Tag specific words or sentences within dynamic text frame

[Evan22836701f14s]

I'm creating a template using a third-party templating tool that ingests an IDML file and reads Indesign's Tags as editable inputs. The template creation workflow is to design the template entirely within InDesign, appropriately tag the fields that will be editable for users (using window>utilities>tags), then bring the IDML into the templating tool to let users edit the tags/inputs.

In the template that I'm designing, I want the user to be able to input their name and their company name, then use that information to populate the placeholder values within a paragraph. For example, the template might say:
"Hello, my name is [user_name] and I work for [company]. I started working at [company] 3 years ago."

In the above example, the user's name and company should be properly tagged within the paragraph so that the placeholder text is filled with the user's information, and the rest of the text should move within its bounding box accordingly. 

So far, I've added a separate text frame for each input within the paragraph and set the paragraph's text wrap to wrap around the input frame. However, since this input box is separate from the paragraph, it doesn't adhere to the same bounding box as the rest of the paragraph, and therefore will not work for line breaks where needed. (see attached screenshot)

Is there any way to tag those inputs within the bounding box of the greater paragraph, either using the method described above, a table, or some other method? The user should be able to add a long name or company name and use line breaks within the paragraph if needed. 

[Eugene Tyson]

Not my wheelhouse at all. But interested to know more.

Can you elaborate on  your workflow and methods?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Your tags should be used directly in the text - not in an extra TextFrames that are InLine. 

[Peter Spier]

This sounds to me like you just need to create a series of text variables and let the user re-define the content of the variable.

[Joel Cherney]

Thanks for bumping this one, Eugene! 

Like Robert says, your tags do not need to be inside of their own frames. The least error-prone way to handle XML tags in Indesign is for them to be mapped to styles. Take a look at my screenshot; I've made a character style called "Placeholder" and I've mapped it to a "Placeholder" XML tag: