Creating a new template and accessing the template builder

You can use the template builder to create and customize templates for the following types of documentation: intake forms, progress notes, other documents, and treatment plans. To review how these documentation types are used in SimplePractice, see Reviewing available template types.

Note: In a group practice, only the Account Owner, practice managers, and clinicians with entire practice access can edit templates. To learn more, see Clinician roles available for team members and Administrative roles available for team members. Additionally, while intake forms can be customized on the Starter plan, progress note and other document templates can only be customized on the Essential and Plus plans.

You can create a customized template in one of two ways: by building a new template from scratch, or customizing a pre-built or previously created template. In this guide, we'll cover:

• Creating the template
• Naming your template and choosing the template type
• Next steps

Creating the template

From your template library, you can either:

• Build a new template from scratch, or 
• Customize an existing template by duplicating a pre-built or previously created template

Building a template from scratch

To create a brand-new template:

1. Navigate to Settings > Documentation > Template library
2. Click Build new template

This will open the template builder.

Creating a new template from an existing template

If you want to use a pre-built template or another custom template as a starting point, you can duplicate it.

Note: Before duplicating a pre-built template, you'll need to add it to your account. To do this from your Template library, click Browse pre-built templates and click +Add.

To duplicate a template:

1. Navigate to Settings > Documentation > Template library
2. Locate the form you want to use
3. Select the duplicate icon

4. Select the title of the duplicate template to open it in the template builder
   • The duplicate will be titled [NAME OF ORIGINAL FORM] Copy

Naming your template and choosing the template type

After opening the template builder, you’ll need to give your template a name and assign the correct template type.

Note: The template type you select determines where the template can be used and how it’s shared with clients.

To name your template and set its type:

1. Enter a descriptive name in the Main title field
   • If you’re working from a duplicated template, click the template title (ex: [NAME OF ORIGINAL FORM] Copy) at the top of the page to edit these fields

2. If needed, enter a Display title
   • For intake forms, the display title appears to clients in the Client Portal

   • For progress notes, treatment plans, and other documents, the display title appears on printed documents

   • When a document is shared with a client, the display title appears in their Files tab

   • If no display title is entered, the main title is used

3. Under Template type, select Intake document, Progress note, Treatment plan, or Other document

To exit these fields, click outside the gray area. You can reopen them by clicking the template title. You must enter a Main title and select a Template type before you can continue.

Next steps

Now that you’ve created your template and selected its documentation type, continue to Customizing your template with blocks to learn how to add and arrange fields, sections, and structure.