Symbols with text boxes, which have instances where text can be modified.

[John D Austin TX]

This is complicated to describe, so please bear with me.  I do signs for a garden center.  We sell many types of mulch, compost, soil, and potting soils.  I'm tasked with making a sign (single, letter-sized, page) for EACH product that explains the differences between all the products.  For the setup and explanation of what I'm doing, I'm currently making one AI document with multiple artboards, each artboard is letter-sized, and each artboard is a different product.  I'll have around 30 products and we keep finding new things to  add to every page (like a QR code that links directly to the mulch company product page online, for example.)  Or changing the text size within specific text boxes.

Here's my thinking, so far:

1. Make a symbol the size of the whole artboard with several text/image boxes (title, description, images) that perform ONLY the arrangement/sizing/spacing of items (text boxes and image boxes (not actual image) on the page. 

2. Repeat it for every product (new artboard and layer within the document with symbol on each artboard),  giving me the basic structure / arrangement for each product.

3.  Modify a single product/artboard by changing the text within the text boxes / images of  single artboards to describe that specific product (change the instance of the symbol).

4.  But then have the ability to later change the symbol (the arrangement, sizing, spacing of the items on the page) and have it reflect in every single artboard (ie, resize and re-arrange items in the symbol to add in the QR code), BUT without changing the individual symbol instances of every product.

My attempts along these lines result in a symbol with text boxes that are not individually editable (symbol instance.)

Any ideas on how to have maybe blank text boxes within a symbol that are just containers / spacers so that I can edit the text within each symbol's instance?  Or is there a better way of doing this?  

My alternative is that I make a template.  But from my understanding of a template is that it's just a background onto which I can re-position and place things (manually, ugh!!) and then change text/images, but a template doesn't change all other artboards/documents/pages that were based on it.  I'm hoping for some way to have EVERY SINGLE page re-positioned, without changing the instance or specifics of that product/page.  Is there a combination of symbols and templates that would solve even parts of this problem?

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!!

John

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

Maybe Variables could help:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/data-driven-graphics-templates-variables.html

[John D Austin TX]

WOW.  THANK YOU.  This is exactly what I needed.  I had no idea.... Thank you very much.  You just saved me HOURS and HOURS of annoying work!!

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear you found it useful.