Create and manage job templates

All jobs are created from a job template that is associated with a workflow diagram. The job template contains the default job properties assigned to a job when it's first created, such as the first user to whom it is assigned, the priority and due date, and any additional job properties that were added by your organization.

Tip:

When jobs follow the same process and their default properties are different, you can associate a single workflow diagram with multiple job templates to assign a unique set of default properties for different types of work.

Create job templates

Complete these steps to create job templates:

1. Access the Workflow Manager web app.
2. Click the Design tab.

   The Design page appears.

   Note:

   The Design tab won't appear if you don’t have sufficient privileges.

3. Click the Job Templates button .

   The Job Templates panel appears.

4. Click Create New.

   A blank job template appears in the panel on the right.

5. Provide a name for the template in the Job Template Name text box in the Job Template Properties section of the Profile tab.
6. Optionally, provide a description of the template in the Job Template Summary text box.
7. Click the State drop-down arrow and choose one of the following options:
   • Draft—Save an incomplete job template as a draft.
   • Active—Save the job template and make it available for creating jobs.

   Note:

   The job template must be set to Active before it can be used to create jobs.

8. Optionally, provide a category for the template or choose an existing category in the Category combo box.
9. Click the Current Workflow Diagram drop-down arrow and choose a workflow for the job template.

   You can also type a keyword in the Current Workflow Diagram combo box to filter the list to show active workflows that contain the keyword.

   The workflow diagram appears in the Preview section.

10. Specify the default properties for jobs that are created using the job template in the Default Job Properties section.
    1. Click the Assigned To drop-down arrow and choose which user new jobs are assigned to when they are created from this job template.

       You can also type a keyword in the Assigned To combo box to filter the list to show options that contain the keyword.

    2. Click the Job Priority drop-down arrow and choose the priority for new jobs that are created from this job template.
    3. Optionally, provide a description for new jobs that are created from this job template in the Default Job Description text box.
    4. Optionally, check the Set Job Start Date check box and choose one of the following options to specify the default job start date settings for new jobs that are created from the job template:
       • Creation Day—Set the start date to the day the job was created.
       • Start Date—Specify a start date using the calendar.
    5. Optionally, check the Set Job End Date check box and choose one of the following options to specify the default job end date settings for new jobs that are created from the job template:
       • Job Duration—Specify the expected number of days it will take to complete the job.
       • End Date—Specify an end date using the calendar.
11. Click the Extended Properties tab and choose extended properties values you want automatically populated when jobs are created from the job template.

    Note:

    Extended properties allow organizations to store additional properties for jobs to meet specific business needs.

    Learn more about extended properties

12. Optionally, click the Sharing tab and choose the workflow item groups that you want to allow to use the job template to create jobs.

    Job templates are shared with everyone by default.

13. Click Save.

    A confirmation message appears indicating that the job template was saved successfully.

When the job template is saved and its State property is set to Active, it can be used to create jobs.

Duplicate job templates

Duplicating a job template allows you to make a copy of a job template that can be used as a starting point for similar types of work. If you duplicate a job template that contains an extended properties table, the table is automatically shared between the two job templates. Complete these steps to duplicate job templates:

1. Access the Workflow Manager web app.
2. Click the Design tab.

   The Design page appears.

   Note:

   The Design tab won't appear if you don’t have sufficient privileges.

3. Click the Job Templates button .

   The Job Templates panel appears.

4. Click the job template you want to duplicate in the Job Templates panel.

   Note:

   You can type a keyword in the Search Job Templates text box to filter the list to show job templates that contain the keyword.

5. Click the More Actions button and click Duplicate Job Template.

   The duplicated job template appears in the Job Templates panel with - Copy appended to the job template name.

The job template can now be edited and used for creating jobs. If you duplicated a job template that contains an extended properties table, the table is automatically shared between the job templates. If you don't want to the table to be shared with the duplicated template, you can delete the extended properties table from the duplicated job template without affecting the original job template.

Edit job templates

Complete these steps to edit job templates:

1. Access the Workflow Manager web app.
2. Click the Design tab.

   The Design page appears.

   Note:

   The Design tab won't appear if you don’t have sufficient privileges.

3. Click the Job Templates button .

   The Job Templates panel appears.

4. Click the job template you want to edit in the Job Templates panel.

   Note:

   You can type a keyword in the Search Job Templates text box to filter the list to show job templates that contain the keyword.

5. Optionally, click the State drop-down arrow in the Job Template Properties section of the Profile tab and choose one of the following options:
   • Draft—Save an incomplete job template as a draft.
   • Active—Save the job template and make it available for creating jobs.
   • Retired—Retire the job template and prevent it from being used to create jobs.

   Note:

   The job template must be set to Active before it can be used to create jobs.

6. Update the job template as necessary.
7. Click Save to save the job template.

   A confirmation message appears, indicating that the job template was saved.

   Note:

   When a job template is updated, it's used for all new jobs. Existing jobs continue to use the previous version of the job template, and the job's properties are not updated.

Delete job templates

Complete these steps to delete job templates:

1. Access the Workflow Manager web app.
2. Click the Design tab.

   The Design page appears.

   Note:

   The Design tab won't appear if you don’t have sufficient privileges.

3. Click the Job Templates button .

   The Job Templates panel appears.

4. Click the job template that you want to delete in the Job Templates panel.

   Note:

   You can type a keyword in the Search Job Templates text box to filter the list to show job templates that contain the keyword.

5. Click the More Actions button and click Delete Job Template.

   The Delete Job Template dialog box appears.

   Caution:

   Deleted job templates can't be recovered.

6. Click Yes to delete the job template or click No to cancel.

   If there are active jobs associated with the job template, it can't be deleted.

   Note:

   If the job template contains extended property tables, they are not deleted.