With this release, we're delighted to announce that we've developed a game-changing tool for agencies that understand the power of branding. You now have the ability to design personalized templates for Quote Proposals and Summary of Insurance documents in EZLynx. Moreover, we've taken customization to the next level by offering the option to add custom pages to your templates. This means you can provide even more valuable information to your insured. 


In this article, we will cover the settings a Management System Admin can use to setup the templates for Quote Proposal and Subject of Insurance documents. If you are looking for help on how to generate a Quote Proposal or Subject of Insurance, check out our Documents - How to Create a Commercial Quote Proposal article!


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Check out our video if you'd rather watch and follow along!


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Why is this important to you?


  • Imagine effortlessly generating professional, branded documents that leave a lasting impression on your clients. 


  • Stand out from the competition and showcase your professionalism at every touchpoint.


  • With our easy-to-use template builder, you can tailor each proposal and summary to reflect your agency's unique identity and messaging. 


  • By eliminating the need to manually add branding elements each time, you'll experience a significant boost in productivity. Redirect your valuable time and energy toward high-impact activities that contribute to your agency's growth and success.

Accessing the Templates Page


It is very easy to navigate to the Proposal/SOI Templates page where you can manage the template for your agency. Hover over the Settings icon and click Proposal/SOI Templates




Here you'll land on the Proposal/SOI Templates page, where you will be greeted by a sleek and intuitive interface. The default selection will be the Cover Page in the Quote Proposal template, providing a seamless starting point for customization. Let's take a tour so you know where you can find everything!



On the right side of the screen, you will find the preview mode, where you can instantly visualize the appearance of the cover page. 



To further assist you, at the top there is an information bar offering valuable details about the page. This includes:

  • Page Name 
  • Page Type
  • Publication Date and Time 
  • Published Indicator




Additionally, you will have different buttons depending on the type of page and the status of the page. We'll cover more about the different buttons and what they do in later sections of this article.

On the left side of the page, you'll find the Choose a Template drop-down which allows you to switch between the Quote Proposal & SOI Template. Under that, you'll see the list of pages included in each respective template. 



Each page in the template has an icon next to it. Let's take a look at what those mean.



Icon ImageIcon NameMeaning
ActiveThis means the page is currently in your template and is an editable page.
InactiveThis means the page is not currently in your template but is an editable page. You can add the page to your template by clicking on the page and then toggling from Inactive to Active in the top bar.
Edit DisabledThis means the page cannot be edited or removed from the template. The page content is auto-generated based on the line of business chosen when you generate the respective document.


You'll notice the LOB Details page has the Edit Disabled icon. If you hover over the icon, a helpful tooltip will explain this limitation. As the details vary across different Lines of Business (LOBs), this feature is intentionally disabled to maintain accuracy and relevance. 


Creating a Draft


Now that you know how to access the Proposal/SOI Template page and know your way around better, let's learn how to use the feature to create agency branded templates! 


On the page you would like to edit, click the Create Draft button. This will give you access to a copy of the published version allowing you to make changes to the page using the Editor. During this mode, you will notice that the information bar indicates what mode you are in.




You have the flexibility to modify various aspects of the page with the except of the data points. Data points are the words that have the < > on either side. These data points are automatically filled from the application for accuracy.




While in the 'Create Draft' mode, you have the available options in the top bar:


  • Save Draft - This option enables you to save your changes as a draft, preserving your progress until you are ready to publish. 


  • Cancel - This option enables you to go back to the preview mode without retaining any changes you made to the page.


  • Publish - This option enables you to make the draft public. Selecting 'Publish' will replace the current published version with the changes you have made. Please keep in mind that once a draft is published, the draft itself will no longer be available. This helps maintain a clean and efficient workflow.



Editing a Draft


Now that you know how to create a draft, let's talk about editing a draft. Depending on whether a draft exists for the selected page, you will see either the Create Draft or Preview Draft button in the information bar. 

  • If a draft does not exist for the selected page, then you will see the Create Draft button. 
  • If a draft does exist for the selected page, then you will see the Preview Draft button.



Find a page that has a draft by looking for the Preview Draft button. To edit that page's draft, click on the Preview Draft button. You'll have a preview of the draft version, and the information bar will indicate that you are viewing the draft. 



From there, you have two options: 


  • Preview Published - If you choose this option, you can return to the previous screen without making any changes. 


  • Edit - Selecting Edit allows you to modify various aspects of the page using the Editor, except for the data points that are auto-filled from the application. 



Click the Edit button. This will open up the Editor page we talked about earlier in this article. The same things we talked about earlier apply here as well. You can edit various aspects of the page, but not the data points. During the Editing mode, the information bar will present the following options:


  • Save - This option overwrites the changes made on the current draft, preserving your modifications. 


  • Publish - Choosing Publish replaces the current published version with the changes you made in the draft. 


  • Cance- If you decide not to save your changes, selecting 'Cancel' will take you back to the preview mode without retaining any modifications



Editing Custom Pages


Now that you know how to edit drafted pages, let's talk about editing the Custom Pages.


The Quote Proposal and Summary of Insurance documents will come pre-loaded with 5 fixed custom pages. These pages are designed to accommodate any additional information you would like to include, offering you flexibility and personalization. 


The creating & editing flow for these custom pages is the same workflow we talked about in the earlier sections of this article - Creating a Draft and Editing a Draft. The only difference is the presence of a toggle switch on the information bar. By default, this toggle switch will be in the Inactive status for all custom pages. 



To add the custom pages to your template, click the toggle switch to make them active. Active means they are now included in your template and will generate this custom page when an agent generates the respective document. As we talked about in our tour of the Templates page earlier in this article, there is a clear indication of the status of each custom page using an icon on the left panel.



Attention! - Please note that the toggle switch is not available for the default pages ensuring their presence is maintained without the ability to remove them. 

Editing a Published Version


Now, let's talk about editing an already published version of a template page. To get into Edit mode, click the Edit button. This will take you into the Editor page we've seen earlier in this article. 



You can make any desired changes to tailor the page to your agency's unique needs. As mentioned before, you cannot edit or remove the data points to ensure accuracy and consistency as their content will be auto-generated based on the line of business selected during generation of the respective document. To provide a seamless editing experience, the information bar will indicate that you are in editing a published page.



While editing an already published version of a page, these are the options you can expect:


  • Restore to System Default - This option allows you to revert to the default version of the page, undoing any modifications made.


  • Cancel - If you decide not to save your changes, selecting 'Cancel' will return you to the preview mode without saving any modifications.


  • Save As Draft - Choosing 'Save As Draft' allows you to preserve your changes as an unpublished draft, enabling you to revisit and refine them later. 


  • Publish - When you are ready to finalize your edits and make them visible to others, selecting 'Publish' will save the changes on the published page. This action will update the content and take you back to the preview mode.



Viewing & Restoring Archived Versions


Finally, let's talking about archived versions of pages and how you can view and restore them. The Archived Versions button can be found on any page that has had multiple published versions. To view previously published versions of a page, click on the Archived Versions button. This will direct you to a page displaying all the old versions of the respective page.



Since this is a new page, let's take a look around! 



At the top you can see the Page Name and Page Type letting you know what page's archived versions we are looking at. There is a Back button which will take us back to the page we were on previously



Finally, you will see a table with all of the different versions of the page you are currently on. Next to each version there is an Actions button which will provide different actions depending on the status of the version. 



When you click the Actions button on a version with the Status of 'Older Version', you will have the following options: 


  • Preview - This option will take you into a preview mode where you can see in the Template page what the older version looked like. 


  • Restore - This option will replace the current published version of the page with the respective older version. A pop-up message will appear to confirm this is what you would like to do. 


  • Download - This option allows you to download the page as a word document on to your computer allowing for offline access and reference.


To view an Archived Version of a page, click Preview. To make an Archived Version of a page the new published page for your template, click Restore



Attention! - You will only have the option to Download any version that has the status of Draft or Published as you can already preview and edit these versions outside of the Archived Versions page.



If you click Preview on an Older Version, it will take you into the Preview mode where the top bar will show that you are viewing an older version of the page. You will also have similar options like we saw on the previous page. The only difference is the Close button which will close the Preview mode and take you back the page we were previously on.



Practical Applications


With this first release, we'd like to provide you with an idea of what kind of instances and applications you might find this new feature useful in: 


  • Agency Admin - The Agency Admin creates a proposal template with the agency's branding elements, including the logo, color scheme, and contact information. The Agency Admin carefully designs the template to reflect the agency's unique identity and professionalism. Once the template is created, whenever an agent generates a proposal in EZLynx, they no longer need to spend time editing and adding branding elements manually


  • Agency Producer - With our advanced feature of pre-set agency branding on proposals, the agent is now able to save valuable time that would otherwise be spent on editing and adding agency branding to each proposal. Agents can redirect their time and energy towards focusing on potential prospects


We hope you enjoy this new feature! Be on the lookout for other new features, enhancements, and improvements to the system in our future releases!