Templates Overview
A template is the blueprint for a process. You write it once, and every checklist created from it starts as a copy.
Templates are where almost all of the configuration in CheckFlow lives. A checklist is mostly the result of a template — which is why the answer to "how do I make every checklist do X" is nearly always "set X on the template".
What a Template Contains
| Layer | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Tasks | The steps, in order. Plus headings, which divide the list but cannot be completed. |
| Controls | Inside each task: content to read, and inputs to fill in. See Control Types. |
| Behaviour | Assignments, due dates, halt logic, conditional logic and notifications. |
| Values supplied at run time | Parameters, which are asked for when the checklist is created. |
Building One
The order that works:
- Create the template and give it a name and description.
- Add tasks and headings — the skeleton of the process.
- Add task content — the controls inside each task.
- Add behaviour, once the structure is stable:
- Task assignments, or dynamic assignments that resolve per run.
- Due dates, fixed or calculated.
- Halt tasks, to enforce order.
- Conditional logic, to show and hide.
- Save — nothing is persisted until you do, and saving creates a version.
Build the structure before the automation. Conditional logic and dynamic values both reference specific tasks and controls, so they are far easier to set up once the things they point at exist.
What Carries Over, and What Does Not
The single most useful thing to know about templates.
| Change to the template | Effect on existing checklists |
|---|---|
| Add, edit or delete a task | None |
| Change task content | None |
| Change assignments or due dates | None |
| Change conditional logic | None |
| Change tags | None |
| Change checklist permissions | Applies immediately, including to existing checklists |
Everything except permissions affects only checklists created afterwards. A completed checklist is a record of what happened at the time, and editing the template must not rewrite it.
Checklist permissions are the deliberate exception: access control that could not be changed retroactively would be useless. See Template Versioning.
Who Can Do What
| Action | Required permission |
|---|---|
| View a template | Administrator, or Member with Template.Viewer |
| Create, edit and archive templates | Administrator, or Member with Template.Creator |
| Restrict access to one template | Administrator, or the template's owner — see Template Permissions |
| Run a checklist from a template | Administrator, or Member with Checklist.Creator — see Checklist Permissions |
Related Pages
- Create a Template — the walkthrough.
- Core Concepts — how templates relate to checklists, tasks and controls.
- Template Versioning — what a save creates, and how to go back.
- Templates in the Library — organising templates in folders.