Saving Work Packages as templates

When to save a template

A template is a reusable blueprint. Save a Work Package as a template when you find yourself building the same kind of work over and over and want to avoid re-typing it every time.

Good moments to save a template:

• A standard handover process you run on every job
• A typical scope of work for one trade — for example, a First Fix Electrical package with all the right sub-packages
• A repeating block of work like Plot Construction you'll use across an entire housing development
• A QA inspection sequence that always has the same steps

Once you've got a template, you can bulk create many Work Packages from it in one go, or create a single one with one click.

What gets saved into a template

When you save a Work Package as a template, Project Commander captures:

• The name, description, type, and notes
• The full sub-package tree, including each sub-package's required trade, skill level, estimated duration, and weather sensitivity
• Any default cost codes or value fields

What doesn't get saved: operative allocations and dependencies. Those are specific to the original Work Package and you'll add them again on each new one.

Saving a Work Package as a template

1. 1

   Open the Work Package you want to use as the blueprint.

2. 2

   Open the Actions dropdown in the header and choose Save as Template.

3. 3

   Enter a Template Name and an optional Description.

4. 4

   Choose who can use it (see the next section).

5. 5

   Click Save. The template now appears in the Work Package Templates library.

Choosing who can use a template

Templates can be made available to projects in three ways. Pick whichever fits how widely you want the template to be used.

• Global — every project in the company can use it. Best for templates that apply everywhere, like a standard handover process.
• Project-specific — only the projects you explicitly choose can use it. Best for templates that only make sense in certain contexts, like a framework contract's standard scope.
• Private — no project can use it yet. Use this when you want to park a template and decide on availability later.

To make a template global, tick Global. To restrict it to specific projects, leave Global unticked and pick the projects from the list. Leave both blank to keep the template private for now.

Browsing the template library

Open Work Package Templates from the main sidebar to see every template in your company. The library lists each template with its name, description, the number of sub-packages inside, its availability (Global, Project-specific, or Private), and when it was created and by whom.

A search bar at the top lets you find a template quickly when there are lots of them. Each row has an actions menu where you can delete a template you no longer need.

Creating one Work Package from a template

When you're inside a project's Work Packages list, you can create a single Work Package from a template directly — handy when you only need one and bulk create would be overkill.

1. 1

   Click Create from Template alongside the + Work Package button.

2. 2

   Search the dialog for the template you want. Only templates that are Global or assigned to the current project will show up.

3. 3

   Pick the template. You can change the name for the new Work Package if you want it to differ from the template's default.

4. 4

   Click Create. The new Work Package opens with all the sub-packages already in place.

From there you can add allocations, dependencies, and anything else that couldn't be templated.

Deleting a template

From the Template library, open the actions menu on the row and choose Delete. You'll be asked to confirm.

Deleting a template doesn't affect any Work Packages that were previously created from it — those carry on as normal. Only the blueprint itself is removed.

Real-world example

Your company runs the same Plot Construction template across every housing development. Each plot has the same eight sub-packages, the same trades, and the same rough durations.

1. 1

   Build the plot once as a normal Work Package, getting the sub-packages, trades, and durations right.

2. 2

   Open the Actions dropdown and choose Save as Template.

3. 3

   Tick Global so every project can use it.

4. 4

   On the next development, use bulk create to spin up one Work Package per plot — all your sub-packages and trades come along for free.

Next steps

• Bulk creating from a template — for spinning up many Work Packages at once.
• Sub-packages — for the sub-package fields that get captured in the template.
• Creating Work Packages — for the manual create flow.