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Automate projects using Templates
Automate projects using Templates

Kickstart your productivity using templates to save time building new projects. Use a pre-built template and automate it!

Brendan Shand avatar
Written by Brendan Shand
Updated over a week ago

Available with TimeHero Pro!

What is a template?

Templates have all the same tasks, events and headers as projects, and you can use them to quickly launch projects pre-filled with all the work you need to do. 

Templates are saved in your team – you can see them by clicking the icon above on your menu.

Why create a template?

You can build a template as you would a project. You can use that template to create as many new projects as you want, and all of those projects will have the same tasks, events, headers, files, etc. as the template. So you can make sure nothing gets missed and everything is done to a high standard, every time.

For example, if you receive a new order, you need to follow certain steps each time to make sure it's processed. A simple example could be:

  1. Check order to make sure details are correct

  2. Find product in warehouse

  3. Package product

  4. Print and attach invoice

  5. Mail product

Each of these tasks need to happen in order; you can't package the product until you find it. And this is a process you'll need to repeat many times. So it's perfect for a template! Like this:

Every time you create a project using this template, the tasks will schedule in order. Let's dive into how we set this up.

How to create a new template

When you create an account, you'll find templates are already in your team's templates for you to try. One of these, A guide for templates, is a handy reference for using templates. The other three are example templates for how to structure your templates.

From your left menu bar, under the Work section, click the Templates tab.

Here you will find your team's templates. Anyone you invite to your team will also be able to view and edit these templates. You can assign tasks in the template to other team members, and whenever you use that template the task will always assign to the team member you choose. The default assignee is the Project creator. This means that TimeHero will assign the task to whomever launches the template.

Click + Add template to create a new template. Give the template a name, then click CREATE.

Add tasks

Let's build our example above. The first step is to type in each task.

Tip: on your keyboard, hold SHIFT and press T to add more than one task at a time. Then copy and paste this:

  1. Check order to make sure details are correct for 20m

  2. Find product in warehouse for 30m

  3. Package product for 15m

  4. Print and attach invoice for 5m

  5. Mail product for 20m

TimeHero will automatically detect the duration of the task. Unlike projects, these tasks aren't scheduled in your calendar – that only happens when you create a project from the template.

The next step is to link the tasks together so that they all schedule in order. Starting with the second task "Find product in warehouse" click under the 'Starts' column to create a link:

Working your way down, add a link to each task to start immediately after the previous task. When you use the template, this will make sure every step is done in order.

You can also link due dates! Our goal is to get products shipped within three days of ordering, so let's link the due date for "Mail product" to be 3 days after "Check order to make sure details are correct," like this:

Assign tasks

By default, template tasks are assigned to the Project Creator represented by a grey circle with a crown. TimeHero will assign these tasks to whomever launches the project.

If you've got certain roles within your organization, you can also assign template tasks to specific team members. Every time you use the template, TimeHero will assign the task to that team member, schedule it in their calendar and automatically keep them on track! 

In this example, Dave always checks our orders. To changed who will be assigned the task, click the assignee icon for each task:

How to use the template

To use a template, click the USE TEMPLATE button.

Or when creating a project, head to the USE TEMPLATE tab:

Then fill in the name of the project, the start date, and the due date (if any) and hit CREATE to make a project from your template!

TimeHero will plan the tasks according to their links, and keep you on track to get the project finished by the due date.

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