Make sure the xml hierarchy is well represented in the template. When you have controls inside other controls, they must respect the hierarchy or nothing will come out.
Don’t change the name of any node of the hierarchy, as they won’t be found.
Don’t use the <Screens> or <Templates> tags to repeat information. The only ones that repeat data are those marked with the “repeat” modifier in its node.
Don’t overcharge the template as it is a very resource-consuming process.
Don’t put any controls on header or footers, as they won’t be processed.
Adobe PDF conversion doesn’t support columns as well as Word, so it is recommended not to use them if you plan on exporting to pdf.
Many styles used within Word cannot be transformed to be read in OpenOffice or Adobe PDF. If you are going to use them, keep the template simple.
Depending on how you do the template, after the generation process, Word can raise an exception about something bad structured. Word usually can fix these minor problems by itself. If not, you should check the template.