Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

Go back to the Voting Board

Please expand the potential functionality of custom templates.

Feature Upgrade · Custom article templates (studio) · Created by GeroGyaru

closed

Templates Custom-Templates Suggestion

The Limitations of Existing Custom Templates

As it stands, creating a custom template is extremely limited. Essentially, one can only create a new category and change the CSS, but not anything about the prompts for the template. In other words, one can create a new style of "Landmark" article and make that easier to search for, but cannot create ready-made fill-in-the-blank prompts for more specialized article types or add in options which are missing in the existing templates.

My main "world" has a number of highly specialized concepts. It would be much easier for me to be able to create a single standardized prompt template to fill out rather than create the fields from scratch each time. Often times I find categories to be insufficient for what I want to make and have to search for something that's "close enough." Instead of having to request changes from WorldAnvil for each one, I would prefer the option to do that myself.

What Is to be Done?

The main issue is the fact that WorldAnvil, for very good reason, does not want to allow users to insert custom Javascript. Such allowances might result in malicious code being inserted, which could harm both readers and the website as a whole. Does this mean custom entry fields are impossible? Not at all. There is a way to allow for more customizable templates without requiring users to code it in themselves.

Consider: What if we had a sort of "template template?" One could enter a name, a "parent template" if they wished, categories in the dropdown menu entered in the same way as tags, etc.. Those templates with a parent could inherit the default prompts and structures. Then you could create sections (like how the "character" template has social, mental, physical, etc). Under those sections, you could insert or remove prompts for the template. After naming the prompt, they could have options such as "short entry," "paragraph," or "selection" depending on what one wanted to do with it, along with its page location and article types allowed for "selection" prompts. Afterwards, users could modify the CSS of the template as they wished.

Extra Benefits

Fewer template requests - Advanced users will only need to request new template types if a new feature is added. As such, you will see less posts requesting a new type of template, as we can just make them ourselves.
Better organized "worlds" - Users will be able to sort, publish, and display article types based on the unique elements and terminology in their setting rather than relying on finding the closest fit where one might not exist. This will make things clearer for both creators and readers.
More use of custom templates - Custom templates will be both used more and a bigger draw to higher subscription tiers with more functionality.
It might also be possible to add prompts and categories to existing templates rather than needing users to modify them each time.

The Team's Response

Hello beans! So to get the basics out of the way

This submission did not gather enough support

This feature, or something similar to that, will probably be added in the future

To the nitty gritty now. GeroGyaru you have made some assumptions about why most people use the templates which are false. Templates are there to inspire and help people to grow their worlds. Most advanced users of World Anvil no longer use the template prompts except from the case of getting some inspiration where needed OR in order to create relations between articles types, which is in fact very important for the consistency of any world. In the case of prompts stopped being requested the above fails simply because we will never stop adding them in order to continue to inspire people. In terms of the connections between templates, even if we I was going to develop the functionality two completely customise templates, that wouldn't change. This system is there to ensure data parity and consistency and its functionality cannot be replicated by simply adding fields. Yes you could be able to say '""add a dropdown for my locations there and call it Extraplanar bodies" or whatever you need but this system will not be able to create an actual bidirectional connection between two articles without crushing the system. In addition to the two above, you are forgetting something very important. Crafting a template like that would me creating

A data model

The form that would be displayed in order for data to be filled

The presentation of the form when is seen by you and other users

Translations for all of its components

Access Management for each field so the field is only seen by the people that is intended

and of course creating configuration files that govern how that will work and all its metadata like icons, location etc etc PLUS if you want this to be shared, a configuration form, file and system for EACH person wanting to use this in their own world. I am not saying that this is not possible, what I am saying is that it is not going to be easy even for seasoned developers to consume the documentation needed and take the time to actually create a template.

Question to everyone here

Having said that, I am honestly curious as to What kind of templates you wanted to create and couldn't what were the prompts that did not match what you wanted. I need to understand how extensive the issue is and how much it is actually an issue. Please come and talk to me on Discord at the #development-discussion channel so we can continue the conversation.

Current score

174/300 Votes · +37270 points

Votes Cast

+100

by Tulcor
on 2021-10-29 23:06
+100

by SeeleyOne
on 2021-10-29 21:56
+300

by Kriltch
on 2021-10-29 20:36
+300

by Nikoyokin
on 2021-10-29 17:33
+300

by The Bearded Heathen
on 2021-10-29 13:33
+50

by Kavi Corben
on 2021-10-29 05:50
+300

by Dunnxx
on 2021-10-28 20:09
+50

by GeneralBloopers
on 2021-10-28 19:12
+100

by Amancham
on 2021-10-28 17:50
+300

by Kostaki80
on 2021-10-27 22:47
+50

by varis-s15k
on 2021-10-27 19:05
+50

by mikeejimbo
on 2021-10-27 17:19
+50

by A Thundering Orc
on 2021-10-27 15:32
+50

by gcjones216
on 2021-10-27 15:20
+200

by Dark Hobbit
on 2021-10-27 08:04
+100

by Jontaro
on 2021-10-26 22:44
+300

by SpencerH23
on 2021-10-26 22:38
+300

by Hephaestus
on 2021-10-26 16:27
+100

by Tmoejames
on 2021-10-26 00:43
+300

by Terry & Glenn
on 2021-10-25 22:14
+300

by Sehanbrel
on 2021-10-25 17:09
Yes, please! When I first saw Custom Templates were a thing, I thought I could actually customize them to my liking. Finding out I needed to learn a bunch of stuff in order to change even one thing was rather disappointing.
+300

by itmePhil
on 2021-10-25 11:41
I also was disappointed when I found out it was impossible (or too complicated for me to figure it out) how to create custom prompts in a template. I would love to be able to create my own "session" template with the prompts I need for my RPG campaign.
+100

by Mara Jaena
on 2021-10-25 05:59
+200

by Laria
on 2021-10-24 23:42
+300

by AAMC
on 2021-10-24 22:07
+200

by Kveldulfr83
on 2021-10-24 21:58
+20

by ExodusLARPSystems
on 2021-10-24 16:43
+100

by SetsunaMH
on 2021-10-24 15:00
I love the idea of being able to share templates as well - much like publishing Homebrew content on dndbeyond. It also sounds awesome to start from a template that you can then customize - again, this is my experience on dndbeyond with creating your own magic items. You can start from scratch if you want, but you can also start with an existing item so if all you're doing is making a more powerful version of an existing item, you don't have to redo everything.
+300

by Vixen Windsong
on 2021-10-24 13:03
+300

by Kayne
on 2021-10-24 07:46
+20

by Ziquipiniflipshun
on 2021-10-23 22:03
+10

by Ratha
on 2021-10-23 21:47
+300

by turtleoogway
on 2021-10-23 21:44
I honestly thought this was how custom templates were going to work and was rather disappointed when it wasn't. I'd make extreme use of this were it to be a thing, since it'd be exactly what my world needed due to prompts for existing templates not quite cutting it.
+300

by Nanotide
on 2021-10-23 20:26
+300

by Eve Musa Gemreez
on 2021-10-23 19:19
+300

by jfeser
on 2021-10-23 17:48
If this was a high-level guild feature, it would definitely drive upgrades. If user-developed templates could be shared, it would also make WA that much more responsive to user needs. I love this and really really hope this happens. I also really like the idea of "extending" templates rather than doing custom templates. Generally all I need is another tab or two of custom template-specific fields that I want to fill in, and I'm good to go. I'm happy to keep WA's defaults there as well, even if I don't use them.
+300

by therambogeeks
on 2021-10-23 15:03
+10

by lengna
on 2021-10-23 14:51
+300

by DysOkami
on 2021-10-23 12:53
+300

by DoctorEnigmaROC
on 2021-10-23 12:14
+200

by A Thundering Orc
on 2021-10-22 21:21
+300

by Tiberius Fursten
on 2021-10-22 16:58
+300

by Carantire
on 2021-10-22 07:05
+50

by Mwopigan
on 2021-10-22 01:50
+300

by Skormulof
on 2021-10-22 01:21
+300

by DMFW
on 2021-10-22 00:45
I can see how this would address a number of other requests (for example the desire for a planet as a type of location with specific properties). Needs a lot of thought, though. Would custom templates be sharable between users for example (arguments both ways, but I'd say they should be). If so, how would they be identified/searched? I wouldn't object to this being only an advanced feature available to high level subscribers and I understand the potential complexity of the change but I must admit I would like it, if it was possible.
+100

by pineapple_juice
on 2021-10-21 14:29
+50

by Bambam57
on 2021-10-21 12:53
+200

by kaibrightwing
on 2021-10-21 12:24
+100

by PFoxheart
on 2021-10-21 03:44
+300

by gnjcksn
on 2021-10-21 01:46
+300

by Artificer Noneki
on 2021-10-20 22:06
+300

by Gabe Grimoire
on 2021-10-20 18:55
+100

by Skarpi21
on 2021-10-20 17:31
+100

by Buzzard
on 2021-10-20 14:03
+300

by ProfessorSputin
on 2021-10-20 12:34
+300

by Expelence
on 2021-10-20 05:20
+300

by michaelthominks
on 2021-10-20 00:28
+300

by Davekachel
on 2021-10-19 20:52
+100

by 13Emperor37
on 2021-10-19 18:11
+100

by MissingRollPlayerFound
on 2021-10-19 15:17
+300

by WolfoftheNorth
on 2021-10-19 13:47
+300

by Soutti
on 2021-10-19 11:54
+50

by A.J.Ponder
on 2021-10-19 09:37
+300

by Twelve
on 2021-10-19 09:21
+20

by yungkorg666
on 2021-10-19 05:54
+300

by A Adorable Dwarf
on 2021-10-19 05:24
I 100% agree with FizzyBee on this. Custom Templates would honestly be a huge draw for me finally upgrading my subscription, but with the way they are now, it honestly does not seem worth the money, even though how you suggested it would be immensly helpful to my worldbuilding.
+300

by Teilia
on 2021-10-18 21:09
+300

by WetCalCoolidge?
on 2021-10-18 14:27
+300

by katieplays
on 2021-10-18 09:31
+200

by NickoBlack_
on 2021-10-18 09:07
+300

by masquerin
on 2021-10-18 08:00
+300

by Kaleidechse
on 2021-10-18 07:34
+300

by Kryptic907
on 2021-10-18 04:06
+300

by morganarcher
on 2021-10-18 01:40
+50

by that0neguypj
on 2021-10-18 00:08
+200

by Rustydragons262
on 2021-10-17 22:00
+300

by Yuna_Nightshade
on 2021-10-17 15:31
+100

by Nekith
on 2021-10-17 11:48
+100

by BackworldTraveller
on 2021-10-17 11:32
+300

by Bonus Action
on 2021-10-17 10:39
+300

by cheesemijit
on 2021-10-17 10:21
+300

by A Enfeebled Velociraptor
on 2021-10-17 06:35
This is what I originally thought custom templates were when I signed up, because I couldn't imagine them working any other way. I'm still happy I have the option to use them as they are, but it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out exactly what the benefit was and whether I could make use of it since a lot of the site's more advanced functionality is way above my skill level or needs.
+300

by Versun
on 2021-10-17 05:11
+300

by HaberkampClan
on 2021-10-17 01:40
+200

by BangerangB
on 2021-10-17 00:19
+100

by hansayellow
on 2021-10-16 16:09
+10

by Damparo
on 2021-10-16 15:14
+100

by Snake__Venom
on 2021-10-16 14:59
+10

by A Uncontrollable Unicorn
on 2021-10-16 12:27
+300

by Rumengol
on 2021-10-16 10:54
+300

by miraiya
on 2021-10-16 03:56
+50

by cluuless
on 2021-10-16 03:54
+300

by bpohja
on 2021-10-16 01:43
+100

by david12king
on 2021-10-15 23:18
+100

by AlleeCatBlues
on 2021-10-15 21:27
+300

by Tenken2
on 2021-10-15 14:48
+50

by Tijmuhn
on 2021-10-15 12:05
+300

by Dalf32
on 2021-10-15 10:51
+100

by LadyEllisandra
on 2021-10-15 07:36
+300

by imly2k
on 2021-10-15 07:22
+20

by StaleWhiteBread
on 2021-10-15 04:29
+200

by Lindsay Insley
on 2021-10-15 02:36
+200

by ZairaLuna
on 2021-10-15 02:32
+300

by CBury
on 2021-10-15 02:25
+300

by ShadowWalker368
on 2021-10-14 19:52
+300

by HeavenOnFire
on 2021-10-14 19:14
+50

by AJWithall
on 2021-10-14 19:06
+100

by A Frightened Skeleton
on 2021-10-14 16:43
+300

by DIVEBOMB11
on 2021-10-14 15:28
+100

by Evil God Acedia
on 2021-10-14 05:13
An extremely desirable feature I would love to have.
+300

by Patchwork Veneficium
on 2021-10-14 02:47
+100

by cedes
on 2021-10-14 01:42
+300

by Voxol Tetra
on 2021-10-14 01:11
+300

by A Frightened Ooze
on 2021-10-13 22:37
+200

by A Frightened Goblin
on 2021-10-13 21:26
+300

by Everwild
on 2021-10-13 20:18
+300

by Blue Collar DM
on 2021-10-13 18:27
+100

by DjRoberts_Writer
on 2021-10-13 17:54
+300

by UncleInTheAttic
on 2021-10-13 15:57
I like this idea as long as it doesn't negatively impact searching. I would expect that the new elements are part of any searching that can be done. If I create a custom section, I would like the ability to search for and in that element. Sometimes custom items aren't as easily searchable due to the way database structures happen - they can get stored outside of the table and create much more difficult queries.
+300

by WilfordWorldbuilder
on 2021-10-13 15:53
+200

by AlchemicalTea
on 2021-10-13 15:26
+300

by S.P. Jayaraj
on 2021-10-13 14:24
I'd love this. There is a lot I could do with more customizable templates!
+300

by charley2020
on 2021-10-13 12:39
+100

by GamingPigeon
on 2021-10-13 09:38
+300

by Happypill
on 2021-10-13 07:45
+300

by MatGun86
on 2021-10-13 06:52
+300

by spartango
on 2021-10-13 06:34
+300

by Dxactivatxd
on 2021-10-13 05:45
+100

by Game Master Guru
on 2021-10-13 04:55
+100

by Nomminus
on 2021-10-13 04:39
+300

by Scalenex
on 2021-10-13 04:24
+300

by MDPreston
on 2021-10-12 20:22
+200

by MotiZma
on 2021-10-12 19:27
+300

by Rayna Fairbell
on 2021-10-12 18:40
+300

by MrGunn
on 2021-10-12 15:42
+300

by FizzyBee
on 2021-10-12 15:11
Honestly, this is probably one of the biggest features I've felt has been lacking on WA. While you can enter headers into the main body of an article and add whatever information you want, you cannot (as far as I know) slot parts of this text body in between various prompt boxes. This leads to either squashing extra information into prompt boxes under new headers which don't really match, adding the missing information in the main text body and sacrificing consistency by having similar information split up, or having to ignore the incredible usefulness of the prompt feature and just type everything out under headers in the main text body like a word doc. I think that if it were possible to create effectively a "template builder" available at higher subscription tiers, then it would solve a lot of roadblocks people encounter with the templates being not *quite* what they need. I agree that this function would significantly reduce the number of requests for small tweaks to templates which are being submitted at the moment by allowing people to just deal with the hindrance they are facing themselves and in a way that doesn't require understanding of CSS, thereby freeing up time for the WA team to work on more sizeable and more important projects. While CSS is very versatile, it does take time to learn and understand, and if you don't have much time to be working on your worldbuilding as it is and want to just get on, working around CSS can be both tricky and time-consuming.
+50

by sadwaffle
on 2021-10-12 13:35
+300

by Michael Chandra
on 2021-10-12 12:03
+20

by FictionFan1995
on 2021-10-12 11:39
+300

by xSpazztic
on 2021-10-12 01:43
+300

by R3aper27
on 2021-10-11 21:42
+300

by eccbooks
on 2021-10-11 21:05
+300

by Nightstroud
on 2021-10-11 19:48
+50

by 88jojo
on 2021-10-11 18:04
+200

by Pumpkin Cupcake
on 2021-10-11 17:26
+300

by Neoukan
on 2021-10-11 17:17
+300

by SmartHercules
on 2021-10-11 17:11
+50

by SEinOC
on 2021-10-11 16:16
+300

by SoulLink
on 2021-10-11 16:08
+300

by S7fate
on 2021-10-11 16:07
+20

by gatekeeper420
on 2021-10-11 15:37
+200

by facelessturtle
on 2021-10-11 15:21
+10

by Adcheryl
on 2021-10-11 15:13
+200

by dubfighter
on 2021-10-11 14:27
+300

by Nubs
on 2021-10-11 08:30
+300

by JohanWq
on 2021-10-11 06:33
+300

by The Briar Wolf
on 2021-10-11 02:58
+300

by Lucid-dreamer
on 2021-10-10 23:09
+50

by SkyriderWednesday
on 2021-10-10 20:54
+300

by A Mischievous Dryad
on 2021-10-10 19:01
+300

by SierraKomodo
on 2021-10-10 17:08
+200

by Caladrius
on 2021-10-10 16:44
+200

by scholarmage
on 2021-10-10 13:38
I'd love to be able to build templates like this, as several times I've had to use 'close enough' templates and it's bugged me. It's definitely possible to do something like this: just look at the online survey/form builder websites like SurveyMonkey or Jotform - they do exactly this functionality. It would take a bit of coding to do it smoothly, though.
+50

by Vantaj
on 2021-10-10 13:18
+300

by Eve Beyond
on 2021-10-10 13:16
+300

by namako
on 2021-10-10 10:54
+100

by Aldithyell
on 2021-10-10 08:28
+200

by DystopianDesign
on 2021-10-10 05:53
+300

by CristalViper
on 2021-10-10 03:44
This is definitely something I've been dreaming of for a while. I think it'd be neat if current article types also had the ability to have new fields created in this way!
+300

by inkquartz
on 2021-10-10 02:07
+200

by chuckdee
on 2021-10-10 01:02
+300

by ss2020
on 2021-10-10 00:54
That sounds like a good approach if it is doable.
+300

by A14113
on 2021-10-10 00:20
+300

by GeroGyaru
on 2021-10-09 21:53

Find your way!

Resources

WHO WE ARE

LEGAL

Get the news

Listen to our Podcast

Our Allies

Please expand the potential functionality of custom templates.

Please expand the potential functionality of custom templates.

The Limitations of Existing Custom Templates

What Is to be Done?

Extra Benefits

The Team's Response

Question to everyone here

174/300 Votes · +37270 points

Votes Cast

+100

+100

+300

+300

+300

+50

+300

+50

+100

+300

+50

+50

+50

+50

+200

+100

+300

+300

+100

+300

+300

+300

+100

+200

+300

+200

+20

+100

+300

+300

+20

+10

+300

+300

+300

+300

+300

+10

+300

+300

+200

+300

+300

+50

+300

+300

+100

+50

+200

+100

+300

+300

+300

+100

+100

+300

+300

+300

+300

+100

+100

+300

+300

+50

+300

+20

+300

+300

+300

+300

+200