Applying a Template to an Existing Project via Project Template Lookup Field

Last Modified On: December 10, 2024

There may be instances where you may want to apply a template to a Project after it has already been created. You can apply a template to blank Project (where the Project does not contain any tasks) or to a Project that already contains tasks.

There are two (2) ways a template can be applied to an existing project. They are as follows:

• By updating the Project Template Lookup Field in Project Details, or
• By using the  Insert Multi-Template Feature (this is only available in the Gantt LWC)

Depending on which method you use for applying a template to an existing project, there is a difference in what gets inherited from the template.
 

When a template is applied to an existing Project (where the Project has already been created) by updating the Project Template lookup field, the following are applied from the template to the Project:
 

• Project tasks and all related information are appended to the Project. This means that if the Project already includes tasks, then the tasks from the template are added to the Project and do not overwrite the existing Project tasks.
   
• Project Team Members. If the template being applied contains project team members, these are copied over to the project it's applied to.

However, Project Settings on the Template are not copied to the existing Project. This includes the options found on the Project Settings page (start/end of working day, timezone, weekends as working days, send task notification), Project View Settings (columns displayed, column order, column widths) and non-working days/weeks. For more information on what gets inherited from templates depending on when it is applied to the project, please see Project Templates - What Gets Inherited.

Please Note: The behavior is different when a template is applied during Project creation. When you choose a template while creating a new Project, the Project Settings (except for Timezone) from the template are carried over to the new Project as well as the Project Status of the template.

This help article will show you how to apply a template to an existing project by updating the Project Template lookup field in the Project Detail.

1. Click on the Details tab.
   
   
   
   Another option is to click on the View Project Detail Icon in the Project Toolbar. This will open the project detail in a separate tab.
   
   
    
2. On the Project Detail page, click on either the Edit button found in the top right corner of the page, or click on the Edit Icon beside Project Template.
   
   
    
3. In the Project Template field, search for and select the Template you would like to apply to the project. Then, click on Save.
   
   
    
4. When you refresh your Project Schedule, you will now see that the template has been applied to your Project, and the Project should now contain all the tasks from the template.
   
   If the Project already contained tasks prior to the template, then Inspire Planner will append the tasks from the template to the bottom of the Project.
   
   Each time you update the Project Template on the Project Detail, it appends the tasks from the new template to the Project.
   
   You can re-order the tasks in the project via drag and drop. 
   
   
   

Best Practices:

• After applying templates to a project, you should always review your task hierarchy and indent/outdent tasks so that they fall correctly within your project hierarchy.
   
• You should review your task dependencies and make adjustments where necessary. 
   
• Always save your project after applying a template, even if you do not make any other changes. This ensures that sysProjectStart/sysProjectEnd is populated for Gantt LWC projects. This is important as Inspire Planner references the value in this field to determine how tasks in the project should be scheduled.

Please note:

• In the Gantt LWC, tasks applied from the template are rescheduled according to the project start/end date setting. While in Gantt VisualForce, the tasks from the template retain their dates as is and you will need to manually adjust them.
   
• The tasks from the template are also rescheduled/adjusted automatically, based on the settings of the destination project. This means that tasks from the template, when applied to the project, are rescheduled according to the destination project's timezone, start/end of the working day, etc. It will also take into account any non-working days defined on the project.