✔  Available on Free Forever, Starter, Deliver, Grow, and Scale subscriptions 1

What
Build out project patterns. Add key items and details to templates, then create a project from a template. All template data can be carried over into your new project.
Why
  • Save time when consistently working on the same type of project — create once, use often.
  • Create clarity by establishing key requirements for upcoming work.
  • Guarantee consistency across similar (client) work.
Who
  • Site admins (can create, use, and manage all custom project templates)
  • Standard users with the profile permissions:
    • Access project templates (allows users view-only access to project templates)
      • Users with the permission to create projects can also create projects from templates.
    • Manage project templates (allows users to view and manage existing templates, create new templates, create projects from templates, and save existing projects as templates)
When
Your (client) work often requires the same initial project setup, i.e. you have a project structure and list of to-dos that apply to multiple projects.

You have a non-negotiable outline of requirements for client work your team needs to follow with each new initiative.
What
Build out project patterns. Add key items and details to templates, then create a project from a template. All template data can be carried over into your new project.
Why
  • Save time when consistently working on the same type of project — create once, use often.
  • Create clarity by establishing key requirements for upcoming work.
  • Guarantee consistency across similar (client) work.
Who
  • Site admins (can create, use, and manage all custom project templates)
  • Standard users with the profile permissions:
    • Access project templates (allows users view-only access to project templates)
      • Users with the permission to create projects can also create projects from templates.
    • Manage project templates (allows users to view and manage existing templates, create new templates, create projects from templates, and save existing projects as templates)
When
Your (client) work often requires the same initial project setup, i.e. you have a project structure and list of to-dos that applies to multiple projects.
You have a non-negotiable outline of requirements for client work your team needs to follow with each new initiative.

Before you start

  • Project items can only be assigned to a template's members.
  • Time logs, Gantt chart, and Teamwork Chat channels aren't available on project templates (they can all be used on projects launched from templates.

Feature limits

Teamwork.com plan
Number of custom project templates
Free Forever
2
Starter
10
Deliver (& Pro)
20
Grow (& Premium)
50
Scale (& Enterprise)
Unlimited
Teamwork.com plan
Number of custom project templates
Free Forever
2
Starter
10
Deliver (& Pro)
20
Grow (& Premium)
50
Scale (& Enterprise)
Unlimited


Begin a custom project template

Custom project templates are patterns built from the ground up. Create one tailored to your team's needs for similar projects.

  1. Click Projects in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Select the Templates tab.

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  3. Click the Create a template tile. If you're currently viewing the Teamwork.com Templates subsection, click Create a template in the view's top right.
     
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  4. Choose Start from scratch, then click Next step.
  5. Enter a name for the template.
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  6. Choose a company to associate the template with — either the owner company (i.e. your company) or one of your external client companies.
    📝 Client users can only be added to project templates associated with their company. If you change a template's company, affected client users are removed.
  7. Set the template's description.
  8. Click Next step. 
  9. Add people to the project template (individuals, teams, or companies). Choose who will be a project member on any projects created from this template.
    ⚠️ Project items (such as tasks and milestones) can only be assigned to the template's members.

     
  10. Next:
    1. Stop there: Click Create Template.
    2. Level up: Click Next step to set additional template options (listed below), then click Create Template.
      1. Project category: Add the template to a project category.
      2. Tags: Apply one or multiple tags.
      3. Time: Adjust the default billable setting.
      4. Custom fields: Apply and populate project custom fields.

The custom project template is created and opens. Use the section below to build out the template.


Build out a custom project template

Build out the template, adding tasks and dates, updating the board view, etc., as if you are running the project.

If you've just created a template and are already viewing it, you can skip to step 5.

  1. Click Projects in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Select the Templates tab.
  3. Click Custom Templates from the left navigation menu
  4. Select the relevant template from the list to view the template. Alternatively, click the template's name in the gallery.

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  5. Select the List or Table tab (depending on how you want to view the template).
  6. Create task lists and tasks. Add as much as you can — the more you add to the template, the less you'll have to do later.

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  7. Create any other necessary project items such as milestones, notebooks, messages, forms, automations, and budgets.
    📝 Notifications are not sent when items are created in templates or when a project is created from the template.
  8. Assign tasks (or milestones) to the people who will be responsible for them.
    ⚠️ Project items can only be assigned to the template's members.

Items and updates are saved to the template. When a project is launched from the template, it contains all the data from the template you just created (unless you choose to exclude certain item types like files, milestones, followers, etc., at creation).


Save a project as a new template

Did you know? You can save existing projects as templates.

  1. Click Jump to in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Search for and select a project.


     
  3. Click the ... (ellipsis) beside the project's name.
  4. Select the Manage Project tab in the dropdown.
  5. Hover over More options and select Save as template.

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  6. Enter the template's name.
  7. Review the template's assigned company and change it if necessary. It defaults to the company associated with the original project.
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  8. Choose which project items to carry over to the template. Use individual checkboxes or the All / None options to choose what to carry over.
    📝 Only item types actively in use on the project can be selected. Ex. If the project doesn't have any risks, Risks won't appear as carry-over option.
    📝 Keep the "People" box checked to carry over all current members to the project template and to keep assignees in place.

     
  9. Choose whether to make yourself the creator of copied tasks, milestones, and messages.
  10. Click Save.

The new template is created, populated with the items you included from the original project, and you are brought directly to the template.

View project templates

View custom and Teamwork.com-designed templates from the templates gallery.
 
  1. Click Projects in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Select the Templates tab.
  3. Choose which templates to view: Click the relevant heading from the left navigation menu:
    1. Custom Templates - templates you and your team built from scratch.
    2. Teamwork.com Templates - pre-defined templates created by Teamwork.com. These templates are grouped based on sector such as Marketing, Project Management, and Creative content. Not sure where to start building your own templates? Kick-start your automated workflows with some help from Teamwork.com.
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  4. Next:
    View template
    Click a template's name to open the project template.
    Use template
    Hover over a template and click Use template to create a new project from the template.
    Manage
    Click the ... (ellipsis) when hovering over a template card to edit, copy, or delete the template. This option is located on the template row's right-hand side in Table view.
    Search
    Click Search to open the search field. Search for templates based on template name.
    Sort
    Sort custom templates by name, creator, or creation date (in ascending or descending order). 

    In Table view, click a column heading to sort the custom templates.
    Switch view
    Use the Table view to see templates' creation data and to add tags.
    Use the Grid view to see templates' modification data.
    Options
    An options menu (for custom templates only) where you can choose:
    1. Export - export a list of custom project templates in PDF, Excel, or CSV format.
    2. Trash Can - view and restore templates deleted within the last 30 days.
    View template
    Click a template's name to open the project template.
    Use template
    Hover over a template and click Use template to create a new project from the template.
    Manage
    Click the ... (ellipsis) when hovering over a template card to edit, copy, or delete the template. This option is located on the template row's right-hand side in Table view.
    Search
    Click Search to open the search field. Search for templates based on template name.
    Sort
    Sort custom templates by name, creator, or creation date (in ascending or descending order). 

    In Table view, click a column heading to sort the custom templates.
    Switch view
    Use the Table view to see templates' creation data and to add tags.
    Use the Grid view to see templates' modification data.
    Options
    An options menu (for custom templates only) where you can choose:
    1. Export - export a list of custom project templates in PDF, Excel, or CSV format.
    2. Trash Can - view and restore templates deleted within the last 30 days.

Delete a custom project template

Delete custom project templates from the templates gallery.
 
  1. Click Projects in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Select the Templates tab.
  3. Click Custom Templates from the left navigation menu.
  4. Hover over the relevant template card and click the ... (ellipsis), then select Delete. In Table view, click the ... (ellipsis) on the template row's right-hand side.
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  5. Click OK in the confirmation window.

The template is deleted and remains in the projects trash can for 30 days. During this time, the template can be restored.
 

Best practices

  • Keep it relevant: Add the necessary people to the project template so that they're automatically included in each project created from the template (and so you can assign items in the template to be carried over to those projects).
  • Leverage Teamwork.com templates: Not sure where to start? Use Teamwork.com's pre-defined templates as a launchpad to quickly spin up new projects, or simply to get a feel for how you might build out your own custom templates.

Elevate

  • Automate: Set up automations directly in a project template so that they're populated by default in each project created from the template. Automate your workflows once and reap the benefits many times over!
     

Put it into practice

Want step-by-step instructions in Teamwork.com?

Yes, let's go!


1. Also available on legacy subscriptions: Pro, Premium, Enterprise.