Template creation is typically used when a template creator wants to create a new template using one of the Ta Ethni preset template categories as a baseline.
From the Template Library Screen press the “+ Create” button.
When the Create Template dialog box appears, click the “Activity Type” selector, and choose from one of the pre-defined activity types. See <LINK> for a chart of Activity Types and their uses.
Each activity type will provide a baseline template with preset questions that can be added to or modified. Please note that some of the questions in each of the preset activity types are locked (meaning they cannot be deleted or changed). We’ve tried to keep these locked questions to the minimum required to adequately track consistently across a workspace, while allowing for possible future alliances between workspaces that might want to work together in Great Commission tasks.
After the “Activity Type” has been selected, enter any tags, and then press the “Create” button in the lower right corner of the dialog box.
Tags are recommended when creating or copying templates because they allow for easy identification of a template from the list of templates that can be assigned to teams. If a customized template was made for one region of the world or one or more teams, adding tags can help identify which template is which, especially if both templates were intentionally left with the same template name, like “Gospel Conversation”.
Let’s say for example in Europe, some teams in that region wanted a version of Gospel Conversation template with 2 additional questions, one that tracked if the conversation was relational or a proclamation and another that asked which evangelism tool was used. The tags could be anything from “Europe” to “Gospel Tools” to “Presentation Type.” In this example our dialog would look like this before we pressed “Create.”
Once create is pressed, the template editor screen appears, and the template is ready for customization. The parts of the template question editor screen are explained below:
A. Questions, Question Groups, and Templates: These buttons allow viewing and setup of all questions, question groups, and templates. Questions and Question groups will only display workspace specific questions and groups, while templates will display both workspace specific templates and copies of default (or global) templates.
B. This small button toggles the display of the template controls. Template controls are where any existing questions or new custom questions can be created and inserted into the custom template. (Link to template controls story)
C. The “Preview” button allows easy checking of template functionality by displaying an interactive non-saving preview of the template being designed.
D. The “Publish” button published this template to the workspace template library. Templates that are published become available for assignment to teams. New or copied templates default to unpublished so that edits can be made prior to making them available to those in the workspace.
E. The “Gear” symbol button opens the template configuration settings. Some of these settings, such as template name and tags, are the same as can be accessed from the main template page “Pencil” icon. The two key settings that can only be accessed through this template configuration button are setting the appropriate date fields and building the conditions (or logic rules) for each template. Conditions allow the template creator to create smart templates that respond based on the input received from the template itself. A complete walkthrough of template configuration settings and programming conditions is found here <LINK>.
F. The questions and question groups used to make up this template are found in this center section. Clicking the question itself opens the question configuration panel.
G. Gray shaded boxes containing questions are called “Question Groups.” Question groups allow similar questions or metrics to be grouped under a common heading.
H. The icons near the end of each question or question group have various meanings, as follows, and change depending upon the settings for that question:
The “Lock” icon means that the question is required in all templates of this activity type and cannot be removed. This helps a workspace track the core metrics consistently from team to team. It also will allow for future alliance possibilities with other workspaces and ability to partner and share specific data with other teams within your workspace and even other workspaces. Please note that if a question group is locked, all questions within that group are locked by default as well. Unlocked questions can be deleted.
The “repeat” icon will appear when a question or question group can be repeated by the user. For example, in the gospel template the responses by people group question group can be repeated. This means a single template can be used to record the response of multiple people groups during a single gospel presentation. Without the ability to allow for repeating questions or groups, a new template would need to be filled out for each new entity engaged with an activity.
J. Like activity types and templates, questions are also linked to a core task category. The Core Task Category of a particular question is shown here. Questions that can be used and often appear in any category are tagged as “Universal” category.
K. The icons on the far right of the question show whether that question is “visible” or “hidden” by default and whether the question is “active” or “inactive.” The hidden or visible property of questions can change based on conditions as the template is being filled out. “Inactive” questions never appear in live templates and can be used for testing a template until it is ready to go live.
The new template is now ready for editing or adding questions (LINK), designing rules and logic (LINK), and publishing (LINK).