Templates allow you to set up preconditions for the structure of all Teams that are created within your organization.

You can specify which channels, members, and widgets will be part of the future team by default and easily manage all of them after the fact.

Whenever a user decides to create a Team, they'll be limited to a selection of Templates you've created, thus ensuring that all future teams adhere to your pre-defined structure.

You can also add different Metadata fields to your Templates. They'll be filled out by users when they request Teams and help you collect lots of useful information.

These fields can even be tied to specific Governance Policies; for instance, you can base a Lifecycle Policy on a "Start Date" calendar field and automatically archive it once it passes a certain threshold.

⚙️ Creating Templates

You can create two types of Templates in Teams Manager:

Blank Templates - Give your employees a blank slate where they can be in charge of Channel structure, Widgets, etc.

Imported Templates - Contain default Channels, Chats, Notes/Planner widgets, or any other tab you might want. They are always based on an existing Team.

📋 Creating a Blank Template

For demonstration purposes, we'll be creating a "Project" template that will serve as the basis for Project Discussion Teams.

Start by navigating to Settings > Templates and clicking on Create a template.
You'll be greeted with a context menu that allows you to choose different Template Types. Select Team from the menu and specify the name and description for your Template.

Optional: Click on the > Additional settings button to select the Default Language for the Template. Once set, all Teams based on this Template will be in the selected language, along with all other provisioned content (Notes, Planner, etc).
Click on Create to save the Template.
You'll see your newly created Template under the Active Templates section of the Teams Manager Templates page.

⬇️ Creating Templates Based on Existing Teams

Importing from existing Teams gives you the opportunity to give users more structure and allows you to have default Channels, Chats, and Notes/Planner widgets, or any other tab you might want.

Start by creating a regular Team outside of Teams Manager and configuring it to your liking.
Once the Team of your dreams has been created, you can convert it into a template by navigating to ≡ > Settings > Templates and selecting the Import from existing team option.
You'll probably want to make a few alterations to it after it's been imported. To do that, simply click the ⋯ button next to it and select Configure template from the dropdown.

❗Keep in mind that any edits made to the Team after it's been imported won't be reflected on the corresponding Template.

✅ Creating Metadata Fields

Metadata fields will add additional steps for users when they're selecting Templates.

There's a variety of different options that allow you to customize the request process with Text, Number, Person, Dropdown, and Checkbox fields.

Metadata has other uses beyond gathering extra information and is crucial when you start enforcing governance policies. For instance, you can tie calendar fields to Lifecycle Policies and automatically archive them after a certain amount of time.

Navigate to ≡ > Settings > Expert mode > Metadata and click on + Create field to get started.
You'll be directed to the Create a metadata field menu, where you can start specifying the properties of the field.

Name - Describes the purpose of the field to the end-user who's filling it out.
Type - Determines how the user will interact with the future field
Description - Allows you to get more context when viewing different metadata within the corresponding tab in settings.
Default value - Determines the information that will pre-populate the field when the end user sees it.
Editable by - Allows you to select the group that can edit the field, whether it's everyone, admins, or team owners.

For instance, you can create a Client Name text field to make users specify who the project is for or add a Start Date date field that allows them to indicate when the project begins.

You can even automatically archive the Team upon the completion of that lifespan when you start working with Lifecycle Policies.

💡We highly recommend playing around with these options and creating a few different fields to see how they can be beneficial to your governance structure.

🪢 Adding Metadata to Templates

Once you've created your Metadata, it's time to actually assign it to a Template. There are two distinct ways of doing this, and the better one will depend on your personal preferences.

1. Metadata Page

Navigate to ≡ > Settings > Expert mode > Metadata.
Enable the checkbox next to the Metadata fields that you'd like to assign to a particular Template.
Click on Add fields to template, select the desired Template, and click Add when done.

2. Templates Page

Navigate to ≡ > Settings > Templates. You'll see a list of all the Templates you've created.
Click on ⋯ > Set fields next to the Template you'd like to work with. You'll see all of the fields assigned to it.
Click on + Add an existing field, select the ones you want to include in this Template, and click Add to finalize.

🏅 Final Results

Once the user starts submitting their request, they'll see an additional screen with the Metadata fields that you've specified.

In our case, we're prompting them to tell us the Client Name, Number of Tasks, Start Date, Project Manager/Type, and whether or not the project is Internal and approved by the department.