On this page
Creating your first template
- 1Open Templates and click Create template at the top right.
- 2Choose Start blank to build it yourself, or Describe with AI to describe the flow in your own words.
- 3On the left, add a workflow with Create new workflow, phases with New phase and tasks in each phase with New task.
- 4Open a task and define which fields it captures.
- 5Click Publish at the top. Only the published state applies to new cases.
- 6Click Create case and start the first case from your template.
What is a template made of?
- Workflow
- A coherent strand of the flow. A template can have several workflows, which may also run in parallel.
- Phase
- A section within a workflow. It groups tasks that belong together, for example Preparation or Completion.
- Task
- The individual work step. Every task has an owner and can capture fields that are passed along the flow.
At the end of each list sits a **+ for the matching level. Right after you click, the new entry's name is selected: type it and confirm with Enter. To rename later, use the pencil icon behind the name or Rename** in the row's ⋮ menu.
At the top of the editor you switch between List, Diagram and Calculations. Next to them sit Settings, Publish and the ⋮ menu. The chip next to the name shows Active or Inactive and, say, “Changed since v1” when your draft differs from the published state.
How do you work with the templates list?
Under Templates you find all templates of your organization. Clicking a row opens the editor. Use the search field, categories and views such as Active or Unused to narrow the list.
- 1Create template: blank, with AI or with the assistant
- 2Categories and views as filters
- 3Usage: how many cases were created and when last
- 4The row's ⋮ menu
If Usage says “Not published”, there is no state yet that cases can be created from. A marker with a number reports findings from the check: red means errors, amber means hints. Clicking it opens the template with the check results, see Checking, publishing and resetting.
What is in the ⋮ menu?
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Details | Opens a panel on the right with the key facts, such as how many cases exist in total and how many are running. |
| Edit | Opens the template editor, just like clicking the row. |
| Create case | Starts a case from the published state, see Creating a case. |
| Duplicate | Creates a full copy named “… (Copy)”. |
| Deactivate | No new cases can be created from the template. Activate lifts this again. |
| Delete … | Removes the template for good after confirmation. If cases already exist from it, deactivate it instead. |
Ordering templates by category
Assign every template to a category. The category sets its place in the process map and carries over to the cases created from it. Use the List / Structure Map toggle at the top of the templates page to see your templates as a map.
Reusing structure
Every ⋮ menu in the editor offers two paths at the workflow, phase and task level. Duplicate places a full copy right next to it. Copy to clipboard remembers the part so you can paste it elsewhere, even into a different template.
When pasting, choose Paste before or Paste after. References that do not fit the target template, for example a role from another organization, are left out, and Bricksta states how many.
You can handle several entries on the same level together: mark them via the selection box at the start of the row. The bar at the bottom then offers Duplicate, Copy and Delete for all of them. A single Undo takes back a duplicate or paste entirely.
| Keys (with an active selection) | Effect |
|---|---|
| ⌘/Ctrl + C | Copy the selection |
| ⌘/Ctrl + D | Duplicate the selection |
| ⌘/Ctrl + V | Paste after the last selected entry |
Sharing a template
Use the share icon at the top of the editor to pass a template on. Copy link puts its address on your clipboard. With Notify people you pick people, add a message if you like, and Notify sends a notice in Bricksta plus an email with a link.
What makes a good template?
- Every task has exactly one clearly nameable owner.
- Fields are as lean as possible: only what the next step really needs.
- The flow describes the normal case. Special cases are handled in the case, not in the template.
- Dependencies only where a step really waits for another.
Where to go next?
- Template settings, outcomes and columns: defaults, outcomes and the overview columns.
- Order, branches and conditions: when a task starts and where the flow leads.
- Deadlines and time in templates: deadlines, waiting times and absence.
- Task types: person, automatic, external: who or what completes a task.
- Fields and forms in tasks: field types, options, required fields and visibility.
- Calculations in templates: calculated fields, tax and new cases per row.
- Checking, publishing and resetting: from draft to valid version.
- Generating and refining templates with AI: let Bricksta build a template from a description.