Project templates

Turn a repeatable project shape into a template so the next one starts configured.

If you run the same kind of project repeatedly — client onboarding, a release cycle, a site build — a template saves the setup and, more importantly, stops steps being forgotten.

Available on every tier.

#What a template carries

Included	Not included
Task structure and titles	Assignees
Milestones	Absolute dates
Statuses and workflow	Comments and attachments
Custom fields	Logged time
Checklists	Historical activity

Dates are stored as offsets from the project start, so a task due "day 10" lands correctly whenever you kick off.

#Create one

Run the project once properly
Templates built from imagination miss the steps that only surface in practice. Build from a project you have actually finished.
Save it as a template
From project settings.
Strip what shouldn't repeat
Remove one-off tasks and anything specific to that client or release.
Name it for the situation
"New client onboarding", not "Copy of Acme project".

#Use one

Projects → Create → From template. Set the name, short name and start date; relative dates resolve from there.

Templates create unassigned tasks

Assignment is deliberately not carried over — the right owner differs per project. Assign in the same sitting, or you will have a project full of tasks nobody owns.

#What makes a good template

🧠The steps people forget

Kick-off call, access requests, the compliance sign-off. Templates are most valuable for the boring mandatory things.

🔗Real dependencies

If design must precede build, encode it — see Subtasks and dependencies.

📅Realistic offsets

Base them on how long things actually took, not the optimistic version.

☑️Checklists for detail

Keep the task list readable; push the fine-grained steps into checklists.

#Keeping them alive

Templates rot. A template encoding last year's process actively misleads people.

Give each template an owner
Someone whose job it is to keep it current.
Review after each use
What did you add every time? What did you delete every time? Fold both back in.
Retire unused ones
A list of twelve templates where three are current is worse than three templates.

Tip

When a retrospective produces "we should always remember to…", the template is where that belongs. Otherwise it is forgotten by the next project.

#Not the same as automation

A template shapes a project at creation. Automation reacts to events while it runs. Use both: the template creates the review task, automation assigns it when the work reaches Review.

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