Templates and fields

Suppose a client name appears three times in an agreement. Your application needs to update all three without searching for the old name or changing unrelated text.

A content control marks a region of the document and gives it metadata your application can find. In these guides, a template field is a content control used for a value or clause. It stays part of the DOCX, whether you use built-in controls or a custom UI.

Start with Fill a DOCX template. Its prepared agreement lets you change one client name and see all three occurrences update. You do not need to create fields or build a custom toolbar first.

Choose a workflow

Fill a DOCX template

Update prepared fields from application data and export the result.

Add fields to a DOCX template

Turn selected content into tagged inline and block-level fields.

Replace clauses from your application

Use tagged block-level fields as application-managed clause slots.

Lock template fields

Keep a field, its contents, or both from being changed during normal DOCX editing.

Choose what the region holds

Three content-control shapes

InlinePart of a paragraphRepeated values and typed inputs

Block-levelParagraphs or tablesClause slots and document sections

Repeating sectionA collection of itemsLine items and repeated records

Start with text fields. Add other controls when the document needs them:

Typed inputs: Use text, checkbox, date, and choice controls for values with known input behavior.
Repeating records: Add, clone, and remove repeating-section items for lists such as line items or questionnaire responses.
Custom field UI: Build a field list, navigation panel, or workflow around the controls in the open document.

Use the Document API reference for the complete operation set. Use custom content-control UI to connect document selection and navigation to your application.

Identify a control

Use a tag as the application lookup key. The alias gives people a readable title, while the ID identifies one occurrence inside the document.

Word property	SuperDoc value	Use it for
Tag	`properties.tag`	Connect one application field to every matching control. Multiple controls can share a tag.
Title	`properties.alias`	Show a human-readable field name in Word or your application UI.
ID	`id`	Address one occurrence of the field in the DOCX.

A shared tag groups controls for lookup. It does not synchronize their content. Your application decides how values flow between its data and each document occurrence.

Content controls are stored as w:sdt elements in the DOCX. You do not need to edit that XML to use the Document API.