This is the fastest way to bring someone on board. Pick a template, type their name, and their whole portal — categories, projects, checklists, opening messages and resources — exists before you see the next screen.
Before You Start
You need at least one template. If the Start from a template panel does not appear on the Add screen, none have been built yet — see Creating a Project Template.
Steps
- Go to Clients and click Add Client.
- At the top, under Start from a template, click the blueprint you want. Each card shows exactly what it will create — how many projects, to-dos, messages and resources.
- Fill in the name and any other details as usual.
- Click Create.
The confirmation message tells you exactly what was made, for example: “Client created — 3 projects, 12 to-dos, 1 message and 2 resources from the template.”
Starting Them Empty
Choose the No template card. You get the client profile and your default categories, and nothing else — set their work up by hand, or apply a template to a single project later.
What Lands Where
- Projects — the template's first project plus every extra one, each filed under its own category. Categories that do not exist yet are created.
- To-dos — each project's checklist, with due dates counted from today. A to-do set to “due in 3 days” lands 3 days from the moment you clicked Create.
- Messages — posted to the client's Messages tab. They can read and reply to these as soon as they log in.
- Resources — added to their Resources tab.
Changing It Afterwards
Everything a template creates is ordinary work — rename a project, retitle a to-do, delete anything you do not need. Editing the template later never changes a client you already set up.
Common Questions
- The client got a message I did not want them to see. Template messages are client-visible by design. Open the template and edit or remove that message so the next client does not get it, then delete the one already posted.
- Two categories look almost the same. A template naming a category that matches one of your standard ones files under the standard one instead of duplicating it. If you see a genuine duplicate, the names differ — fix the spelling in the template.
- I picked the wrong template. Nothing is locked. Delete the projects it created, or keep the ones that apply and remove the rest.