Configure a workspace to be used as a template in ConneX Studio

In this article we will give an overview of configuring a specific workspace to be used as a template inside ConneX Studio. Each workspace used for a template should be kept in a consistent state and not used by users to ensure that it can be used to update the template in future if changes or additions are needed.

For an overview of ConneX Studio as a whole please see here: ConneX Studio overview

Before you get started please check the supported and unsupported features explained in the overview linked just above. Please note that this feature is currently in preview.

In this article:

• Create and configure an Atlas workspace
• Set the metadata for included content
• Consider whether you need to extend the Information Architecture
• Turn your workspace into a new ConneX template
• Still need help?

Create and configure an Atlas workspace

To create your custom template you need to start from an Atlas workspace, so go to ConneX and create an Atlas Knowledge or Communications workspace to start from. Please consider your choice carefully as this will be set as part of the template and cannot be changed later.

Once your workspace has completed provisioning, go to it and start making any changes you need based on the Supported Features, for example changing the web parts that will be displayed on the homepage, configuring those web parts in specific ways, adding specialised page layouts, modifying the workspace navigation or modifying the channels provided in Teams.

You can also add content to any of the Lists and Libraries, such as Documents or Useful Links to include those in all workspaces created from your template.

Set the metadata for included content

ConneX Studio templates can include content such as Documents, Pages, Links etc. and this content will be brought into each workspace created from the template. This is quite simple to understand, but what can be more complex is setting up these items with appropriate tagging, as it is not quite the same as simply tagging an existing document inside an existing workspace.

You first need to consider how the template will be used. Specifically, you need to determine which metadata fields will be set in the ConneX form when creating the workspace, then leave those fields blank in the included content. However to leave them blank, you'll need to do some additional work:

• Make the relevant fields not required (in the List content type)
  1. Go to Site contents, then click the ... next to the relevant List or Library and choose Settings
  2. In the Content Types section click on the content type, e.g. "File Item" for Documents, used by your content (you may need to do this for multiple content types in a single list)
  3. You'll be presented with a list of the metadata columns for the content type. For each column you want to keep blank for the template, click the column name and change the following setting to Optional:
     
  4. Click OK at the bottom right to save the change.
• After configuring as above, blank the values in those fields for the content items (and publish them if required).
• Now that you have the values blanked in your content, repeat the above steps again but set the fields back to required.

In Lists, blank fields will be automatically overwritten with defaults when used in templates. In Document Libraries however, blank fields on documents will remain blank, so they'll need to be repopulated in each workspace created from the template.

Consider whether you need to extend the Information Architecture

If you need to add new content types and/or new metadata columns you should read the following article carefully to ensure you set these up correctly to be picked up as part of the template: Information Architecture extensibility in ConneX Studio templates

Turn your workspace into a new ConneX template

Once you have your workspace configured and you're happy with all the customisations, features and content, you're ready to turn it into a template. Learn how by following the article here: Create custom workspace templates using ConneX Studio

Still need help?

Please get in touch with support or your CSM for further advice or assistance.