A template gives a new proposal its list of sections. You choose it in the proposal wizard, and its section titles become the proposal's outline, ready for you to adjust before anything is written.
Choose a template in the wizard
- Start a proposal from the wizard and complete the Strategy step. See Creating a Proposal.
- On the Assets & Team step, open Template (Optional) at the top and pick a template.
- Continue to the Outline step and check the sections.
To go back to the sections Propivix would use without a template, pick Use default sections. That is the RFP's recorded structure, or a standard list of sections when the RFP has none. See Outline and page budgets.
How a template combines with the RFP
When the RFP has no recorded structure, the outline becomes the template's sections, in the template's order, all selected.
When the RFP's analysis recorded a structure, Propivix combines the two:
- The template's sections come first, in the template's order.
- A template section that matches an RFP section of the same kind takes that RFP section's details. For example, a template "Technical Approach" can match an RFP's "Technical Volume". It then carries the RFP's word and page limits, evaluation weight and instructions, and shows Required by RFP when the RFP requires it.
- A template section with no match stays in the list. Any section the RFP does not require, matched or not, shows Not in RFP.
- RFP sections that no template section matched are added after the template's sections, so nothing the RFP asks for is dropped.
With a template chosen, the outline lists all sections in one group, "Additional sections", rather than under the RFP's volumes.
Change the sections for one proposal
The template is a starting point. On the Outline step you can clear a section to leave it out, rename it, reorder it, remove it or select Add Custom Section. These changes apply only to this proposal. The saved template stays as it is.
Choose the template before you change the outline. Picking a different template, or Use default sections, replaces the list and loses changes you made to it.
Past proposals as a section template
Under Style Reference (Optional) on the same step, you can pick past proposals to guide the writing style. When you pick one and no template is chosen, Use selected past proposal as section template is ticked for you. The outline then uses the sections recorded in that past proposal's analysis, and the step says "Sections were replaced with the past proposal's section structure."
Clear the box to stop using the past proposal's sections. Choosing a template turns this option off; the step then says "A template is selected, so section structure comes from that template."
The Create New Proposal page
The Create New Proposal page also has Template (Optional), with No Template - Start Blank as its first choice. There, the template you pick is recorded on the proposal, but its sections are not added. The proposal opens with no sections, and Add Standard Sections in the editor builds them from the RFP's structure, not from the template.
To build a proposal from a template's sections, use the wizard.
What a template does not carry
A template supplies section titles and their order. It does not supply:
- Formatting, fonts, headers, footers or a cover page. Exports use the look you choose in the export dialog; see Exporting Your Proposal.
- Section instructions or word counts. Word targets come from the RFP or from the drafting dialog; see AI Proposal Generation.
- Filled-in placeholders. Text such as
{{client_name}}is not replaced; see Template Variables.