Do you regularly work on the same type of projects, or you already have a great process to deliver your projects that you would like to reuse? With Cirkus Project Templates we can help you to get your Cirkus show on the road quickly and easily.

Project Templates allow you to define fields, files, members, roles, dates, tasks, and subprojects you regularly have in a project, and make them available in any project you create. As the administrator of your workspace, you can create and manage as many project templates as you like for your team. When you create a Project in Cirkus, you have the option to choose from the available Project Templates.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Elements of a Project Template
  • Info
  • Fields
  • Files
  • Members
  • Subprojects
  • Tasks
• Configure a Project Template from Scratch 
  • Web & Mac OS
  • iOS 
  • Duplicate Project Templates:
  • Export and Import a Project Template:
  • Date Offset
• Create a Project Template from an Existing Project 
  • Web & Mac OS
  • iOS
• Applying Project Templates to New Projects and Subprojects
  • Web & Mac OS
    • Applying to Projects
    • Applying to Subprojects
  • iOS
    • Applying to Projects
    • Applying to Subprojects
• Apply Project Templates to Existing Projects or Subprojects

Elements of a Project Template

Using a template allows you to pre-populate project elements that will automatically be applied to the project when the template is applied. When configuring a template, all elements and fields (except Template Name) are optional. Any elements you leave blank/empty can be manually added to a project later.

Info

Icon: click the icon to upload your own

Template Name*: create a name for the project template

Color: choose a color for the template

Default Name: name applied to the project

Template Description: information that explains what the template can be used for

Dates: set the due, start, and end date relative to its parent's dates (only useful if the project template will be used to create subprojects. See Date Offset for how to configure)

Default Project Description: description applied to the project
Milestones: The Milestones that will be applied in the Project, these are relative to the other Project Dates

Custom Fields: project custom fields will be displayed here. You can edit them in the Fields tab

Fields

The fields tab outlines the default and custom fields of your template which you can add, reorder, edit, and remove. Check out this article for more info on configuring custom fields

Files

Any files uploaded here will be attached to all projects using the template

Members

Add members who will be part of all projects using the template. You can add individual contacts, groups, or enter an email address Roles

Add existing or create new roles that will be part of all projects using the template
TIP: add roles and assign tasks to those roles. When setting up a project using the template, just manually add members who are already assigned those roles, and ta-da! you have all your tasks automatically assigned

Subprojects

Add subprojects to the template for an extra level of organization for tasks or to define project stages/milestones. Default and custom fields can be populated in the Template Subproject section. Click in the Template Subproject section (far right) to add, edit, or remove custom fields per subproject. 

Tasks

Add tasks and subtasks to the template. Default and custom fields can be populated in the Template Task section. Click  in the Template Task section (far right) to add, edit, or remove custom fields per task. After adding a subtask, double-click the subtask name to populate its info. You can also click the  in this window to add, edit, or remove custom fields per subtask.

Configure a Project Template from Scratch 

Web & Mac OS

1. As an Administrator, click Workspaces and double-click the workspace where you would like to use the template
   
2. Click the Templates tab, then Project Templates 
3. Type a name for the new template and click Add Project Template
4. Double-click on a project template's name to access the project template configuration 
5. Populate the desired template elements

iOS 

1. As an Administrator, click Workspaces and select the workspace where you would like to use the template
2. Click the Project tab, then Templates
3. Click Add Project Template
4. A new window will appear where you can populate the template's Info and upload Files
5. Click Done
6. Now you will see the new template in the Project Templates tab
7. Click it to add Members, Roles, Subprojects, and Tasks

Duplicate Project Templates:

You can also Duplicate your Project Template if you want to create a new similar one.
On mac: right click a Template > Duplicate Project Template
On web: Edit > Select a Template > More Actions > Duplicate
On iOS: Swipe on a Template >More (...) > Duplicate

Export and Import a Project Template:

You can also Export your Project Template if you want to move it to a different environment, or send a copy to support to debug.

To Export
On mac: right click > Export
On web: Edit > Select a Template > More Actions > Export
A <template>.json file will be downloaded to your machine.

To Import
On mac and web: In the Template list, select the (...) from the options menu in the bottom bar > Import Template
select the file from your device and the template will be created with (imported) appended to the name.

Date Offset

With the Date Offset feature, you can setup Subproject, Task, and Subtask dates relative to the dates of their "parent". Then when the template is applied, it will automatically populate due, start, and end dates!

Note: This feature is only useful when configuring the Subproject, Task, and Subtask dates of a template. The main Project Dates in the Info tab do not have a "parent" date to reference. BUT if you are planning on applying the template to subprojects, then you will want to use Date Offset on the main Project Dates in the Info tab knowing that those dates WILL have a "parent" once applied to a subproject.

Utilizing the feature can get complicated when there are multiple levels of organization within the template. You have the option to set an offset on a project's Subproject AND Task AND Subtask dates. If a task is under a subproject, then its Parent Dates are the subproject's dates, and if a subtask is under a task, its Parent Dates are the task's dates.

Parent Date Hierarchy: Project Dates > Subproject Dates > Task Dates > Subtask Dates

Note: If dates are left empty. then the Parent Date will be the next available date up the Hierarchy

Here is an example:

You may have a consistent workflow such as

Day 1: Film

Day 7: Draft Due

Day 10: Approval

When I create my project, I will set the Project Start Date as the day we plan to film. I will use the filming date as my Parent Date to offset all of my sequential tasks. The subproject "Draft" needs to be due on Day 7, so I will set its due date to 6 days After Parent Start date.

This means that if we film on November 1st, the draft due date will auto-populate to November 7th. Let's say I have a task under the subproject "Draft" called "Approval". If I set the approval due date to be 3 days After Parent Due, then approval would be due 3 days after the draft is due. The draft is due on November 7th, therefore approval would be due on November 10th or Day 10.

TIP: To ensure that dates always get automatically populated when applying the template, set your parent date field(s) to be mandatory. Change the title to further describe the Parent Date. You can make these changes in the Fields tab

Create a Project Template from an Existing Project 

Web & Mac OS

1. As an Administrator, click Projects and double-click the project from which you would like to create the template
2. Select the Info tab
3. Click the blue text to the right of Project Template
4. Click Save as Project Template... 
5. A window will appear where you can enter the project template's Info 
6. The new template will now be available in the Project Templates tab
7. Select it to customize Fields and add Files, Members, Roles, Subprojects, Milestones and Tasks.
   For Milestones, the template will be saved with Milestones which are relative to the dates of the project where possible.

There are a few elements that DO NOT transfer into the Template when creating from an existing project:

• Project Name
• Project Custom Fields (custom fields in Subprojects, Tasks, and Subtasks will transfer)
• Dates 
• Colors
• Numbers
• Comments/Activity
• Files

You can manually add some of these elements by editing the Project Template. To edit, double-click the project template in the Project Templates tab

Note: Task statuses will transfer to the template, make sure tasks are set to "Not Done"

iOS

1. As an Administrator, click Projects and click the project from which you would like to create the template
2. Select the Info tab
3. Scroll down to click Save as Project Template
4. A window will appear where you can enter the project template's Info 
5. The new template will now be available in the Project Templates tab
6. Click it to add Members, Roles, Subprojects, and Tasks

Applying Project Templates to New Projects and Subprojects

Web & Mac OS

Applying to Projects

1. Click on Projects
2. Click Add Project
3. A New Project window will appear, select a Workspace and type a name for the project
4. Select the Project Template you want to apply to the new project. You can select from the list of templates available in the selected Workspace
5. Click OK

Applying to Subprojects

1. Go into the Project where you want to apply the template to a subproject 
2. In the Subprojects tab, type a name and click Add Subproject 
3. Populate Info and select the Project Template you want to apply to the new subproject
4. Click OK

Note: A template's subprojects disappear if you use a project template for a subproject

iOS

Applying to Projects

1. Click on Projects
2. Click Add Project
3. A New Project window will appear, select a Workspace and type a name for the project
4. Click Add Project Template (will not appear until a workspace is selected) and select the template you want to apply to the new project. You can select from the list of templates available in the selected Workspace
5. Click Done

Applying to Subprojects

1. Go into the Project where you want to apply the template to a subproject 

2. Click  in the top right corner

3. Click Manage Subprojects

4. Click Add Subproject at the bottom

5. Type a name and click Add Project Template and select the template you want to apply to the new subproject

6. Populate desired info and click DONE

Note: A template's subprojects disappear if you use a project template for a subproject

Apply Project Templates to Existing Projects or Subprojects

You can apply a Project Template to an existing Project or Subproject

• Go to the Project/Subproject where you would like to apply a project template
• Select the Info tab
• Click the blue text to the right of Project Template and select a template

Note: If you change the project template, you will lose the Custom Fields associated with the previous template