Using Project Templates for Efficient Project Setup
Project Templates are an excellent way to quickly and easily reuse project structures. When saving a custom Project Template, you can specify which elements to include based on what you anticipate will be useful for future projects.
Important Notes:
Changes made to a Project created from a Template will not affect the original Template or other Projects created from it.
Explore additional features like Task and Milestone Templates, sharing templates externally, and more.
Saving a Project Template
Frame Your Project: Build out your Project as if you were ready to start it, including all necessary elements such as Milestones, Tasks, Statuses, and deadlines.
Items to Include in Your Template:
Modules (disabled Modules will remain disabled in the Template)
Custom Views (including any embeds added at the Project level)
Automations
Statuses
Milestones
Tasks & Subtasks
Folders in Docs & Files
Save Your Template: Once your Project is fully set up, select Save as Template from the header dropdown menu.
Customizing Your Template
Naming and Describing Your Template
Name Your Template: Provide a clear and descriptive name for your Template.
Add a Description: Include a description to help you and your team understand the purpose and scope of the Template.
Select Features to Include: Choose which aspects of the Project you want to save into the Template. This allows you to tailor the Template to your needs and ensure it includes the relevant elements for future projects.
Milestone, Task, and Subtask Offset Days
Templates allow you to save relative Start and Due Dates for Milestones, Tasks, and Subtasks using Offsets:
Milestones: Save the relative Start and Due Dates for Milestones, which will group the Tasks within them into a dropdown menu.
Tasks: Save relative Start and Due Dates for Tasks, which will be grouped beneath their respective Milestones.
Subtasks: Save Due Dates for Subtasks, which will be nested under their respective Tasks.
Offsets are automatically populated based on the date when you save the Template. For instance, if a Milestone starts today (Monday) and is due next Sunday, it will have a Start Offset of 0 Days and a Due Offset of 6 Days.
Offsets and Negative Values
Offsets can be set to negative values, allowing you to work backwards from a specific date. For more information on how to use Offset Dates, please refer to the Offset Date section below.
Creating a Project from a Template
To create a Project from a Template:
Access the Create a Project screen by clicking the + button in your sidebar.
Navigate to the Saved Templates tab where you'll see your Saved Templates and their Descriptions.
Select the Template you want to use.
Enter a Project Name and click Create Project.
Offset Date
The Offset Date lets you set a reference date from which the Milestones, Tasks, and Subtasks' Start and Due dates are calculated. By default, this is set to today’s date. However, if you need your project timelines to start from a different date—such as a week from now—you can adjust the Offset Date accordingly.
End-pointing and Mid-pointing Projects
Milestones, Tasks, and Subtasks with negative offset numbers will calculate their dates backwards from your Offset Date. This allows you to align project timelines with an end date (such as a product launch or critical deadline).
You can use both positive and negative offset days in your template, making the Offset Date a midpoint rather than just a start or end date. This is particularly useful for projects with critical deadlines and additional follow-up tasks, such as event planning or implementation workflows.
This Event template is using the Event Day as the Offset Date, that way the Event Lead-up and Post-Event timelines orient properly around the day the event.
Editing and Deleting a Template
You can edit your Project Templates from within the Workspace Control Center.
Click into the template that you're looking to edit.
Older versions of templates will require you to Migrate them to a v2 template in order to have updated template schema.
Once migrated, you will be able to click into the Description, Lists, Statuses, and Tasks of the template to edit them. To learn more about how this editing format works, please visit this article.
Once the desired changes are made, select Save in the bottom right of the module.
Deleting a Template
From inside the template in the Project Templates section of Workspace Settings, select the Remove Template option.
