Using Project Templates

This how-to article will help users to create project templates using Work Management. The user must have access to Work Management and the specific Project application with the Add Templates security role permission.

Overview

A project template is a basic starting point or generic project that contains many of the basic features of a project, so as to facilitate quickly creating similar projects.

By creating templates, you can create and stand up a project faster than by creating one by hand.

We recommend limiting the use of project templates to advanced users, since the user needs to understand how to use all project sections in the system to set it up well.

Creating a New Project Template

To create a new project template:

1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Project application.
2. Click the gear icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Project Templates from the options.
4. Click the +New Project Template button in the toolbar.
5. Enter a name for the template.
6. If you believe any certain section of a template might not be useful or needed for this template, go ahead and unselect it under the Components options. This affects which sections are available to you when modifying the project template.
7. Click the Save button.

Once created, the template can be accessed in the Project application > gear icon > Project Templates.

Building the Template Out

The following steps can be followed now that a template has been created to flesh it out to a point where, if it were applied to a project, it would address many of the basic needs of the project’s various sections.

1. Expand the new template in the left navigation (you may need to refresh the browser for it to appear).
2. Click Briefcase in the left navigation, and add any default briefcase folders and files.
   • Review the Working with the Briefcase article to determine what to include.
3. Click Issues and add any default issues or issue categories.
   • Review the Managing Issue Categories and Working with Issues articles to determine what to include.
4. Click Links in the left navigation, and add any default web links, web link details, and web link categories.
   • Review the Working with Project Links articles to determine what to include.
5. Click Risks Register in the left navigation and add any default risks.
   • Review the Working with the Risk Register and Organizational Risk article for guidance on what to do here.
6. Click Plans and create any standard plans and plan details.
   • Review the Project Plans articles for guidance on what to do here.
7. Click the project plan name in the Plans list to add tasks and task details.

Now, whenever you create a project or project request, you can choose to apply a project template. All default project information configured in the template will be populated in the newly created project.

Making a Project Template Available for Use by Others

By default, new templates are set to private, preventing other users from seeing or using them.

Making a project template global will allow any user in your organization to apply it when creating new projects. This does not give other users the ability to edit or modify this template. Only you can edit or modify your project templates.

To make a project template global:

1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Project application.
2. Click the gear icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Project Templates from the options.
4. Click the template name from the template list on the main page or click the template link in the left navigation.
5. Click the Mark Global button.

Inversely, if a template is global and you want to make it private, click the Mark Private button.

Editing A Project Template

Editing a project template will not affect projects created from it. The changes will only affect newly created projects.

To edit a project template, follow the same steps outlined in the "Building a Template Out" section above.

Deleting A Project Template

If the template owner decides they no longer need a project template, they can delete it even if it has been used on past or active projects. Deleting a template does not remove the file structures, files, issues, plans, contacts, or project links to which the template was applied. It only removes the template from the list of templates available to apply to new projects.

To delete a template:

1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Project application.
2. Click the gear icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Project Templates from the options.
4. Select the template name from the list on the main page or click the template link in the left navigation.
5. Click the Delete button.

Viewing Your Project Templates

You can view project templates created by others. The list of globally shared project templates can be viewed in the template lookup field when creating a project, staffing a project request, applying a template to an existing project, or by administrators in the Admin interface for the specific Project application under Project Templates.

You can view project templates you created in Work Management > View Applications > Project Templates, as described above.

Changing Template Owners

To change project template owners for your company:

1. Open the Project application admin UI:
   • Project Application Admins: In Work Management, click View Applications, select the Project application, click the gear icon in the top-right corner, then select Admin from the menu
   • Global Admins: In TDAdmin, go to Applications, then select the Project application
2.  Click Project Templates in the left navigation.
3. Select the template name from the list.
4. Click the Change Owner button.