Templates
Set up one space well, and you should never have to rebuild that setup by hand. A template packages a space's configuration so it can be applied to another space in one step — and later compared, updated, and re-extracted.
What is in a template
A template carries configuration, not data:
| Included | Examples |
|---|---|
| Roles and their panel manifests | Client, Member, with their attached extensions |
| Extension tables and fields | Insurance details, Enrollments |
| Link types and their rules | Child of / Parent of with role rules |
| Settings | Defaults and tunables |
| Dashboards and page layouts | Widget pages and placements |
Contacts, notes, files, and other records are never part of a template.
Applying a template
You need the template permission, and applying is a guarded action — you may be asked to re-enter your password.
- Open the Template manager from the admin menu.
- Pick a template and the target space, review what it contains, and click Apply.
Applying is safe to repeat: items that already exist and match are left untouched, so re-running an apply never duplicates anything. Everything a template creates is stamped with its origin, which is what makes the drift report below possible. Settings that came from a template show a "from template" badge, and you get a warning before overriding one locally.
Local changes and the drift report
Spaces evolve after a template is applied. The drift report compares the space's current configuration against the template, item by item:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Changed | The space edited an item that came from the template |
| Removed | The space deleted an item the template provides |
| Added | The space created an item of a template kind that is not in the template |
| Unchanged | Still exactly as the template delivered it |
Run the drift report before applying a template update — it tells you exactly where the space has intentionally diverged, so you can decide per item instead of guessing.
Extracting a template from a space
Built a space you are proud of? Turn it into a template:
- In the Template manager, choose Extract from this space.
- Name the template and confirm. The space's configuration is snapshotted into a new template.
- Apply it to the next space you set up.
Related pages
- Roles & Extension Fields — the things templates package.
- Settings — the settings cascade and the from-template badge.