Templates
With Paligo's templates feature, you can create a "model" of a publication, and use this as the basis for other "real" publications that you will publish as PDF, HTML5, or any of Paligo's other outputs. This is a great way to:
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Save time when setting up the structure of publications (that need to use the same structure)
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Apply consistent structure to your publications and topics across a range of different projects.
The idea is that when you use templates when you want multiple publications to have the same (or similar) structure. Instead of recreating that structure for each publication, you create it once as a template and then create new publications based on the template. The new publications will automatically inherit the structure and content from the template they are based on.
Note
We strongly recommend that you only use templates when there is a clear need to use the same structure repeatedly in your content.
If it is the actual content that needs to be repeated, rather than the structure, you can use Paligo's About Reusing Content features instead. These will give you more control over how and where the content is reused.
However, templates are not only for publications. It's also possible to create a topic template so that you can create individual topics that contain the same structure. For example, you might want to have a "Specifications" topic that contains a table that is designed in a particular way. By adding that table to a topic template, you can create it once in one place, and then you can create new topics based on the template. The new topics will automatically contain the table.
Publication templates let you create a "model" publication that can be used as a starting point for other publications. This is especially useful if you need to create many similar publications, as it reduces the amount of repeat work and helps to make your content more consistent.
When you create a new publication based on a publication template, it automatically contains:
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The same structure as the publication template.
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New topics based on the publication topic templates containing the same elements and content as the topic templates, but with unique IDs. You can edit them without affecting the template topics.
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Reused regular topics. If you make changes to these, those changes will affect the content wherever it is used, just like content reuse elsewhere in Paligo.
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1 = Publication template, 2, 3, 4 = Publications that reuse the template.
The following example shows how publication templates work.
Let's say you have a range of products called "Acme 100", "Acme 200", and "Acme 300". You want all of these products to have user guides with this structure:
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To ensure consistency, you create a publication template (1) used as the basis for other user guides that you can add content to and publish as PDF, HTML5 help centers and other outputs. Then you build the structure:
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Drag-and-drop regular topics for "Warranty" and "Customer Support" into the publication template structure.
When a new publication is created based on this publication template, the "Warranty" and "Customer Support" topics are added as reused topics in the template. Any changes you make to those will affect those topics wherever they are used.
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Add new template topics for "Introduction", "Quick Start", "Monitoring", "Controls", and "Troubleshooting".
When a new publication is created based on this publication template, there will be new topics created for "Introduction", "Quick Start", "Monitoring", "Controls", and "Troubleshooting" in each publication, each with unique IDs so that you can edit them independently.
When new user guides (2, 3, and 4) are created, they inherit the structure from the publication template. Paligo creates new publications, new topics, and link reused topics inside the publications so that their content matches the template.
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1 = Publication template, 2, 3, 4 = Publications that reuse the template.
Before you create a publication template, we recommend that you read the Publication Templates article, to get familiar with the concept and expected result.
First, you create a publication template in the Templates section and then you build its structure with:
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Regular topics - see Create a Topic and About Reusing Content.
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Template topics created in the Structure View of the publication template, see Create a Publication Template.
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Template topics created outside the publication template, see Create a Topic Based on a Template
Note
You can create new topics in a publication template in the Contributor Editor's Edit View.
However, adding topics in Edit View will not result in Topic Templates. Instead, these become reused topics saved in your Contributions folder.
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Topic templates can only be created from the Templates section in Content Manager or inside the Structure View of the publication template.
To create a publication template:
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Find the Templates section in the Content Manager.
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Select the dotted menu (...) for the Templates section and select Create Content.
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Enter the settings for the publication template:
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Enter a name
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Select the Publication option
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Add the Languages you want the template to support.
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Select OK to confirm.
Paligo creates your publication template and saves it in the Templates section of the Content Manager.
Tip
You can add folders in the Templates section by selecting the dotted menu (...) for Templates, and choose Create folder. The folders are useful for organizing your templates.
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Select the publication template in the Content Manager to open the Structure View.
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Select New topic to create a new template topic inside the publication template.
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Give the template a suitable name.
Note
You can also create topic templates from the dotted menu (...) in the Templates section. Select Create content and then choose to create a topic.
Any content that you create in the Templates section is a template.
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Repeat step 6 and 7 until you have added all of the new topic templates that you want to include in the publication template.
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Drag-and-drop regular topics from the Content Manager into the publication template structure.
The topic is added, and when you base a new publication on this template, it will reuse the topic.
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Select Save.
Your template is now ready to be used as the basis for new "real" publications. To find out how to do that, see Create a New Publication Based on a Template.
If your Paligo instance contains Publication Templates, you can create a new publication that is based on one of those templates. When you create the publication, Paligo will:
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Create a new publication with the same structure as the template.
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Create new topics to match the topic templates containing the same elements and content as the topic templates, but with unique IDs. You can edit them without affecting the template topics.
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Reuse any regular topics that are in the publication template structure.
You can then work on the new topics and publications, adding and reusing content where needed, until it is ready to publish.
Important
When you create a publication based on a template, the new publication only matches the template structure and the template topics at the time of creation.
If the template is changed at a later date, those changes will not apply to publications that have already been created.
To create a publication that is based on a publication template:
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In the Content Manager, select the dotted menu (...) for the folder to contain the new publication and choose Create content.
If your content is not in a folder, select the Documents section at the top of the Content Manager instead. Documents is the top-level "parent" folder for any content that is not inside another folder.
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On the Create Content dialog:
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Enter a name for your new publication
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Select the Languages it should support
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Select From template to select the template that your new publication will be based on.
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Select OK to confirm your choices.
Paligo creates a new publication and topics in the selected folder. The publication's structure matches that of the publication template, and its forks link to the new topics and any reused "regular" topics.
Topic templates provide a quicker and easier way to create new topics that have a consistent structure.
With a topic template, you create the template and add the structure and content that you want. Then, when you create a new topic based on the template, it automatically inherits the content from the template. You can add to it or change it as needed.
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Let's say you need to produce "Troubleshooting" topics for many different user guides, and you want them to have a consistent structure that includes a paragraph and a table. Instead of creating these topics individually, you can use a template.
You create a new template and then edit it. In the template, you add a table and a paragraph.
Next, you create new topics based on the template. The new topics automatically contain the table and paragraph from the template, so there's no need to add them to each topic individually. In the new topics, the table and paragraph are given new ids, so that you can edit them without affecting the template or other topics.
If your Paligo instance contains Topic Templates, you can create new topics that are based on those templates. This is useful if you have particular topic structures that should be used in many places but with different content in place.
When you create a new topic from a topic template, the new topic automatically includes the same structure and content that exists in the topic template. But the content is given new IDs so that you can edit it without affecting the template or other topics that are based on the template.
Note
You can create new topics in a publication template in the Contributor Editor's Edit View.
However, adding topics in Edit View will not result in Topic Templates. Instead, these become reused topics saved in your Contributions folder.
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Topic templates can only be created from the Templates section in Content Manager or inside the Structure View of the publication template.
To create a topic template:
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Find the Templates section in the Content Manager.
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Select the dotted menu (...) for the Templates section and select Create Content.
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Give the template a name and choose the Topic document type. Then set the language for the topic template and select OK.
Note
You can create templates for other document types too, if needed.
Paligo adds your new template to the Templates section.
Tip
You can create folders in the Templates section and use them to organize your templates. Select the option button ( ... ) for the Templates section and select Create Folder.
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Select a template to open it in the editor. Add the elements and content that you want to be included in all topics that are based on your template. For example, you could add a paragraph and a table.
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Select Save.
You can now create new topics based on the topic template.
If you have topic templates available, you can create new topics that are based on them. These topics will contain:
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The same elements (structure) as the topic template they are based on
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The same content as in the topic template, but with new IDs so that you can edit them.
To create a new topic based on a template:
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In the Content Manager, select the dotted menu (...) for the folder that you want to contain your new publication.
If a suitable folder does not already exist, you can create a new one (Create Folder).
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Select Create content.
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Use the settings on the Create Content dialog to create the new topic:
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Enter a name for the topic
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Select From template to display a browse dialog for topic templates. Select the topic template that you want the new topic to be based on.
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Select the Languages that you want the new topic to support.
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Select OK to confirm your choices.
Paligo creates a new topic that is based on your chosen topic template. It contains new versions of the elements and content that were present in the topic template. You can make changes to the new topic without affecting the topic template or any other topic that is based on that topic template.