Doc Templates: Overview
Docs in Productive help teams collaborate, standardize information, and stay consistent across projects.
With doc templates, you can quickly spin up structured content, whether you're creating recurring reports, internal documentation, or project-specific checklists.
You can start a template from scratch or save an existing doc as a template for future use.
📌 Note: This feature is different from Document Templates, which define the layout of invoices, budgets, or proposals!
Doc templates are only used for Productive's Docs.
Key Features
Build templates to standardize recurring docs like reports, checklists, or procedures.
Save time by applying templates to new pages inside any doc.
Maintain consistency across teams and projects.
Access and manage all your templates in the Template Center.
Creating a Doc Template from an Existing Doc
1. Open the doc you want to reuse as a base.
2. Click the three dots in the top-right corner and select Save as Template.
3. In the popup window, give your template a name and description.
4. Click Create to save it to the Template Center.
Creating a Doc Template in the Template Center
1. Hover over your avatar and go to the Template Center.
2. Click the + Template button or open the dropdown to select Doc.
3. Add pages, headings, tables, or any reusable structure you'd like to preserve.
4. Important: To make the template available to others, open the sharing options in the upper right and share it with specific individuals or teams.
📌 If you want everyone in your organization to access the template, select the Employees group.
5. When you're done, click Done in the top-right corner to save your template and return to the Template Center.
📌 Tip: You can create a doc template from scratch using this method. Once opened, the doc behaves like any other doc—just start building out the structure you want.
Applying a Template to a Page
To use a doc template:
Create a new, empty page in any doc, either a standalone doc or one within a project.
The page must be blank, no content yet, for the Use a Template option to appear.
Click Use a Template, then select the desired option. It will populate the current page, along with any additional pages saved in that template.
📌 Note: Only blank pages can be populated this way. Existing content won’t be overwritten!
Managing Templates in the Template Center
In the Template Center, you’ll now see a Docs category.
📌 Tip: Use the Type filter to quickly find the template you’re looking for.
From there, you can:
Use Template: creates a new, standalone doc based on the selected template.
Edit Template: opens the template for changes (e.g. add pages, update content, adjust access).
Delete: moves the template from the Template Center to the Recycle Bin.
📌 Note: To change the template name and description, select Edit Template, and then Edit Details.
Any edits you make must be saved using the Done button. Once saved, all changes will appear the next time the template is used.
Who Can Create and Use Doc Templates?
Anyone with permission to add new docs can create and use doc templates by saving an existing doc as a template.
📌 Templates created using the Save as Template option are private by default. To make them available to others, you’ll need to share the template with specific users.
To do that, go to the Template Center, open the template, and update the sharing settings. Once shared, the template will appear as an option in the Use a Template dropdown when others create a new doc.
📌 Staff members can create templates for personal use only—they cannot share them with others!