[FR] Templates

[annieappflowy]

1~3 main use cases of the proposed feature

• As a new user, I would like to quickly set up a page by using a template and get inspiration from community templates.
• As an active user, I would like to discover new, creative ways to use AppFlowy
• As an active user, I would like to publish my template to the template center so that other users can also benefit from it.

what types of users can benefit from using your proposed feature

• all kinds of users

Additional context Key features:

• A template center that allows users to view and clone a template into their workspace
• A system that allows people to propose a new template that can be added to the template center

Difficulty level: Medium to Hard Skills required: Flutter, Rust Scope: not well-defined; need to scope the problem and solution before coding

[Kaijiro]

Hello !

Following our discussion on Discord about adding my input on feature request, here's my feedback about the templates features.

I think that the template feature's scope is a bit too big right now. There are two existing steps that may add some value for our users :

First Step - Adding a template system

The template system would be autonomous and would work offline.

1~3 main use cases of the proposed feature

• As an active user, I would like to create some template with some dynamic information.
• As an active user, I would like to quickly create some page from my own templates to speed up my note taking process.

What types of users can benefit from using your proposed feature ?

All kind of users but basic AppFlowy knowledge is a plus.

Additionnal context

Key features :

• When creating a new template, I would like to define static placeholder that my users will fill (something like titles or categories ?).
• When creating a new template, I would like to define dynamic placeholder (I'm thinking about dates with choosen format).

• When creating a page from a template, I will have to fill all the placeholders. A easy way to switch between placeholder would be by pressing a special key like "Tab" or something like this

  Second Step - Creating the template center to allow users to share their template but to download some too !

The online template would now allow users to share their template with a title, a preview and a description.

1~3 main use cases of the proposed feature

• As a new user, I would like to quickly set up a page by using a template and get inspiration from community templates.
• As an active user, I would like to discover new, creative ways to use AppFlowy
• As an active user, I would like to publish my template to the template center so that other users can also benefit from it.

What types of users can benefit from using your proposed feature ?

All kind of users

Additional context

Key features:

• A template center that allows users to view and clone a template into their workspace
• A system that allows people to propose a new template that can be added to the template center

Nothing here is frozen, everyone is welcome to bring your best ideas !

[annieappflowy]

Hi @Kaijiro ,

Very much appreciate your input. In particular, I find the scoping here super valuable for us to develop template features. Can you elaborate more on the third bullet point?

"When creating a page from a template, I will have to fill all the placeholders. A easy way to switch between placeholder would be by pressing a special key like "Tab" or something like this"

What drives users to switch between placeholders in a page created from a template?

[msizec]

Like this idea of templates. Ive open appflowluy for the foirst time a few minutes ago, because Ive seen a client use Notion recently, and I was telling myself : would be good to be able to template things for better productivity

[AmanNegi]

Hey there, I will be working on this issue. It will be completed in two phases:

Phase 1

Firstly, we would like to add a basic feature where users can import predefined templates(including databases).

Phase 2

In this, we will work towards the feature where user can create his own templates for his own convenience or for the community.

Progress so far:

https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy/assets/37607224/50b522fe-e1ed-4ef5-a80a-3ccdd6aa0154

Here, we are able to simply add template using predefined templates i.e json file, but now we will be working on including databases along with documents.

@LucasXu0 Let me know if I'm missing something here.

[LucasXu0]

Yes, let's maintain the progress as discussed on Discord.

[jessicamrbr]

I'm working on something similar, for one of appflowy_editor on another system. I'm being inspired by the behavior of https://www.trankynam.com/atext/ it wouldn't necessarily be a page template, but a block set snippet accessed by a shortcut.

I would like to help with this, if I had support from more senior people in the community.

https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy/assets/18180548/60172bc5-4ee5-401f-8ee2-6f7f57ea6aa7