The Workiva Integration Plug-in (InDesign Plug-in) is a tool that can be used to help InDesign users prepare to bring content back into Workiva. When bringing content back into Workiva, it will be converted from IDML to XHTML. The purpose of this plug-in is to support the creation of an XHTML file with XBRL.
Note: This can also be used when no XBRL exists.
Initial content should be created in Workiva and exported as ICML, then imported to InDesign. The Workiva Integration Plug-in should be used as designers are preparing the artwork, and before bringing the content back into Workiva as an IDML file.
The Workiva InDesign Integration Plug-in is provided so that designers have a validation tool to identify issues within an InDesign document that would corrupt or are otherwise not appropriate for conversion into XHTML. This plug-in is easy to import in both Mac and PC versions of InDesign and writes a report at the click of a button. In all cases, the things we point out are XHTML conditional and not a specific condition of Workiva policy.
Download and install InDesign plug-in
To install the plug-in:
- 1
- Download the plug-in for Windows or MacOs.
- 2
- After the download completes, launch the program.
- 3
- Restart InDesign. You'll find the plug-in listed at the bottom of the Window panel.
Note: You may get warnings about security, but you can safely ignore them. On a Mac, you may have to accept the plug-in in the Privacy and Security preferences.
Use the plug-in
Once you open the plug-in, it will look at the current document to write you a report.
Here are the buttons and their functions:
- Stop/Start: If you want to monitor the ICML, use the start/stop button. You can hit Start when the ICML is initially imported, or you can wait until later in the process.
- Import: This button looks at your desktop to find the file exported from Workiva.
- Ungroup: Since all items should be ungrouped, this helps easily ungroup all items in the file.
- Validate: Pressing this button produces a log file showing warnings based around converting this document from IDML to XHTML. This log file can be found in the same folder as the IDML export. Remember to review it before every import into Workiva.
- Split: All items should have split text frames; this button helps easily split text frames in the file.
- Export: This is for saving the file to the Workiva folder on your desktop.
Validation List
The validation list lets you know if something needs to be updated or recommends some best practices. This list is made after clicking the Validate button.
For example, if you get the message “All placed items must be web compliant (SVG, PNG, JPG or GIF): placed items ARE NOT web compliant,” this needs to be updated.
However, the message “This is informational, best practice is to not include overridden styles: styles ARE overridden,” we recommend you make this updated, but it's not required.
Here are some common examples of validation messages:
| Needs to be updated | Best practice |
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