The OnitX CLM Word Add-In is a powerful tool to help you quickly and easily create and manage contracts right from your Microsoft Word application.
In this comprehensive user guide, we'll take you through everything you need to know about the Word Add-In — from installation and startup to creating contracts, working with clauses, deploying Catalyst for Contracts, and working with templates.
Onit has made this Add-In available for local installation or managed organizational deployment via Microsoft 365. However, there are some steps which must be performed in coordination with Onit Customer Support prior to installation.
NOTE: This attached Key Guide provides you with a full list of commands inside CLM that can dictate what a user sees in the Word Add-In.
OnitX CLM Word Add-In preparation with Onit Customer Support
- Create an E2D to Onit Support to enable Office Extensions for the corporation.
- Create a ticket to Customer Support to have the Enable Outlook Plugin turned on in OnitX CLM Administration > Corporation Settings > Beta Features.
3. Once the E2D in Step 1 is completed configure a Slug for the Word Add-in to allow compatibility with the Outlook Add-in. This must be unique among office extensions in this corporation. More information on installing the Outlook Add-In may be found here.
4. In OnitX CLM App Builder, go to any App and select the Pencil icon to enter the Advanced Designer menus.
- Go to Global Configuration, Auth Providers.
- Create a new JSON Web Token.
- Give the Web Token a Name, such as Word Add-In.
- Give it a Display Name; normally this will be the same as Name.
- In Active User, select DYNAMIC.
- Minutes until expire duration should be between 60 and 43200.
- Check Enabled.
- Click Save.
5. In OnitX CLM App Builder, go to Administration, System Management, Extensions and click the blue button to add an Office Extension.
- Uncheck the Outlook Add-in box.
- Give the Office Extension a unique name.
- Type in a unique name for the Slug in only uppercase or lowercase text characters or numbers.
- no spaces or special characters outside of “_” or “-“ should be used
- Enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name for the correct instance you will use the Add-in in Onit: prod.dcbko6dpei5hx.amplifyapp.com
- In the JSON Web Token Provider field, select the Web Token created in Step 4.
- Save the newly created Office Extension.
6. Once the preceding steps have been completed, the manifest will be available on the customer’s environment located here:
-
http://[yoursubdomain].onit.com/o365/[slug]/manifest.prod.xml (where [slug] is the value entered in Step 4)
You may have additional manifest files if you have more than one CLM instance for User Acceptance Testing or a development sandbox. Repeat Step 1 for each CLM instance in your organization.
7. Remember to add all users who need to use the add-in to the CLM Word Add-In User Group by going into Administration>Security and Audit History. Select the Word Add-In User Group. Add users as needed.
Managed Organizational Deployment
The preferred method to provide the Word Add-in to a customer's user base is central deployment via Microsoft 365. This supports deployment organization wide, or to a select group of users.
1. Download the manifest outlined in Step 6 in the previous section
2. Follow this Microsoft guide to determine if your organization supports centralized deployment: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/manage/centralized-deployment-of-add-ins?view=o365-worldwide
Local Installation of the OnitX CLM Word Add-In for Windows
Perform these following steps on each user’s Windows computer who will use the add-in:
- Save the manifest file(s) to your local computer as “manifest.xml”
- It is recommended to save the manifest in browsers other than Microsoft Edge
- Ensure you do not save it with a duplicate extension name such as manifest.xml.xml
- It may help to turn to unhide file extensions in Windows Folder Options. Refer to this for help
- You have the option of saving the manifest.xml file to a specific folder of your choosing or from one you commonly access such as Downloads.
- Find the via Windows File Explorer on hour hard drive.
- Share the folder to yourself (right click the folder > Give access to > Specific people > Select your user > Share).
- Do not close the window.
- On the same ‘Network access’ screen, right click & copy the Manifest folder name that appears in the list. (This copies the network share name. For example: "//[LocalComputerName]/Downloads/Manifest” or “//[LocalComputerName]/Downloads”
- In Word, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Add-in Catalogs.
- Check the box which says "Show in Menu"
- Input [network share name] URL > add Catalog > OK.
- Restart Word.
- Go to Add-ins > Shared folder. The Onit Word Add-in should display.
- Note: This step may vary slightly from different versions of Microsoft Word.
- Click each add-in and click "Add" (you'll need to do this one by one if you have separate manifest files for different CLM environments).
Local Installation of the OnitX CLM Word Add-In for MacOS
Perform the following steps on each user’s MacOS computer who will use the add-in:
- Create the following folder if it does not exist on your Mac hard drive: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Documents/wef/
- Launch a Terminal session to begin installation.
- Type in the following to the Terminal session:
- curl "https://[yoursubdomain].onit.com/o365/gemini/manifest.prod.xml" > ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Documents/wef/[yoursubdomain].manifest.xml;
- Replace [yoursubdomain] with the actual name of your Onit-hosted environment. For example, if your CLM environment is https://acme.onit.com replace [yoursubdomain] with acme.
- To execute the command, hit Enter.
- On the Insert tab, go to My Add-Ins.
- On the small dropdown arrow, you will see the Add-In has been successfully installed.
- Click the Onit icon to have the Add-In launched and located inside the right portion of the Word window.
- Click the Sign In button on the Connect screen.
- Enter your Onit CLM credentials and click Login.
- Repeat these steps for each CLM environment you have.
The home screen features powerful search capabilities along with shortcuts to frequently-used functionalities.
Records and Searching
For quick searches across OnitX CLM, simply type in the name of an existing record on the Home screen and immediately jump into Contracts or Templates from the retrieved search results. You can also filter on just Contracts or Templates by clicking the applicable bubble, or you can search through the entire system.
The Records shortcut tile offers a quick way to filter and search through your Contract Portfolio or Template Library. By clicking this tile you can conduct searches by Contract Name or CLM Case Number when known.
If searching through the Template Library, only template names are currently searchable.
Search Breadcrumbs
When searching records in your Contract Portfolio and Template Library, users will go through Records, Documents and Document Versions to get to their desired document file they need to edit and update.
Users can navigate through "breadcrumbs" at the top of the Search results screen at any time to go between documents and versions attached to the CLM contract or template. Selecting a document version or a contract or template will launch the document in a new instance of Microsoft Word.
When searching Templates, Onit has made it easy to identify an active Template document by visibly denoting the Active Version in the search results.
Other Home Screen Actions
The Information Menu in the upper-right-hand corner of the Add-In displays various information about the Add-In and helps users in the event of an internet disruption.
Information Menu Heading | Explanation |
---|---|
Get Support |
Clicking this launches a new browser window or tab to open up an Onit Support Ticket. |
Reload | Network interrutions happen; clicking the “Reload” option refreshes the Add-In. |
View Source | Launches the Word Add-In manifest file, which contains referenced URLs where your web application can reside and other resources for add-in like images. |
Security Info | This option is purely informational and displays relevant security-related information. |
Clear Web Cache | Normally, the cache is cleared by reloading the Add-In. If more than one Add-In exists in the same document, the process of automatically clearning the cache on reload might not be reliable. |
Now that a new contract document is created in OnitX CLM and is open in the Word Add-In, users have many options for editing the contract and important status information available.
When OnitX CLM contracts are opened in the Word Add-In, users are automatically shown the Document Details screen. This screen contains all the tools you need to begin redlining this document version.
The first part of the Document Details screen gives the user details about the open contract document. Users can traverse the breadcrumbs from the contract record to all documents comprising the record, version history, and finally, the open version displayed in the Add-In.
This Add-In shows users the current version of the open document and the timestamp of its last update.
If a document is available for check out, the lock icon will be open next to the grey "Not checked out" status toggle. For more information on checking out documents, please read THIS.
Finally, users have a convenient way to navigate directly to the contract record inside OnitX CLM via a web browser, where they can see the document's Phase and Owner.
This information is meant to inform users if they can edit this document, how to access it inside OnitX CLM, and who may be consulted about it in case they have any questions or inquiries.
The next segment of the Document Details screen features tiles to unlock redlining functionality in the Add-In. There are tiles for accessing the Clause Library to insert clauses to the contract, access AI Checklists in Catalyst for Contracts to review your contract against for any risky language or terms, adding an obligation to the OnitX CLM contract record, adding CLM fields to track and marking existing text in the contract to track.
For more in-depth information on the Clause Library, Checklists in Catalyst for Contracts, Obligation Management and Fields, please read these articles:
The final portion of this Document Details screen allows commenting on the record. Users simply type in text, hit Enter and observe the comment posted in the Activity Feed on this screen. At any time, the feed can refreshed to observe new comments made by other users.
The OnitX CLM Clause Library is a powerful repository which stores clauses you can insert into your contract document. It is accessible from the Clause Library icon on the Add-In sidebar or from the Clause Library tile on the Document Details screen.
Clicking either the icon or tile brings up the Clause Library screen.
Simply place your cursor where you want to place a clause and insert the clause from the library. In the screenshot below, the cursor is placed between sections 2.4 and 2.5.
The result is the Confidentiality clause is now inserted into the contract document. This clause becomes the new 2.5 section.
At any time the clause can be modified to reflect the user's preferred terms and language.
The powerful Checklist option allows users to deploy Onit's AI power to rapidly find and address potential issues within a contract or document. Click HERE to learn more about using Checklist for AI.
The Add Obligations button allows you to quickly and easily add obligations to your document.
When you click Add Obligation, the Create Obligation screen will appear.
On this page, you'll have to choose:
- Obligation Type (this is required, drop-down menu): Examples include Audit Obligation, Certification Obligation, etc.
- Short Description (text box): For a brief description of the obligation
- Recurrence (this is required, drop-down menu): Options include Annual, Quarterly, One Time, Event Driven or None
- Owner (drop-down menu): Pick out the obligation's owner
- Due Date (date box)
- Status (drop-down menu): Options include Not Started, In Progress, and Complete
- Clause (drop-down menu): Pick your clause from the drop-down menu
When you're done, click on Submit to finalize the obligation. You'll get an email link to view the obligation within Onit CLM.
The Word Add-In makes it easy to mark text within the document as a tracked field; add in the text to your document and click on the Mark Text As Tracked Field button to get started.
The Mark text as Tracked Field section will appear. Pick out the field you want to mark the text as tracked. The section is organized into fields from:
- Contract Lifecycle Management
- Other Parties
- Legal Entities
- Other Party Contacts
Your tracked field will then appear in the document. For example, here we've added in a Contract Name field under the word "Test" in this document.
You can add as many tracked fields as necessary to the document.
Comparing Versions
Compare Versions allows you to quickly see (and resolve) the changes between different versions of the same document. Click on the Compare Versions button to get started.
The Document Compare screen will appear. Within this screen, you'll have to fill out:
- Label Changes With (required, text box): This is for you to fill in a name of who to attribute the changes to.
- Select Original Version and Select Revised Version (required, drop-down box): Pick out the versions of the document you want to compare.
- Comparison Settings (check boxes): Choose what aspects (insertions and deletions, case changes, comments, headers and footers, fields, tables, footnotes and endnotes, textboxes, formatting) you want to compare.
- Show Changes at (select boxes): You can choose to show the changes at Word level or character level
- Save as version of (select boxes): You can choose between Original document and Revised document
- As a (select boxes): You can choose between Minor version and Major Version
As soon as you click Submit, you'll get a message saying Document compare successful. This link will bring you to the Onit CLM system where you can view the comparison document.
The second icon down on the left-hand tool bar will bring you to the Save Document screen. You can see the name of the version you're working with / looking to save at the top of the screen.
You can mark the change you're making as either a Major or a Minor change. This is helpful to let viewers of the document know the importance of your tweaks. You can also use the Comment section to provide a brief description of the change you made (this is optional).
On the Workflow section, you have several different options:
- Mark it as just a Check in (don't escalate it anywhere)
- Check in and Send for Internal Review (you'll be able to select what users you want to send it to)
- Check in and Send for External Review (you'll be able to select what contacts you want to send it to)
- Check in and Send for Approval (the final stage; you can select what users you want to send it to)
Finally, you can toggle on or off Reconcile tracked changes to incorporate all the tracked changes into the latest version of the document
Here, we'll detail how to create new contract records from scratch or import legal agreements originating outside the enterprise.
New Contract Creation
Use the blue plus context menu at the bottom of the Home to quickly create contracts via an Onit launch form for users to fill out. This feature saves time by allowing users to work inside Microsoft Word to make new CLM records. rather than having to switch to OnitX CLM via a web browser.
Fill out all required data about the new contract you intend to create. Based on the contract type selected, some fields may conditionally appear.
Options on this page include:
- Contract Name (text field): The name of your contract.
- Executed Contract (check box): Check this box if you'd like to upload an already executed contract (in PDF or Word form) to the system. You'll upload that contract in the Add Attachments section.
- Legal Entity (drop-down box): The organization's legal entity this contract should come from.
- Contract Type (drop-down box): For example — a General Services Agreement, Contractor Services Agreement, etc.
- Paper Type: Select between "Our Paper" and "Third Party Paper." More on that in the next section.
- Region (drop-down box): The region corresponding to this contract. Note that if you choose North America, the State of Incorporation drop-down menu will also appear.
- Contract Description/Purpose (text field): A place to fill in a brief description of the contract
- Effective Date (date field): When the contract should start.
- Confidential Contract (check box): Whether the contract is confidential or not.
Choosing the Other Part(ies) you are contracting with draws from the parties stored inside OnitX CLM; users may create new parties in this launch form as well.
Before submitting the request, users can add supporting documents which may be necessary or helpful for this contract.
After the contract has been submitted, users can close the launch form to return to Microsoft Word and the newly-created contract.
The Add-In will refresh and users will now see the new contract document and any supporting documents added via the launch form available to open in Microsoft Word.
Selecting the contract document version will launch the contract in a new instance of Microsoft Word.
Third-Party Paper Record Creation
It is very common for users to agreements from counterparties. Onit has made it easy to take these third-party agreements and create records in their contract portfolio.
The process for creating these records begins from the blue plus context menu on the Word Add-In Home screen and is nearly identical to the process detailed above. When the Third-Party Paper radio button is selected from the launch form, users need to submit the external contract document to upload into OnitX CLM.
Just like with new contract creation, Other Parties are required.
NOTE: You have the options to send for AI Review (see more on this here) and AI Data Extraction from these contracts at this screen.
On the Add Attachments tab of the launch from, select the Third Party contract document and click Submit Contract Request.
After the contract has been submitted, users can close the launch form to return to Microsoft Word and the newly-created contract from a counterparty.
Selecting the imported Third Party contract document version launches the contract in a new instance of Microsoft Word.
The OnitX CLM Word Add-In template library gives users the ability to quickly access a vast repository of customizable contract templates, enabling the easy production of new contracts.
Here's what you need to know about working with the Word Add-In templates.
1. To create a new template, click on the Plus button at the bottom of your Word Add-In and click on Template Library.
2. From there, the Create Template screen will appear.
Fill in the information needed for your template, including:
- Template Name (required)
- Owner (selected from a drop-down menu)
- Template Type (required, selected from a drop-down menu). Here, you'll be able to select either Templates or Clauses to create.
- Contract Type (required, selected from a drop-down menu). Examples include Demonstration, Finance, Fleet Services, Franchise Agreement, etc. You can select more than one contract type.
- Category (required, selected from a drop-down menu). Examples include Demonstration, General, Obligations, etc.
- Department (if applicable, selected from a drop-down menu). Examples include Sales, Procurement, Legal etc.
- Subcategory (if applicable, selected from a drop-down menu)
- Language (required, selected from a drop-down menu)
- Description (text box). Create a description of the clause or template you'd like to create.
- Guidance (text box). Add in any tips, tricks, or instructions you might have for other reviewers or editors.
- Keywords (text box). Add in any pertinent keywords related to the template or clause.
- Needs Publishing (check box). Check this if the template or clause still needs to be published.
- Next Revision Date (date field). Fill in the next time this clause or template needs a revision.
3. From there, your new template will show up in the Add-In.
Click on the Plus sign to add in a new document to the template. The Add Document page will appear.
Fill in the information needed for your document, including:
- Document Type (drop-down box). Examples include Contract Document, Executed Document, and Supporting Document.
- Comments (text box). Add any comments about the document you might have.
- Private (check box). Checking this marks the document as private.
- CLM ID (text box). Not required. Fill in text to give your document a unique CLM identification.
- Email Activity (drop-down menu). Search to include any associated emails with this document.
4. Once your document is created, the Word Add-In will show you a menu of options for the content in the template. Let's go through all of them here.
Inserting Clauses
The Clause Library allows you to insert pre-created clauses from the library into the document.
Note that by clicking on Clauses in the Control Panel tab, you'll be able to further tweak clause details. Just click on the button next to the clause you'd like to modify to further customize the clause.
Within the customization menu, you can:
- Mark the Clause as Tracked (tracking the changes within a document)
- Mark the Clause as Read-Only
- Create Conditions (for example, if Country Contains United States...); click the Add additional field logic to add more steps to the condition.
Conditions are powerful elements you can use throughout templates. By using conditions, you can choose when fields / clauses / tables etc. will appear within a document. For example: using the condition above (If Country Contains United States) the clause would ONLY appear if the user specified the United States as the region.
Additionally, you can click on Advanced to bring up the Liquid condition builder.
Adding Conditions
The Conditions Library allows you to insert pre-created conditions from the library into the document.
Within this menu, you can search existing conditions and click on an existing condition to insert it into the document, or click on New Condition to create a new condition.
In the New Condition menu, you can click on Advanced to bring up the Liquid builder or click on the Add additional field logic to add more steps to the condition. After you've given your condition a name and built the condition, click on Save to add the condition to your library.
Adding Fields
The Add Field button lets you choose from a wide range of fields (contract type, created date, region, etc.) into the document. When you click on Add Field you'll see the different categories full of available fields to track.
Note that by clicking on Fields in the Control Panel tab, you'll be able to further tweak fields details. Just click on the button next to the Field you'd like to modify to further customize the clause.
Setting Segments
Set Segment allows you to create different segments within the document.
In order to do this, select the text within the document and click on Set Segment. Once that happens, the Control Panel for that segment will appear (you can also access this from the side panel).
Click on the button next to the Segment you'd like to modify to further customize. Within the customization menu, you can:
- Change the Name of the segment.
- Create Conditions (for example, if Country Contains United States...); click the Add additional field logic to add more steps to the condition.
Adding Tables
The Add Table button allows you to insert customizable tables into the document. These tables make it easy to fill in vital contract information in an organized display.
Once you click on the Add Table button, the options for the table will appear.
Choose the fields you want in the table and click Insert. Note that the ORDER these fields will appear in correspond to the order in which you click them. You can adjust by un-clicking/clicking on the fields OR adjust in the control panel (more on that below).
You'll see the table appear within the document.
You can also access the Table details from the side panel.
You can customize the table by clicking on the dots next to the table you'd like to tweak. Within the customization menu, you can:
- Change the Name of the table.
- Mark the table as Read-Only
- Add / Remove the table fields, adjust the table field order (drag and drop), and add Conditions by clicking on the button next to each field.
Accessing / Editing Existing Templates
Access existing templates by clicking on Template Library on the Word Add-In.
From there, you can search for the template you'd like to modify or open.
Other Things to Know About Creating Templates
You can view the different versions of documents within the Versions tab in the Add-In.
- Information about the Version and document details will appear at the top of the Document Details Word Add-In Screen.
- Click on the button next to Not checked out to check in and check out the document (mark the document as being worked on).
- You can add in comments on versions on the Document Details page.
Click on Preview Template to get a quick preview of what your template will look like when added to a record.
NOTE: Catalyst AI Review for Contracts is an additional license fee. Contact your Onit account manager to learn more.
The Onit Catalyst Chat option gives you the power of integrated AI at your fingertips as you use the Word Add-In. To access this, click the Catalyst Chat button furthest down on the left-hand toolbar.
NOTE: Catalyst IS NOT a lawyer and its responses should not be relied upon as legal advice.
Type your query on the bottom text box and hit the blue arrow button to send the question in.
Examples of the things you can ask the Catalyst Chat to do are:
- List the high-risk issues that exist within a contract
- Summarize the contract or the document that you have open
- Check for undefined terms within the contract or document
For example, asking to summarize a contract could produce a response like this:
Catalyst Playbook Checklists
Click on the Checklist button on the left- hand side toolbar or on the Checklist button on the Document Details page in order to access the option.
Onit's AI system will automatically scan the document to pick out potential issues, based on your pre-set contract playbooks. Example categories for perusal could include:
- Liability and indemnification
- Warranties and representations
- Prices, payment & taxes
- Acceptance, risk of loss & delivery
- Confidentiality, IP & data protection
- Term & termination
- Additional and miscellaneous terms
On the very top of the Add-In, you can see the level of Risk identified by Catalyst.
Click into any of the grouped issues to learn more from Catalyst. For example, you can click on Term & Termination in this document to see the two issues Catalyst identified.
Note that you may see several numbers underneath a certain issue; those will bring you to different spots within the document where the AI identifies those problems exist.
Within these groupings, you can click the Trash button to delete the issue, the Plus button to add in an issue, and the Bookmark button to set up a bookmark for the grouping or the issue. Click on the Arrow to see more details on the issue.
There, you can receive and edit guidance from Catalyst and explore Standard Positions within your playbook. Connect with your implementation team in order to modify your playbooks.
You can also use the Catalyst option at the bottom of the page to create or modify elements of the contract based on the Checklist findings. For example, if the Checklist guidance notes that the contract is missing an indemnify clause, you can ask Catalyst to draft one for you.
Catalyst Chat would then produce an indemnity clause, along with the option to insert the clause directly into the document.
Learn more about using Catalyst here.
Running a Contract Against a Checklist
There are three ways to run a contract against an organization's checklist; we'll outline them here.
From OnitX CLM
First, you can create it from inside Contract Lifecycle Management launch screen. From within CLM, you can either:
- Click the Send for AI Review box when creating a contract
- Finally, you choose the Import 3rd Party Paper or Store Executed Contract options for uploading a contract; when using either option, the contracts will automatically run against an organizational checklist.
From an Existing Contract
You can also click the blue Send for AI Review button from an already-existing contract from any phase.
From the Add-In
If you have a record that no review has been done on before, you can launch the checklist from the add-in. Just click the Checklist option on the right-hand side of the add-in and select from the available checklists.
NOTE: Track Changes and Protect Document MUST be turned off for the Checklist to run.
Highlights is a critical part of the Catalyst for Contract AI review, enabling users to find the definition of terms instantly while reviewing the contract without needing to scroll back to the definition section.
After a contract review is done, click on the Highlights button on the left-hand side of the Word Add-in menu to see the highlights. The Manage Highlights screen will appear.
Within this screen, you can choose what terms you want highlighted on the screen: Defined terms & document references, Alert language, or All. Click the button next to the option you'd like to select.
From there, the highlighted terms will appear in the document.
Users can click on the highlighted terms to see their definiton in the Word Add-In. For example, a user clicking on Purchase Order would see this: