Clause content typically includes text, smart fields, read-only fields, merge fields, MS-Word tables, and style segments. You can insert a clause from the Clause Library into a document in two different ways, as described below.

  • Inserting Clauses as Text: A clause inserted as text from the Clause Library does not have a content-control boundary around the clause. The clause contains static text and the content of the clause cannot be edited in a contract document. Moreover, when you insert a clause as a text, it is not recorded in the Doc Clauses list and the clause reconciliation page. If you insert a clause as text that contains smart fields, the values in the smart fields are converted to plain text and do not have a content-control border.

  • Inserting Clauses as Smart: A smart clause is a clause with a content-control border. A smart clause contains text that can be edited in a contract document. When you insert a clause as smart, you can see it in the clause list of the Doc Clauses tab of Contracts. Additionally, when you make changes to the content of a smart clause, those changes are tracked through redlines and you can see the changes recorded on the clause reconciliation page.

When you insert a contract clause into a document, it is only valid for that specific contract document.

To view the content of a clause listed in the Clause Library panel, click the Clause Name. A section displays the text of the clause, active version, and guidance below the clause list. Click the clause text to scroll.


To insert a clause

  1. Open Microsoft Word and launch the X-Author for Contracts Advanced add-in.
  2. Log in to X-Author for Contracts.

  3. In the Contracts pane, go to Work > Clause Library> Search Clauses.
  4. In Search Clauses, click the search icon to list all the available clauses or enter a search string to search a specific clause. You can also click the clause Filter icon () to get filtering options. You can also filter your clause search based on clause Category, Subcategory, Locale, Language, and Type.
  5. In the contract document, place your cursor at the point of insertion.
  6. Select the clause from the Clause Library pane, click More button ( ) next to the clause name and click Insert to insert the clause as a text (non-smart clause) in your document.
    OR
    Select the clause from the Clause Library pane, click the More button () next to the clause name and click Insert Smart to insert the clause as a smart clause in your document. 
  • If you insert a smart clause that is already existing in the document, a confirmation box pops up displaying " This clause already exists in this document. Do you want to proceed?". Click Continue to insert the clause or click Cancel to cancel and go back. 
  • You cannot search and insert an alternate clause from the Clause Library.

You get a success message and if you have selected Insert Smart, the inserted clause is marked as a smart clause (shown with a grey border). The text of the inserted clause appears redlined in the contract document if the contract's protection level is set to Insert Comments and Track Changes.

If you have inserted the clause as smart, you can go to Work tab > Doc Clauses to confirm that the clause is now recognized in the document. When you check in the document, any smart clauses can be reconciled to the contract and information of the inserted clause is added to the Contract Clause related list on the contract record.

If you insert a clause as text and check in with any save option, you can view the clause entry in the Conga CLM Contract Clause related list with action as InsertedAsText.

If you insert a clause as text inside a smart clause and check in with any save option, you can view the clause entry in the Conga CLM Contract Clause related list with action as Modified.

You can insert and delete the same clauses in the document before checking in.  To delete the clause, go to Work tab > Doc Clauses, search the clause using search clauses and click the More button next to the clause name and click Delete. You will get a confirmation message, select Delete again. The clause will be deleted immediately and will not be listed in the Doc Clauses list.

When you click Preview Reconcile, the deleted clause is not listed for reconciliation. When you check in the document and choose Reconcile, the clause is not displayed for reconciliation, and the "Deleted" entry is also not recorded in the Contract Clause related list on the contract record in CLM.

To learn how the Contract Clause related list is populated with each insert, modify, and delete action, see Tracking Contract Clause Activity in CLM for Administrators. 

Behavior and Recommendations

Inserting a smart clause into a cell of a Microsoft Word table produces an error. To prevent this error, you must insert a space in the cell of the table before and after a clause.