# Templates

> Start a board from a template for the session you're running, and save any board as one.

Choose **New board** on the home page and Tack shows its templates: boards laid out for the session you’re running, with sections to work in, short prompts, widgets, rules, and facilitation ready to start. Pick one, or a **Blank board**.

Each template shows what’s inside before you make a board from it: its sections, widgets, rules and the steps it has ready. Use the arrow keys to move through them, and `Enter` on **Create board** to make it.

![New board: the Planning session template selected, with a sketch of its sections and lists, what's in it (its sections, a list and five steps ready to start), its name, optional repositories and where to bring open action items from; the other templates and a Blank board beside it.](https://tack.social/_astro/templates-light.BqbyBgQG_Z2nccor.webp)

Each template shows what's inside before you make a board from it.

## The built-in templates

Each is a starting board for one kind of session, laid out the way it runs, with only what that session needs.

| Template             | What’s on it                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Planning session** | Ideas, written on your own in [silent mode](https://tack.social/facilitation/silent-mode.md), then sorted into themes with [Auto-stack](https://tack.social/boards/stacks.md#auto-stack) and [dot-voted](https://tack.social/facilitation/dot-voting.md), five dots each (👍 on GitHub counts too). [Lists](https://tack.social/widgets/list.md) of the most wanted issues and the [top discussions](https://tack.social/widgets/list.md#discussions) to bring in. Decisions, Next steps (a winning stack becomes a [parent issue](https://tack.social/writing-back/actions.md#parent-issue)) and a Parking lot. |
| **Retro**            | Went well, To improve and Ideas to try, inside one section so a single round of silent writing covers all three. Last retro’s open action items come along into Actions. Steps for checking them, writing, Auto-stacking each column, a dot vote on what to fix first, and agreeing actions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Triage**           | An [inbox](https://tack.social/automation/inboxes.md) of unlabelled issues, and a list of unanswered questions from [Discussions](https://tack.social/widgets/list.md#discussions). P0 and P1 as cards, Needs more info and P2 · Backlog as [lists](https://tack.social/boards/sections.md#cards-a-list-or-mini-cards) that grow as they fill, and a [stale finder](https://tack.social/widgets/stale-finder.md). [Rules](https://tack.social/automation/rules.md) put security issues in P0, and pull requests beside the issues they fix.                                                                      |
| **Release planning** | Now as cards, with a [dependency map](https://tack.social/widgets/dependency-map.md) of what in it blocks what and its critical path, and Next as mini cards. The release’s [milestone](https://tack.social/widgets/milestone.md), a [release draft](https://tack.social/widgets/release-draft.md) and a [review queue](https://tack.social/widgets/review-queue.md) of its pull requests. A rule puts pull requests beside the issues they fix.                                                                                                                                                                 |
| **Roadmap**          | Now, Next and Later as lists (Now sorted by state), a [timeline](https://tack.social/widgets/timeline.md) of what shipped lately, a map of what blocks Now, and a vote on what moves into Next that stays open for three days.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| **Incident review**  | What happened, when (stickies in order) and a timeline of the week on GitHub, then impact, contributing causes (written on your own, Auto-stacked and voted on) and what went well. Decisions to [write back](https://tack.social/writing-back/decision-records.md) and action items. Run blameless.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |

## Repositories

Templates whose widgets, inboxes or rules read your repositories ask which ones they’re about: type `owner/repo` and press `Enter` (recent ones are offered). The first is the one widgets about a single repository read, such as the milestone, the release draft and the review queue; inboxes, rules and lists read them all. Triage and Release planning need one; for the others they’re optional, and anything left without a repository is just not set up yet.

Only GitHub has Discussions. When the first repository is on another [forge](https://tack.social/self-hosting/forges.md), what reads them (Planning’s top discussions, Triage’s unanswered questions) is left out of the board, and the rest is laid out as usual.

## Ready to start

A template’s facilitation is in the **Facilitate** menu, under **Ready to start**, in order: silent writing in a section, a dot vote, a timer. **Start** does what you’d do by hand (and starts its timer) and brings its section into view; the next step is highlighted, and a dot on the Facilitate button says steps are waiting. A vote can stay open for days, as Roadmap’s does, for people in different time zones. See [Running a session](https://tack.social/facilitation/running-a-session.md).

## Last time’s action items

Templates with an Actions section, such as Retro, offer **Bring open action items from** one of your boards: the open [action items](https://tack.social/facilitation/action-items.md) there come along, with their owners, due dates and issues.

## Saving a board as a template

From the menu beside a board’s title, choose **Save as template**. Give it a name and say what it’s for. By default it keeps the board’s structure: sections, text, widgets, connectors between them, and rules. Turn on **Keep stickies, cards and action items** to keep everything. Dot votes and silent sections become steps ready to start; votes, comments and staged changes never come along.

Saved templates are under **Saved on this Tack** in New board, for everyone on the instance. The repositories its widgets, inboxes and rules read become choices, filled in with the board’s own to start with. Anyone who can edit a board can save it; whoever saved a template, or an admin, can delete it.