When you save a document as a template, most regions of a document are locked. As a template author, you specify which regions of a template-based document will be editable by inserting editable regions or editable parameters in the template.

As you create the template, you can make changes to both editable and locked regions. In a document based on the template, however, a template user can make changes only in the editable regions; the locked regions can’t be modified.

There are four types of template regions:

An editable region

An unlocked region in a template-based document—a section a template user can edit. A template author can specify any area of a template as editable. For a template to be effective, it should contain at least one editable region; otherwise, pages based on the template can’t be edited.

A repeating region

A section of the document layout that is set so that the template user can add or delete copies of the repeating region in a document based on the template as necessary. For example, you can set a table row to repeat. Repeating sections are editable so that the template user can edit the content in the repeating element, while the design itself is under the control of the template author.

There are two types of repeating regions you can insert in a template: repeating region and repeating table.

An optional region

A section of a template that holds content—such as text or an image—that may or may not appear in a document. In the template-based page, the template user usually controls whether the content is displayed.

An editable tag attribute

Lets you unlock a tag attribute in a template, so the attribute can be edited in a template-based page. For example, you can “lock” which image appears in the document but let the template user set the alignment to left, right, or center.