---
id: KB-GL-019
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/glossary/what-a-template-is
idioma: en
categoria: glosario
subcategoria: procesos
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-GL-011, KB-TL-018]
citadoPor: [KB-TL-007]
---

# What a template is

_The mould files are opened from. And the key part: changing the mould does not change what is already open._

**Responde a:** what is a process template · difference between template and file · does changing the template affect open files · deleting a template already used

A template is the written answer to «what do we always ask for in this case». It is defined once — which documents, in what order, from whom and with what deadlines — and from then on each real case opens from it without rethinking anything.

**Template** — The definition of a process: what is requested, in which phases and under what conditions. It holds no documents and no specific people.

**File** — A real case opened from a template, with its supplier, its dates and its documents.

## What lives where

| Element | In the template | In the file |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What is requested | Yes, defined | Copied when it opens |
| From whom | No: only the role played | Yes: the specific person or company |
| Documents | Never | Whatever has been contributed |
| Dates | Deadlines, in the abstract | The real dates |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The point to be clear on before touching anything: **changing the template does not change files already under way**. What is in progress followed the mould in place the day it opened, and keeps it until it closes. This is not an oversight: if it changed, a half-completed file could suddenly demand a document nobody ever asked that company for, and its history would stop explaining what happened. Changes apply to whatever opens from now on.

## What follows from that

**En corto**

- You can fix a template without fear of breaking what is in progress.
- And if the change is urgent for something already open, add it in that file, not in the mould.
- Files opened under different versions will coexist, and that is normal.
- Which is why a template's name should say what it is, not when it was made.

> [!WARNING]
> On retiring a template already in use: **files opened from it do not vanish or lose their content**. What was requested, who contributed it and when lives in the file itself, not in the mould. What you do lose is the ability to open new cases the same way — so have the replacement ready before retiring it, not after.

## When to make a new one and when to tweak

1. **Tweak: a deadline changes, a wording, one more document** — The normal case, and it breaks nothing.
2. **New: the process is genuinely another** — If the phases and the people asked change, it is not the same one.
3. **And if in doubt, look at the reports** — Two different things under one name mix the numbers forever.

> [!NOTE]
> A well-thought-out template is the part of all this that saves the most, and also the most improvised. The time spent on it once comes back with every file opened afterwards.

**Can I copy a template and adjust it?**

Yes, and that is standard when a client wants something different.

**How many should we keep?**

As many as someone can explain. Twenty near-identical ones maintain themselves badly.

**Do templates appear in reports?**

What is counted are the files; the template is how they group.

## Ejemplos

**A company fixes a deadline in its supplier onboarding template with twelve onboardings running.**

- Changes the template and adds the urgent item by hand in the two files that need it

→ Running onboardings keep the rules they were given and new ones come out right.

**A template is corrected and people expect what is already open to change.**

- Adjusts by hand the in-flight files that need it

→ What was communicated to each supplier stays true.

**Each person creates their own template for the same thing.**

- Keeps one and shares it

→ Improvements benefit everyone rather than one person.

**A template accumulates documents nobody requests any more.**

- Reviews it periodically

→ You stop asking for what nobody looks at.

**A variant is needed for one type of supplier.**

- Creates a second template with a clear name

→ The original is not twisted to cover cases it does not.

**Nobody knows which template to use for a new case.**

- Names templates after the case they solve

→ The choice is obvious without asking.