PDF and Word user guides for other template types.
  • Check the changelog for editor updates and new rule templates.