How To Create A Template Project

Published Date: October 19, 2025

Validated: Yes

Audience: Everyone

Products and Versions Covered:

• Jama Connect® 
  • Cloud/CVC
  • Self-hosted

Summary

Best Practices: How To Create a Template Project

Creating a Template Project in Jama Connect® helps organizations standardize processes, accelerate project setup, reduce administrative overhead, and improve consistency across teams and projects.

A Template Project provides a reusable framework containing:

• Standardized Item Types
• Relationship Rules
• Project structure and organization
• Optional workflows and statuses
• Reusable configurations and exports

Using Template Projects helps organizations:

• Enforce consistent development methodologies
• Reduce project setup time
• Improve user adoption and onboarding
• Simplify collaboration across teams
• Enable reuse and synchronization capabilities across projects

This article explains how to create and configure a Template Project for future production projects in Jama Connect.

Resolution

Step 1: Determine Your Development Methodology

Before configuring a Template Project, identify the development methodology your organization uses. Examples include:

• Systems Engineering
• Agile
• Hybrid methodologies
• Custom workflows and processes

The selected methodology directly impacts:

• Item Types
• Relationship Rules
• Project structure
• Workflows
• Traceability models

Transitioning from a document-centric process to an item-based approach is an important part of successfully implementing Jama Connect.

Step 2: Determine your Item Types

Jama Connect is an item-based platform where work is organized using configurable Item Types.

Examples of Item Types include:

• System Requirements
• High-Level Requirements
• Low-Level Requirements
• Epics
• User Stories
• Strategic Themes

To configure Item Types:

1. Navigate to Admin > Item Types
2. Review available out-of-the-box Item Types
3. Determine which Item Types your organization will use
4. Create new Item Types if needed
5. Remove unused Item Types to reduce clutter

Best practices:

• Use meaningful descriptions for Item Types
• Standardize naming conventions
• Configure recommended widgets such as:
  • Activities
  • Relationships
  • Versions
  • Synchronized Item

.

Step 3: Create Relationship Rules

Relationship Rules define which Item Types can relate to one another.

For example:

• Stakeholder Requirements may relate to System Requirements
• System Requirements may relate to Subsystem Requirements
• Certain direct relationships may be intentionally restricted

Relationship Rules help enforce the organization's development and traceability methodology.

To configure Relationship Rules:

1. Navigate to Admin > Relationships
2. Create or modify a Relationship Rule
3. Define allowed upstream and downstream relationships
4. Save the configuration for later association with the Template Project

Step 4: Create the Template Project

Create the actual Template Project in Jama Connect.

To create the project:

1. Navigate to Admin > Projects
2. Create a new project
3. Assign a:
   • Project Name
   • Project Key
4. Optionally place the project inside a Project Folder for organization and permissions management

After creating the project:

1. Open the project configuration
2. Navigate to the Item Types tab
3. Configure visible Item Types
4. Remove unused Item Types

Next:

1. Navigate to Admin > Relationships
2. Associate the previously created Relationship Rule with the Template Project

Step 3:

Step 5: Create the Project Structure

Create the Project Explorer tree structure that future projects will inherit.

The Project Explorer acts as the organizational framework for:

• Components
• Sets
• Folders
• Requirements
• Test artifacts

Best practices:

• Organize content by functional area
• Use consistent folder structures
• Align the structure with team workflows
• Create reusable organizational patterns

New items can be added manually or imported from:

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel

Here is an example of what a complete project tree might look like.

Step 6: Configure Workflows (Optional)

Workflows allow administrators to control status transitions for Item Types.

Example workflow transitions:

• Draft → Review
• Review → Accepted
• Review → Rejected

To configure workflows:

1. Create a Picklist for statuses
2. Associate the Picklist with an Item Type field
3. Configure Workflow transitions for the Item Type

Workflows configured in the Template Project are inherited by duplicated projects.

Step 7: Create Production Projects from the Template

Once the Template Project is complete, it can be duplicated to create production projects.

To duplicate the Template Project:

1. Navigate to Admin > Projects
2. Select the Template Project
3. Choose Actions > Duplicate Project

Recommended duplication settings:

• Include all project settings
• Do not enable Synchronize
• Do not enable Create Relationships

Synchronization is intended for variant management and reuse scenarios, not standard project creation.

After duplication, the new project inherits:

• Item Types
• Relationship Rules
• Project structure
• Workflows
• Configurations

Additional Resources

• User Guide
  • Relationship Rule Diagram
  • Project configuration
  • Components, Sets, and Folders
  • Edit Picklists
• Success Programs
• Success Catalog
• Datasheets
• Request a Solution Offering or Training from the Success Catalog

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