Build the report template (the diary PDF)

The report template decides what goes into the diary PDF, in what order, and what its header looks like. The PDF produced from a closed diary — the one recipients receive and an audit will read — is built from this template. The PDF has a fixed frame (header, footer, page numbers, A4); what you compose is its body, out of blocks.

Before you start

• Permission: the report-template right — report:template:manage or full admin.
• Where to find it: Diary dispatch → Report template in the management area.
• Worth knowing: “The PDF frame — header (logo, company name, status), footer, page numbers, A4 and the print-friendly palette — is not editable. With multiple plants each plant starts on its own page, under its own name.”

Three levels: company → site → plant

The template inherits, and the narrower level always wins:

The level selector at the top of the tab shows which one you are editing, and whether that level uses its own layout or inherits: “This level uses its OWN layout (overriding the inherited one).” ⟂ “This level inherits … — saving creates its own layout.” Back to the inherited layout deletes that level’s own template (it asks for confirmation and cannot be undone).

The most common misunderstanding: “I’m editing but nothing changes”

If every plant has its own layout, editing at company or site level affects no plant at all — and the editor says exactly that: “This edit currently affects NO plant… The preview will therefore not change.” Pick the specific plant above, or reset that plant’s layout to inherited. In partial cases it also tells you how many plants the edit reaches.

Steps

Four parts: level selector · block palette · layout (the PDF body) · the selected block’s settings.

1. Open the Report template tab and use the level selector to decide what you are editing: the Company base, a Site, or one specific Plant.
2. With multiple plants, set the viewpoint plant: “This decides which plant’s diary elements are listed, and which plant’s log the preview is built from.”
3. Drag blocks from the palette into the body. There are three groups:
   • Diary data — Handover · Events · Instructions · Tasks · Maintenance · Shift attendance · Shift data · Pinned section · Remaining sections;
   • Computed — Calculated datapoint (value, difference, sum, average, min/max, count, or your own formula) and KPI row (1–4 metrics in a card frame);
   • Text and layout — Heading · Text block · Callout box · Divider · Signature strip · Spacer · Page break.
4. Reorder the blocks by dragging — that is the PDF’s order. Clicking a block shows its settings on the right (text, emphasis, font size, max table rows…).
5. Check the PDF preview: “Rendered from the latest real diary entry, through the same renderer as the final PDF.”
6. Save — the indicator goes from Unsaved changes to All saved. On an inherited level the button reads Save as its own layout (because that is what saving creates).

Without the “Remaining sections” block new elements silently drop out

“Without it, diary sections added later will NOT appear in the PDF — only the ones you pinned by hand.” If you remove that block (or “expand” it into separate blocks), from then on every new diary element must be pinned by hand — otherwise the data lands in the diary but not in the PDF. The editor warns you, but the consequence only shows up weeks later, on a report that is missing something.

What the editor warns you about

The warnings shown next to blocks prevent real PDF defects — they are worth reading:

Warning	What it means
“This element belongs to ANOTHER plant…”	The pinned diary element is not the viewpoint plant’s → it stays empty in that plant’s PDF.
“This diary element is DISABLED for this plant…”	The element exists but is switched off there → stays empty.
“The PDF does not render this element…”	Some elements are not drawn through the diary-element path (Shift data sits in the header, Events have their own block), and the divider and the image only exist on screen → pinning draws nothing.
“This element only reaches the diary in certain shifts…”	The element is shift-filtered → it is absent from every other shift’s PDF.
“The source datapoint does not exist (or was archived).”	A calculated datapoint’s or KPI’s reference broke → fix the source.
“No text given…” / “This block has no items…”	The block is empty → it will not appear in the PDF.

If it worked

Closed diaries are rendered with your template: the chosen blocks, in your order, with the configured header. This is the PDF that shows up on the archived entry and for the recipients. The editor’s indicator reads All saved.

Common problems

What you see	Why	What to do
No “Report template” tab	You do not have report:template:manage (or full admin).	Ask your admin.
I edit but the preview does not change	A narrower level has its own layout, and it wins.	Pick the specific plant above, or reset that plant to inherited.
A block comes out empty in the PDF	It refers to content that has no data in that diary entry.	Normal; if there is never data, remove the block.
A new diary element is missing from the PDF	There is no “Remaining sections” block in the template.	Put the block back, or pin the new element by hand.
“This plant has no diary entry yet to preview from.”	The preview is built from a real entry and there is none.	Record one; then the preview shows real data.
Old PDFs did not change	“Already generated PDFs are never rewritten (audited, versioned documents).”	Deliberate: the new layout applies from the next generation onward.

Worth knowing

• Calculated datapoints and KPIs are exportable too. Whatever you compute here “appears on the PDF and is downloadable as its own column under Reports → Export (CSV/xlsx)” — see Datapoint report and export.
• The template travels as JSON. Template as JSON copies the layout you are editing so you can paste it onto another plant — no re-clicking. Pasting only loads a draft; saving is still the normal button.
• The signature strip is a printed line. “The system does not create or certify any electronic signature.” — it is for a handwritten signature.
• “Danger” is the strongest tone — use it sparingly so it keeps its weight in the PDF.
• The header/appearance is set at Company or Site level — at plant level it is inherited.

Related

Set the PDF report recipientsWho receives the PDF built from this template.

Datapoint report and export (CSV/Excel)Calculated datapoints and KPIs are downloadable as columns.

View closed diaries and the PDFWhere the PDF built from the template shows up.

Edit the diary elementsThe diary elements the template's blocks render.