This article will show agenda managers how to access and edit Meeting Templates, including step-by-step instructions on how to add, edit, and delete agenda sections and standing items.
The ability to access and edit Meeting Templates is helpful for municipalities that need to make changes to all future meetings of a specific meeting type. For example, some municipalities list their current council and the staff members who attend meetings at the top of their agendas. In this case, an agenda manager might need to update this information in their meeting templates following an election.
Important Notes
- To access, edit, or work with your meeting templates, your interface must include a Meeting Template button in the left menu. If you don't see that button, you can contact Support and request the Meeting Templates permission which will add the Meeting Template option to your screen.
- If you are updating meeting templates because your elected officials have changed, you must remember to also update your council list within the Meeting Settings section of Application Properties. See the Add a Legislator to a Meeting Type section of our Add and Manage Users article for instructions on how to add a legislator to a specific meeting type.
- We recommend that you do not make any changes to the section or item formatting for your agenda or your minutes. The formatting for your meeting templates was established and coded during implementation, and attempts to manually replicate or modify that formatting may lead to unexpected results in your documents.
- If you have already created future meetings and want them to use an updated meeting template, you will need to delete and recreate the existing future meetings to apply the updated template.
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Access a Meeting Template
- Sign in to your agenda and meeting management solution if you have not already
- Click the Meeting Template option in the left menu
- Click the Select drop-down menu and choose the desired template from the list
- View the meeting template's details
- Meeting Template Structure: The sections and standing items that comprise the structure of the meeting template; the Meeting Template Structure that appears here will also appear on the Meeting Detail screen's Build tab
- Meeting Template Documents: Meeting-template Microsoft Word documents that set the look and feel of the Word and PDF versions of the agendas and packets for this meeting type
- HTML Settings: The code in this section sets the look and feel of HTML agendas and packets for this meeting type
- Agenda tab: You can click a section or item in the Meeting Template Structure to populate this area with a preview of how the selection will appear on all agendas that use this template; if a section is selected, this tab will also show how the section and any of its standing items will be formatted on agendas that use the template
- Minutes tab: You can click a section in the Meeting Template Structure to populate this area with the formatting that will be used for the section and any of its standing items within minutes documents that use the template
Manage Meeting Template Sections
Add a Section to a Meeting Template
- Sign in to your agenda and meeting management solution if you have not already
- Access the desired meeting template
- Click the red Edit button above the Minutes tab to make changes to the template
- Click the Duplicate Section button (two sheets of paper icon) next to a section within the Meeting Template Structure that has formatting similar to what you want in the new section
Notes:- Although there is an Add Section button (capital S and plus-sign icon) in the Meeting Template Structure header, we do not recommend that you use it. Instead, we recommend that you follow these instructions to copy an existing section rather than adding a new one from scratch. This is because the formatting for your meeting templates was established and coded during implementation, and attempts to manually replicate that formatting may lead to unexpected results in your documents.
- Some municipalities use subsections to indicate that certain section headers should fall below the section header immediately above it within an agenda. Subsections are most often represented by underscores (_) before and after the section name. Subsections typically have special formatting such as additional indentation that does not apply to regular sections. If your municipality uses subsections, be sure to pay close attention to whether you are duplicating a section or subsection so that the appropriate formatting is applied.
- Although there is an Add Section button (capital S and plus-sign icon) in the Meeting Template Structure header, we do not recommend that you use it. Instead, we recommend that you follow these instructions to copy an existing section rather than adding a new one from scratch. This is because the formatting for your meeting templates was established and coded during implementation, and attempts to manually replicate that formatting may lead to unexpected results in your documents.
- The duplicated section will appear at the bottom of the Meeting Template Structure list with the name "Copy of [duplicated section]"
- Click the name of the duplicated section to edit its current section name, if desired
- Click the Add Standing Item button to add a standing item to the section, if desired
- Click the Up and Down buttons (up and down arrow icons) to move the section into the desired location within the Meeting Template Structure, if necessary
Note: If you move a section up or down, any standing items that fall under it will not move up or down with the section. If applicable, you will need to move each standing item into place manually. - Enter or edit the text you wish to appear for this section on the agenda in the Agenda Content text box as desired
Note: Because your new section was copied from an existing one, the Agenda Content box will be auto-filled with any text that appears in the Agenda Content box for the duplicated section. At a minimum, you will want to update the duplicated section name if it is included in the Agenda Content box. - Use the Text and Paragraph Formatting tools to format the look of the agenda content, if desired
- Click the Download button (Microsoft Word icon) to download the section's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Upload button (up arrow and tray icon) to upload the section's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Save button (floppy disk icon) to save changes to the section's agenda content
- Click the Update button to save your changes to the meeting template
- The new section will appear on future agendas and minutes that use the updated meeting template
Edit a Meeting Template Section
- Sign in to your agenda and meeting management solution if you have not already
- Access the desired meeting template
- Click the red Edit button above the Minutes tab to make changes to the template
- Click the section you wish to update within the Meeting Template Structure pane
- Edit the section name, if desired
- Click the Add Standing Item button to add a standing item to the section, if desired
- Click the blue Up and Down arrow icons to move a section or item higher or lower on the agenda, one place at a time, if desired
Note: If you move a section up or down, any standing items that fall under it will not move up or down with the section. If applicable, you will need to move each standing item into place manually. - Click the Delete button (red circle and X icon) next to a section to delete it from the meeting template, if desired
- Enter or edit the text you wish to appear for this section on the agenda in the Agenda Content text box as desired
- Use the Text and Paragraph formatting tools to format the look of the agenda content, if desired
- Click the Download button (Microsoft Word icon) to download the section's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Upload button (up arrow and tray icon) to upload the section's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Save button (floppy disk icon) to save all changes to the Agenda Content section
- Click the red Update button above the Minutes tab to save your changes to the meeting template
- The edited meeting template section will appear on future agendas and minutes that use the updated meeting template
Delete a Section from a Meeting Template
- Sign in to your agenda and meeting management solution if you have not already
- Access the desired meeting template
- Click the red Edit button above the Minutes tab to make changes to the template
- Within the Meeting Template Structure section, locate the section you wish to remove
- Click the Delete button to the right of the name of the section
- Click the red Update button above the Minutes tab to update the meeting template
- The deleted meeting template section will no longer appear on future agendas and minutes that use the updated meeting template
Manage Meeting Template Standing Items
Add a Standing Item to a Meeting Template
Important Note
By default, standing items do not automatically enter the workflow for their given meeting type. Because standing items are created along with the agenda by the system, workflow rules do not apply to them. However, if necessary, users with Workflow Commands permissions can start a workflow for a standing item from its Item Detail screen.
- Sign in to your agenda and meeting management solution if you have not already
- Access the desired meeting template
- Click the red Edit button above the Minutes tab to make changes to the template
- Click the Add Standing Item button (plus-sign icon) next to the section in which you want to add the standing item
- The standing item will appear directly below the name of the selected section
- Click the name of the standing item to rename it, if desired
- If the new standing item is one of multiple for the selected section (not pictured), you can click the Up and Down buttons (the up and down arrow icons) to move it into the desired location within the Meeting Template Structure
Note: Pay close attention when you use the Up and Down buttons for standing items. Because standing items are not tied to a particular section within the Meeting Template Structure, you could accidentally move the standing item under the wrong section if you are not careful. - Enter the text you wish to appear for this item on the agenda in the Agenda Content text box as desired
- Use the Text and Paragraph Formatting tools to format the look of the agenda content, if desired
- Drag and drop a file onto the drop file here to upload field, or click the red Upload button and select a file to add an attachment to the standing item, if desired
- Click the attachment options icons to edit, delete, or re-arrange any standing item attachments as needed
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Include in/Exclude from Packet(s) (plus/minus icon or box with a green check/gray X/blue keyhole/blue people icon): Click to indicate whether the standing item should be included in or excluded from its assigned/associated agenda packet; all standing items are set to be included in the packet by default
Note: The display of these icons will differ depending on your organization's settings. If your organization only uses public packets, you will see a plus to include the item in the packet or a minus to exclude the item from the packet. If your organization uses both public and private/confidential packets, the icon can appear in four different ways.- Included in All Packets (box with a green check mark): This icon indicates that the item will be included in both the public and private/confidential versions of the packet
- Excluded from All Packets (gray box with an X): This icon indicates that the item will not be included in any packet
- Included in Private Packet Only (box with a blue keyhole): This icon indicates that the item will be included in the private packet but not the public packet
- Included in Public Packet Only (box with blue people): This icon indicates that the item will be included in the public packet but not in the private packet
- Delete Document (red circle and X icon): Click to delete the attachment
- Move Up/Move Down (blue up/down arrow icon): Click to rearrange the placement of attachments by moving an attachment one place higher or lower in the list; attachments will appear on the agenda in the same order that they appear on the screen
-
Include in/Exclude from Packet(s) (plus/minus icon or box with a green check/gray X/blue keyhole/blue people icon): Click to indicate whether the standing item should be included in or excluded from its assigned/associated agenda packet; all standing items are set to be included in the packet by default
- Click the Download button (Microsoft Word icon) to download the standing item's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Upload button (up arrow and tray icon) to upload the standing item's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Save button (floppy disk icon) to save all changes to the Agenda Content section
- Click the Update button to save your changes to the Meeting Template
- The new standing item will appear on future agendas and minutes that use the updated meeting template
Edit a Meeting Template Standing Item
Important Note
By default, standing items do not automatically enter the workflow for their given meeting type. Because standing items are created along with the agenda by the system, workflow rules do not apply to them. However, if necessary, users with Workflow Commands permissions can start a workflow for a standing item from its Item Detail screen.
- Sign in to your agenda and meeting management solution if you have not already
- Access the desired meeting template
- Click the red Edit button above the Minutes tab to make changes to the template
- Within the Meeting Template Structure, locate the standing item you wish to edit
- Click the name of the standing item to edit its name, if desired
- Click the Up and Down buttons (the up and down arrow icons) to change the order in which the standing item appears within its section, or move the standing item further up or down to change the section in which it falls within the Meeting Template Structure
- Enter or edit the text you wish to appear for this standing item on the agenda in the Agenda Content text box as desired
- Use the Text and Paragraph Formatting tools to format the look of the agenda content, if desired
- Click the attachment options icons to edit, delete, or re-arrange any existing attachments to the standing item as needed
-
Include in/Exclude from Packet(s) (plus/minus icon or box with a green check/gray X/blue keyhole/blue people icon): Click to indicate whether the standing item should be included in or excluded from its assigned/associated agenda packet; all standing items are set to be included in the packet by default
Note: The display of these icons will differ depending on your organization's settings. If your organization only uses public packets, you will see a plus to include the item in the packet or a minus to exclude the item from the packet. If your organization uses both public and private/confidential packets, the icon can appear in four different ways.- Included in All Packets (box with a green check mark): This icon indicates that the item will be included in both the public and private/confidential versions of the packet
- Excluded from All Packets (gray box with an X): This icon indicates that the item will not be included in any packet
- Included in Private Packet Only (box with a blue keyhole): This icon indicates that the item will be included in the private packet but not the public packet
- Included in Public Packet Only (box with blue people): This icon indicates that the item will be included in the public packet but not in the private packet
- Delete Document (red circle and X icon): Click to delete the attachment
- Move Up/Move Down (blue up/down arrow icon): Click to rearrange the placement of attachments by moving an attachment one place higher or lower in the list; attachments will appear on the agenda in the same order that they appear on the screen
-
Include in/Exclude from Packet(s) (plus/minus icon or box with a green check/gray X/blue keyhole/blue people icon): Click to indicate whether the standing item should be included in or excluded from its assigned/associated agenda packet; all standing items are set to be included in the packet by default
- Drag and drop a file onto the drop file here to upload field, or click the red Upload button and select a file to upload an attachment to the standing item, if desired
- Click the Download button (Microsoft Word icon) to download the standing item's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Upload button (up arrow and tray icon) to upload the standing item's agenda content as a Word document, if desired
- Click the Save button (floppy disk icon) to save all changes to the Agenda Content section
- Click the Update button to save your changes to the meeting template
- The standing item has been edited, and any changes that have been applied will appear on future agendas and minutes that use the updated meeting template
Delete a Standing Item from a Meeting Template
- Sign in to your agenda and meeting management solution if you have not already
- Access the desired meeting template
- Click the red Edit button above the Minutes tab to make changes to the template
- Within the Meeting Template Structure section, locate the standing item you wish to remove
- Click the Delete button to the right of the name of the standing item
- Click the red Update button above the Minutes tab to update the meeting template
- The deleted standing item will no longer appear on future agendas and minutes that use the updated meeting template
Resources
- Access and Edit Your Meeting Template (webinar)
- Add and Manage Users
- Create and Manage Meetings
- Add and Manage Agenda Items
- Add Standing Items
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