Creating your first template

A template is a reusable document blueprint. Save a study protocol, an SOP, an IACUC submission form, or a registration sheet as a template, and your team spawns new instances from it without rebuilding the structure each time — optionally with parts of the document locked so the structure stays consistent across runs.

This page walks the basic flow. For the deeper concept — what locking is and the three lock states — see Templates and locking.

When to make a template

Make a template when you find yourself copy-pasting an existing document to start a new one. Common cases in biopharma:

• Standard study protocols (IACUC submissions, GxP procedure runs, SOP forms).
• Result-recording forms with a fixed structure (a 96-well plate map plus a result table).
• Programme kick-off documents with placeholder sections that every project fills in.
• Registration intake forms (animal, sample, cell-line, antibody) that should use the same fields company-wide.

Don't make a template for one-off documents or for things you'd be happy to keep editing freely.

The flow

1. Author the source document

   Build the document the way you want every spawned instance to start. Add block-level placeholders ("Sponsor:", "Study code:") and any registration / lookup tables you want included. Don't add data that is specific to one run — the template will carry it forward.

2. Save as template

   Document menu → Save as template. Pick a name, a category (Protocol, Form, SOP, Registration, Other), and a short description. The template lands in the workspace's Templates tab.

3. Choose what to lock (optional)

   Open the new template and click Lock configuration. You have three controls:

   • Lock structure. Block order is frozen; users can't add or delete blocks but can edit their contents.
   • Default text lock. Paragraphs and headings are read-only by default; users can only fill fields you mark editable.
   • Per-block override. Mark individual blocks as editable, partial (some attributes editable) or locked.

   For an IACUC submission you'd typically lock structure plus default text, then mark only the form fields as editable. For a study protocol you'd lock structure but leave text editable so investigators can add notes.

4. Preview as a user

   Click Preview as instance. The template opens with locks applied so you can confirm what your team will be able to (and not) edit. Adjust the lock config until it feels right.

5. Publish to the workspace

   Click Publish. The template is now visible in the workspace template gallery and the slash menu.

Spawning a document from a template

Anyone with edit permission on the workspace can:

• Click Templates in the sidebar, pick the template, click Use template. A new document opens in the project of your choice.
• Or in the / slash menu inside any document, expand the Templates category and pick one to insert as a sub-tree.

The new document carries the lock configuration with it. Editing the template later does not retroactively change instances; instances are independent.

Versioning

Editing a published template creates a new version. Every version has a number (v1, v2, v3) and an optional changelog. Documents track which version they spawned from, so you can prompt users when a newer version exists ("v3 is available — review changes").

You can roll back: open the template's version history, pick an older version, click Restore. This creates a new version equal to the older one, preserving the audit chain.

Sharing across workspaces

Templates that are workspace-only stay inside one workspace. To share with others — a sister workspace, your whole org, or the public dalea.market — see Publishing to dalea.market.

Tips

What's next