Release Templates 

Release templates auto-populate data for frequently raised release requests. These templates help technicians save time and effort when configuring fields and tasks for each release.

Consider a scenario where a company releases product bug fixes every two months. Instead of manually setting up each release with the necessary details, the SDAdmin can create a template that includes all required fields, roles, and tasks. When a new bug-fix release is needed, technicians can raise a release request instantly using the template.

Contents:

• Configure Release Template
• Configure Roles
• Add Tasks
  • Task List View Actions
• Configure Form Rules
• Additional Settings
• Template List View Actions

Configure Release Template  

• Go to Setup > Templates & Forms > Release Template, and click New Release Template.

• The left pane of the template shows the release stages. The canvas enables you to customize the field layout, and the right pane lists the fields to add to the layout.

 When you create a new template, only the Submission stage will be displayed on the left pane.  

• Under the details tab on the canvas, you can provide information about the template, such as name, type, associated workflow, and comments (if any).

• Drag a system-defined field or an additional field from the Available tab on the right pane.

• Go to the New tab on the right pane to create additional fields. Drag a field type to the canvas and configure its details.

• Provide a name and description, enter a character limit, and set a default value if required.

• Encrypt fields that may contain personal information of users.

• After adding a field, hover over the field to perform the following:
  • Click the icon to edit field properties.
  • Use the arrow icons  on either side of the field to resize it.
  • Click next to an additional field to move it to another section within any of the release stages.
  • Click the icon to remove fields from the template.
• Add sections by dragging New section from under the New tab on the right pane.
  • Click Untitled section to enter a name for it.

  • Use the icon at the top right of a section to define its properties. Under Section Properties, you can choose the number of columns, the orientation of fields, and the collapsed state of the section. You can also delete sections that do not contain any default fields.

• Click Move Section at the top of the page to move a section to other stages. This option is applicable only in the Edit Release Template form.

After adding relevant details to the Submission stage, click Save. The form reloads as Edit Release Template form, which displays all the release stages in the left pane, including Roles, Tasks, Form Rules, and Additional Settings tabs.

Navigate to the Details tab of the preferred release stages to customize its layout.

Click Preview on the top of the Edit Release Template form to view the layout of the release form.

Configure Roles 

After saving the template details, you can define the roles related to the release and assign default users to the roles.

• Development Head, QA Manager, Release Reviewer, and UAT Owner will be the default roles in the release template.
• The release roles created under Setup > Customization > Release Management > Release Role will be displayed under Available Fields in the right pane. You can drag them to the canvas as needed.
• To add new roles, go to the New tab on the right pane and use the New Role.
• You can also group the roles under sections.
• After defining the roles, click Save.

Add Tasks   

The work involved in each release stage can be broken down into tasks and assigned to various technicians from the Tasks tab. You can access the Tasks tab from the left pane or the canvas within a release stage.

• Select a stage from the Filter by stage drop-down to organize and mark dependencies between tasks within the stage. After a release request is created, the tasks and their dependencies will be added to the release stages automatically.

• Click Add Task to create a task or use the drop-down icon beside to create a task by using task templates.

• Set tasks to trigger manually or automatically by clicking Configure on the yellow label in the right pane. This will redirect you to the Additional Settings tab in the template. Learn more. 

Task List View Actions 

After adding tasks to a release template, you can perform the following actions on the tasks in the list view.

• Edit/Delete Tasks: Click  next to a task to edit or delete it.
• Bulk Delete Tasks: Select the tasks using the checkboxes and click Delete.
• Filter tasks by stage: Use the Filter by stage drop-down in the list view to view tasks created for specific stages.
• Move Tasks to Different Stages: You can move tasks to a different stage when All Stages is selected in the Filter by stage drop-down. Select the task to be moved and click Move Stage to select the stage where the task must be moved.
• Organize Tasks: When tasks are filtered by stage, you can organize the order of task execution within the stage using the Organize button.
• Mark Dependency among Tasks: When tasks are filtered by a stage, you can mark the tasks' dependency on other tasks within the stage. Click Task Dependency and mark the parent and child tasks as explained here.
• Search Tasks: Use the icon to search tasks based on criteria. Add the criteria and value, and click Enter. After the results are displayed, you can add multiple search criteria by using .
• Define Table Settings: Click to edit the number of records displayed and sort the tasks by column values.

Configure Form Rules   

Under the Form Rules tab, you can set rules that are unique to the release template. These rules will automate certain actions on form fields depending on the conditions set.

Learn more about configuring form rules.

Additional Settings

Under the Additional Settings tab, you can configure when to trigger tasks associated with a release template.

Select an option from the Trigger Tasks drop-down:

• At Release creation: Automatically triggers tasks associated with the template when a release is created.
• When transitioning into a Release stage: Automatically triggers tasks in the stage as the release transitions from the previous stage.  
• Manually: Trigger tasks manually from the Tasks tab on the release details page.

Template List View Actions

• Edit/Delete/Copy Templates: Use the next to the release template in the list view to edit, delete, or copy a template. You can also copy templates using the Copy Template button on the toolbar.
• Enable/Disable Templates: Use the toggle button under the Status column to enable or disable templates. You can also enable/disable the template under the icon against a template.
• View Associated Form Rules: Hover over the icon to view the form rules associated with the template.
• Mark Default Templates: Mark the frequently used template as the default template by using the favorite icon against it.