Best Practices for Creating Templates in Formtify

by

Introduction

Creating templates in Formtify is simple — but creating clean, reusable, and scalable templates requires a bit of structure. Following a consistent naming convention for your field keys will make your templates easier to understand, maintain, and collaborate on — especially in larger teams or complex documents.

This guide walks you through the best practices for naming field keys and designing your templates the right way from day one.

1. Use a Structured Naming Format

We recommend organizing your field keys in layers, using the structure:
GROUP.TYPE.DETAIL

This format helps clarify what the field represents, where it belongs, and how it’s used — without needing extra documentation.

You can keep it flexible based on how complex your template is:

For simple templates: use 2 levels

{Company.Address}
{Invoice.Date}

For more detailed templates: use 3 levels

{Customer.Name.Full}
{Employee.Address.Current}
{Contract.Amount.Total}

Avoid combining everything into a single word:

❌ {CustomerNameFull}
✅ {Customer.Name.Full}

2. Follow Consistent Language Rules

Keep your field key names clean and predictable:

  • Use English only in each field name

✅ {Customer.Phone}
❌ {Customer.SoDienThoai}

  • Use complete words instead of abbreviations

✅ {Invoice.Date}
❌ {Inv.D}

  • Avoid acronyms unless they are universally understood

✅ {Customer.Name}
❌ {KH.Ten}

  • Use no special characters — only letters and periods

✅ {Total.Amount}
❌ {total_amount}, {Total-Amount}, {Total@Amount}

  • Stick to CamelCase: capitalize the first letter of each word

✅ {Contract.SigningDate}
❌ {contractsigningdate}

3. Formatting Rules Summary

  • Only use a period (.) to separate levels
  • Do not use underscores, dashes, or spaces
  • Never start a field key with a number
  • Use lowercase for the first word in each segment, or full CamelCase across — choose one style and stay consistent

Examples:

✅ {Customer.Email}
✅ {Invoice.Number}
❌ {1Client.Name}
❌ {user name}
❌ {Client-Email}
❌ {client_name}

4. Validation Checklist

Before finalizing your field keys, ask yourself:

  • Can someone else understand this field without asking questions?

✅ {Invoice.IssueDate}
❌ {Date1}

  • Is the name clear and unambiguous compared to other fields?

✅ {Customer.Name} vs {Seller.Name}
❌ {Name1} vs {Name2}

  • Does the field follow a layered structure, not a flat or mixed format?

✅ {Company.Address.Current}
❌ {CompanyAddressCurrent}

5. Practical Examples

Here’s how your field keys might look in an actual template:

Replace “Jane Smith” with {Customer.Name.Full}
Replace “jane.smith@example.com” with {Customer.Email}
Replace “TechCorp Ltd.” with {Company.Name}
Replace “123 Innovation Road” with {Company.Address.HeadOffice}
Replace “$5,000” with {Invoice.Amount.Total}
Replace “01/01/2025” with {Contract.SigningDate}

Final Notes

Using a consistent and logical naming system helps ensure:

  • Faster template creation
  • Fewer mapping errors
  • Better collaboration with your team
  • Easier auto-fill and smart matching inside Formtify

Let your templates work smarter — not harder.