This video shows you how to create reusable project templates in the component library – the first step in the single project lifecycle. Using the example of a web agency standardizing their WordPress projects, you'll learn the complete setup process.
A component is a generic project building block in the library under Administration → Project Components. You create it once and import it into specific customer projects as needed, creating an independent copy. The structure consists of epics (large thematic blocks like design, development, testing) that contain work packages. Each work package has three pillars: a description (the what), an internal note (the how, visible to your team only), and a minimum effort in hours that feeds into the calculation.
What makes templates especially powerful are questionnaires and conditional logic. You can add questions to any work package whose answers determine the project scope. Question types include person assignment, radio buttons, multiple choice, and the multiplier, which automatically calculates effort based on a quantity input. Through conditions, you link questions to elements: a work package like "Set Up WooCommerce" only appears when the e-commerce question is answered with Yes. This way, the project essentially configures itself based on customer requirements.
Additionally, checklists for customer contributions and test suites for structured acceptance are available – both can also be tied to conditions. Tags are automatically inherited by all child elements and later appear on tickets generated from them. The result is a complete, intelligent project template that your team uses for every new project without having to plan from scratch.
In the last video, you learned about the lifecycle of a single project, from planning to billing. The first phase was: designing the project template. That's exactly what this video is about.
Imagine your team runs similar projects over and over again. Websites, onboardings, migrations. Planning from scratch every time? That costs time, and things get lost along the way.
In this video, I'll show you how to build a reusable project template in the component library. With structure, questionnaires, effort estimates, and intelligent logic. We'll walk through this using a concrete example: a web agency that wants to standardize their WordPress projects.
I navigate to Administration and then to Project Components. This is the component library, the central collection of all reusable project templates in your organization.
A component is a generic project building block. Not for a specific customer, but as a template for a specific type of project. For example: "WordPress Website Development", "CRM Onboarding", or "Trade Fair Preparation".
When you start a customer project, you import a component into that project. This creates a complete copy. You can freely adjust it in the project without affecting the original in the library. Invest once, use again and again.
We're building the component "WordPress Website Development" now. I click "Add Component" and fill out the fields.
Name: "WordPress Website Development". Description: what this component is for. Tags: I assign "website". Tags are automatically inherited by all child elements, epics, work packages, checklists, test suites. When tickets are later created from these work packages, they carry this tag automatically. Incredibly helpful for filtering.
Internal note: here I write instructions for my team. For example: "Please use for every website project and document lessons learned after completion." Internal notes are only visible to your team. The customer never sees them.
In the tree view, I now create epics, the large thematic blocks of my project. I click the plus icon and select "Create Epic".
For our website project, I create six epics: Project Setup and Briefing, Design and Concept, Frontend Development, Backend Development and Integration, Testing and Quality Assurance, Go-Live and Deployment.
Each epic gets a description, an internal note, and its own tags. I rearrange the order via drag and drop. It should reflect the actual project workflow.
That's the basic structure. Six phases that every website project goes through. And your team doesn't have to reinvent this for every new project.
Work packages are the operational units within an epic. I open "Project Setup and Briefing" and create the work package "Run Kickoff Meeting".
Every work package has three pillars.
First: description, the what. "Run a kickoff meeting with the client to clarify requirements, goals, and features."
Second: internal note, the how. "Create agenda, moderate meeting, document requirements, send meeting notes." When someone gets assigned this package, they immediately know how to approach it.
Third: minimum effort, the estimated hours. Here: 3 hours. This value flows into the calculation and the offer, and serves controlling later.
I create more packages the same way: Document Requirements Analysis, Prepare Hosting Infrastructure, Initialize Project in Leadtime. Each with description, internal note, and effort.
I can also create checklists, which are to-do lists that can be checked off individually. For example, "Kickoff Preparation" with tasks like: create agenda, invite participants, reserve meeting room. I drag the checklist above the kickoff meeting, because it needs to be done first.
Now the template gets really powerful. I open the work package "Run Kickoff Meeting" and click "Add Question".
Every website project is different. Some clients need a shop, others don't. Instead of building a separate template for each variation, you ask questions. The answers determine which work packages are relevant.
First question: "Who will be the project lead?" Question type: Person. I can select a team member directly.
Next: "Who handles the hosting?" Radio button with "Client hosts" and "We handle hosting". This answer triggers a condition later.
Then: "Does the website need e-commerce features?" Radio button, Yes or No. And: "How many languages should the website have?" with Single language, Two languages, and Multilingual.
And a particularly interesting question type: the multiplier. Question: "How many people will join the kickoff meeting?" I specify that 2 hours are planned per person. If someone later enters "5 people", Leadtime automatically calculates 10 hours. The effort adjusts automatically.
This principle applies to all work packages: think about which questions influence scope or effort.
Now comes the part that truly makes the component library special: conditions. Conditional logic.
The basic idea: you connect a question to another element. If the condition is met, the element becomes visible. If not, it stays hidden. The project configures itself.
First example: I create the work package "Set Up WooCommerce" in the Backend epic and add a condition: it only appears when the e-commerce question is answered with "Yes". If "No", it stays hidden. The team only sees what's actually needed.
Second example: "Configure WPML or Polylang" only appears when "Two languages" or "Multilingual" is selected. I use the condition type "Answer contains", which lets me select multiple options.
And not just work packages: questions can have conditions too. For example, "Which shop features are needed?" only appears when e-commerce is enabled.
Multiple conditions on one element are combined with AND logic: all must be met. Conditions turn your template from a static checklist into an intelligent system.
Besides work packages and checklists, there are test suites for structured acceptance at the end of the project.
I create the test "Responsive Design" with concrete steps: check the website on desktop, tablet, and smartphone. Expected result: all layouts correct, no overlapping. The tester marks each step as "Pass" or "Fail" and can create a ticket directly for any issues. Test suites can also have conditions.
Let's look at the result. Our component has six epics, work packages with descriptions and effort estimates, questionnaires for flexibility, conditional logic for relevance, checklists for customer contributions, and test suites for quality assurance. A complete project template.
Quick preview: in the next video, you import this template into a customer project. You go through the questions with the customer, the structure adapts dynamically. And if you discover improvements, you export the adjusted component back to the library. A learning system.
The component library is the key to scaling. The better your templates, the less effort on every new project.
In the next video, I'll show you the second step: how to use a template in a real customer project. Taking requirements, answering questions, assigning products, and using the versioning system.
