Insert SharePoint 2010 Document ID in a Word document

So the document id feature is a cool thing with SharePoint, but how can you add the document id inside the document text? My client wanted to use the document id as a reference value in their letters, in the classic “Our ref.” field.

Adding the document id for one document is easy: First save your document in a library where the document id feature is enabled, close and re-open the document, select insert – quick parts – document properties, and select the “Document Id Value”.

But end users don’t want to be bothered with inserting quick parts! They use office templates and want the value to pop up by default in the correct place.

Now this turned out to be a challenge, but here is the best way I have found so far: You will need:

• A content type in your content type hub
  • the document if feature must be enabled in the CT hub
• A site collection where the document ID feature is enabled.
• A site collection where the document ID feature is NOT enabled.
• Both site collections must be subscribing to the content type hub, so they inherit the content type.

Prepare your content type:

• Make sure the DocId featue is enabled in the content type hub.
• In the content type hub, go to site settings – site content types.
  • Create a content type if you haven’t already done so.
• Edit your content type, select “Information management policy settings”.
• Click “Enable Labels”.
• In the Label format input field, write {Document ID Value} and click OK.
• Republish your content type (under “Manage publishing for this content type”).
• Run the following timer jobs:
  • “Content Type hub”
  • “Content Type Subscriber – <webapp name>”.

Prepare your Microsoft Word Document Template

• Create a document library in the site collection where there is no document id.
  • Note: It is crucial that the DocId feature is disabled. If your document template gets a document id here, it will be stuck in the template, and all documents based on that template will get the same document id as the template, which is obviously not what you want!
• Go to library settings, advanced settings, and enable content types.
• Click “add from existing site content types” and add your content type.
• Upload your document template to this library.
• Make sure that it is given the correct content type.
• Open the template in MS Word from the library.
• Place the cursor in the correct location.
• Click Insert – Quick Parts – Document Properties – Label.
• Add a Word macro to the template: Open the template in Word, click the Developer tab – Macros – call it Reload and hit Create – use the following code (I got this from this MSDN forum thread)

Sub Reload()
   ActiveDocument.Reload
End Sub

• Add another macro to call Reload directly after save. This will make the Document ID show in the document, and the user can print etc.

Sub FileSave()
   Dialogs(wdDialogFileSaveAs).Show
   Reload
End Sub

• Save and close word.
• Upload the template to the content type:
  • In the content type hub, go to site settings – site content types, edit your content type, click advanced settings, add it there.

Prepare the document library

• Create a document library in the site collection where document ids are enabled.
• Go to library settings, advanced settings, and enable content types.
• Click add from existing site content types and add your content type.
• Your content type (including the template) is now available for the end user.

The end user can now get the document id for free

• In the document library ribbon, click “New Document” and select the newly created content type.
• Fill in the desired fields etc. in the template and save it to the SP library.
  • SharePoint will now generate a document Id for the document.
• Voilá, after save the reload macro is called, and the {Document ID Value} text is replaced with the actual document id value:

Background
The document template has the label containing the document id. When a user creates a document from the template and saves it to a SharePoint Library where the document id feature is enabled, SharePoint will assign a document id to the document, and demote this value from the list/library into the document itself.

Please add a comment below if you find this post useful.

Note: If you do not use a content type hub, please see Isaac Blum’s blog post on the same subject.

Note also that when a document that has a document ID is uploaded to SharePoint, the document ID will be replaced by a new document ID, as it is considered a copy. Because of this, you might want so send your letters that contain document IDs as PDF documents (or on paper of course).