Building Module Templates for Advance Forms

Module templates are the building blocks of advancing. Each one defines a reusable form section, a named set of instructions, questions, and request tables, that you can place on any number of advances across the event.

Build your module templates first. Every advance is assembled from them, so the time you put into a good Catering or Technical Requirements module pays off every time it is reused.

Name and Label

Every module template has two names that serve different purposes.

The name is for your team. It identifies the template in Event settings and in the list you pick from when building advance templates. The label is what collaborators see when they open their advance. The two can match, but keeping them separate is useful when you need several templates that look the same to collaborators and are set up differently.

For example, you might have two templates labeled Catering for collaborators, one for artists and one for vendors, named Artist Catering and Vendor Catering so you can tell them apart in setup.

A module template also has an icon, a color, and an optional module category. Categories (each with a name, icon, and color) group related templates so a growing library stays easy to browse.

Block Types

A module template is a sequence of blocks. Drag blocks to reorder them, so instructions, questions, and requests appear in whatever order makes sense for the person filling it out.

Content Blocks

A content block is rich text: headings, bold, underline, colored text, and other formatting. Use it for instructions, context, or expectations before a collaborator fills something in.

Question Blocks

A question block asks one question with one answer field. Each question has a label, the question text, and a response type:

• Text
• Rich Text
• Number
• Date
• DateTime
• Checkbox
• Link
• Select
• Multi Select
• File
• Multi File

Select and Multi Select questions need a list of options.

Request Blocks

A request block is a table where collaborators add one or more line items, for example golf carts, credential requests, or labor calls. Each row is one request. You define the properties each row collects (using the same response types as questions) and mark which ones are required.

A request block is one of two kinds, set by its Resource request? switch:

• Resource requests (often called asset requests) name the allowed resource types the collaborator can pick from. Each line item carries that resource type and its attributes, and it appears on the procurement Requests tab.
• Non-resource requests collect things that need tracking but not ordering, such as credentials or parking passes. They show on the procurement Requests tab for approval and in the Advance Manager, but are never sourced or turned into resource needs.

Every request block also has a line item label, built from variables, that controls how each row reads in tables and exports. If a request has properties for type and quantity, the label might combine them so each row reads as "6-passenger cart, 2".

Approvals on Request Blocks

A request block decides which approval stages its line items need, with two switches:

• Advance approved? turns on the production-side approval, usually the person coordinating that collaborator's advance confirming the request is approved operationally.
• Resource approved? turns on the supply-side approval, usually the person or team who will provide the item confirming they can fulfill it.

Turn on one, both, or neither, depending on how the block's requests should be handled.

Managing Module Templates

Module templates live in Event settings, under Modules. Open Event settings from the event name in the top-left corner of the event.

A category cannot be deleted while any module template still uses it.