Templates

Templates holds the task shapes this workspace has saved. A template carries a name, the title the task should get, the tags it should arrive with, and the priority it should start at. Applying one puts a single task on a project you choose. That is the difference between this screen and the template library: the library creates a whole checklist of many tasks from a checklist somebody else wrote, and this screen creates one task from a shape you wrote. A status report you file every Friday, a code review, a client check in: each is one task with the same title, the same tags and the same priority every time, and this is where you stop typing it again. Five hundred and eighty five starters ship with Atlas across nineteen categories, split between work and home, so a template can begin from one of those rather than from an empty form.

• A saved template sets the task title, its tags and its priority, so an applied task arrives complete rather than as a bare heading
• Five hundred and eighty five built in starters across nineteen categories, from engineering and sales to health, family and learning, each usable as the starting point for a template of your own
• Starters are split by audience, so the home ones stay out of the way at work and the work ones stay out of the way at home
• Applying a template asks which project the task belongs on, and the picker lists the projects you can already write to
• Deleting a template stages a confirmation first, and can be undone afterwards from the toast
• The screen states which of the four things it is doing: loading, failed with the reason and a way to try again, empty with a way to start, or showing your templates

• A template creates one task, not a checklist. For a sequence of steps, use the template library, and for a whole piece of client work use an engagement template in Client Delivery.
• Templates belong to the workspace, not to you. Anybody who can see templates sees the same list, and a template you delete is gone for everybody.
• Undo re creates a deleted template from the same data rather than restoring the original record, so the template comes back with a new identifier. The name, title, tags and priority are the same, and nothing that pointed at the old identifier follows it.
• A template stores what a task starts as, not what it becomes. Editing the task afterwards never changes the template, and changing the template never reaches a task that was already created.
• Applying the same template twice creates two tasks. Nothing is merged and nothing is refused.
• The picker lists the projects you can see, not only the ones you can add tasks to. Choosing one you are not allowed to write to leaves the template unapplied and shows a message with the reason.

1. 1Open Templates from Build in the sidebar, under Tasks and Planning, or press the command palette and search for templates.
2. 2Press New template. Give it a name you will recognise in a list, then the title the task itself should carry.
3. 3Add tags as a comma separated list, and set a priority if the task should always start above or below the default.
4. 4Alternatively pick one of the built in starters, which fills the form with a shape somebody has already worked out. Change anything you want before saving.
5. 5Save it. The template appears as a card alongside the others.
6. 6Press Apply on a card and choose the project the task belongs on. The task is created there and is an ordinary task from that point: reassign it, schedule it, or add it to a sprint.
7. 7To remove a template, press delete on its card and confirm. If that was a mistake, press undo on the message that follows.

What is the difference between this and the template library?

The library ships with Atlas, is read only, and each of its templates creates a whole checklist of tasks from steps somebody else wrote. This screen holds templates your workspace wrote, and each one creates a single task. Use the library to start a piece of work you have not run before, and use this screen for the task you run every week.

Can I save a template that creates several tasks at once?

Not here. A template on this screen carries one title, so it creates one task. A sequence of steps belongs in the template library, and a whole engagement belongs in a Client Delivery engagement template.

What happens if I choose a project I am not allowed to add tasks to?

Nothing is created and a message appears with the reason. The picker lists the projects you can see rather than only the ones you can write to, so this is possible. If the picker is empty instead, this workspace has no projects yet and it offers you a link to create one.

I deleted a template by mistake. Is it recoverable?

Yes, if you act on the message that appears immediately after. Undo re creates the template from the same name, title, tags and priority. It comes back with a new identifier, which matters only if something outside this screen referred to the old one.

Does changing a template update the tasks it already created?

No. A template describes what a task starts as. Once a task exists it is independent, so editing either one leaves the other alone.

Are the starters translated?

The screen around them is. The starter titles and descriptions themselves are written in English, in the same way the template library states for its own templates.