Get Started with Templates

This feature is available on all plans.
Users with the manage templates permission can access this feature.

A template defines how a content item should be written and structured. They act as a time-saving blueprint, ensuring consistent quality and streamlining content creation for you and your team.

For example, you can have a template called "blog post" for your blog articles and another called "product review" for your review articles. For the blog post template, there may be a field for adding sources and for the product review template, there may be a field for the pros and cons of the product.

In this article, you will learn all you need to know about EasyContent's templating system. By the end of this article, you will be able to create a template for any type of content. Let's get started!

To access the template page, go to your project's dashboard, and in the project menu, go to Configuration > Templates.

 Note that each project has its own set of templates so make sure you are in the right project. Don't worry though, you can easily copy a template from one project to another in case you spent a lot of time configuring a template but ending up creating it in the wrong project.

The Default Template

A default template is included in every project. It's compatible with WordPress and you can use it as it is without making any changes. You can edit this template anytime to add new fields or change its structure.

💡 Make sure you enable the "CMS Fields" tab if you need to use the default template on content items that will be published to WordPress. Click the eye icon to enable it. Learn more about our WordPress integration here.

The image below shows what the default template looks like. EasyContent templates are made up of tabs and tabs are made up of fields.

In the image below, you can see that there are three tabs: Main Content, CMS Fields, and Example Tab (You Can Delete It). It displays the Main Content tab as the active tab.

There are three fields in the active tab: Title, Main Content, and Files.

You can rename a tab by clicking its name.

You may have noticed that some tabs have an eye icon. This is a toggle for their visibility. When visibility is OFF, the tab won't appear in the content editor. The CMS Fields tab is hidden by default.

💡Your customizations are kept even if you disable/hide a tab so don't worry about losing them.

The Main Content Tab

The main content tab is a system tab. As such, it can't be deleted, but you can disable/hide it by clicking the eye icon.

💡System tabs contain system fields. They are part of our API and WordPress integration system.

Let's take a quick look at its default fields and what they do.

Title Field

This field represents your article's title or <h1> tag. It's a system field that is a part of our API and WordPress integration. They can't be deleted, but they can be disabled through the visible checkbox. Learn more about field types here.

There are a few options available for this field:

• Set recommended length to - allows you to set a recommended word or character limit for this field.
• Visibility - a toggle to enable or disable this field.
• Required - when checked, the content item can't be submitted or approved if this field is empty.
• Field guidelines - a place to add instructions or tips for your writers or reviewers for this field.

Main Content Field

This field represents the main rich text editor in the content item editor page. You can add a default text to new content items and briefs using the "add/edit default content" feature. This is also a system field.

These are the options available for you to customize for this field:

• Set recommended length to - allows you to set a recommended word or character limit for this field.
• Visibility - a toggle to enable or disable this field.
• Required - when checked, the content item can't be submitted or approved if this field is empty.
• Field guidelines - a place to add instructions or tips for your writers or reviewers for this field.
• Add/edit default content - click it to add a default text. This text will appear in newly created content items or in briefs that are claimed or assigned to a user for the first time.

Files Field

This field lets you attach files to a content item. You can add guidelines for this field. This is a system field.

CMS Fields Tab

This tab is another system tab that contains system fields mainly for adding metadata and SEO elements to your content item. It's disabled by default. Click the eye icon to enable it.

💡 Tip: If you connect your project to a WordPress site and have either Yoast SEO or All-in-One SEO Pack plugin active, the meta title and meta description fields can be automatically synced.

The default fields in this tab are the following:

• Featured image - lets you add a post thumbnail or an image that represents the mood, content, or theme of the content item.
• Excerpt - a brief description of what the content item is about.
• Tags - are for labeling or organizing your content into specific topics.
• Custom post slug - lets you define a custom URL permalink for this content item.
• Meta title - this will appear on the search engine results page (SERP) as the title. We recommend setting the length limit to 60 characters.
• Meta description - this will appear under the meta title on the search engine results page (SERP). It should be a summary of your article and serve as a way to complement the meta title. We recommend setting the length limit to 160 characters.

All of these fields share the same set of configurable options:

• Recommended length - allows you to set a recommended word or character limit for a field.
• Visibility - a toggle to enable or disable a system field.
• Required - when checked, the content item can't be submitted or approved if this field is empty.
• Field guidelines - a place to add instructions or tips for your writers or reviewers for this field.

Custom Tabs

Click the add a new tab button to create a custom tab. Then, give it a name and press ENTER on your keyboard, or click the check button to save it. Your custom tab is now ready.

Custom tabs can only have general fields. You can add as many general fields as you want in custom tabs. You can also add them to the main content and CMS fields tabs.

The following general fields are available for you to use:

1. Single line text
2. Paragraph text
3. File/Image upload
4. Checkboxes
5. Radio buttons
6. Date
7. Dropdown select
8. Heading
9. Guidelines

We have a detailed help article for creating custom tabs here, this also explains what each general field does.

Custom Templates

Click the template selection dropdown menu then click Create new template. Give your new template a name then press ENTER on your keyboard or click the check button to save it. When you create a new template, it will have the Main Content and CMS Fields tabs by default.

Template Settings

Each template comes with its settings. Use the menu next to the template selection dropdown to access them.

This allows you to rename or delete a template, make it the default if it isn't already, duplicate it, or clone it into another project. The Make default and Delete template options are only available on non-default templates.

You now have a good understanding of how templates work in EasyContent! Next, why don't you learn more about field types?