Overview

This article explains how to reduce Page Template sprawl by assigning multiple places (boards) to a single shared Page Template in Aurora Designer.

The key setting is Use in these places, which determines which places use a given Page Template.^[1]

Solution

Goal: Make layout changes once by having multiple places use the same Page Template (instead of maintaining many near-identical templates).^[1]

1. Create a mapping first (recommended): Write down which places should share the same layout versus which must remain unique. This prevents accidental layout changes on places that should stay different.
2. Go to Account menu > Designer > Page Templates.^[2]
3. Decide how you want to create your shared baseline Page Template:
   • Option A (reuse an existing template): Use one of your current templates as the baseline and assign multiple places to it using Use in these places.^[1]
   • Option B (duplicate first): Duplicate an existing template to create a new baseline, then assign the desired places to the duplicate.^[1]
4. Option A: reuse an existing template
   1. Pick the Page Template you want to be the shared baseline.
   2. Open the template’s Settings (hover over the template, open the Settings (gear icon) menu, then click Settings).^[1][2]
   3. In Use in these places, select every place that should use this shared Page Template.^[1]
   4. (Optional) In When editing, use sample content from, pick a representative place so your editing view uses representative sample content.^[1]
5. Option B: duplicate first (create a new shared baseline template)^[1]
   1. From Designer > Page Templates, open the template’s Settings (gear icon) menu and click Duplicate.^[1]
   2. In the Duplicate Page Template window, fill in:
      • Name (for the new shared baseline template).^[1]
      • Use in these places (select the places that should use this duplicated template).^[1]
      • When editing, use sample content from (pick a representative place for sample content).^[1]
   3. Click Duplicate, then open the new template and click Edit to adjust layout/widgets as needed.^[1]
6. When your shared baseline template looks correct, click Publish. The documentation notes that using Save and Publish publishes changes immediately to any pages using the template you edited.^[2]
7. Repeat for each additional shared-layout group, using a separate shared baseline template per group.
8. Clean up unused templates: Delete templates you no longer need. The delete confirmation lists the places affected so you can confirm which places would be impacted before completing the deletion.^[1]

Edits to a Page Template apply only to the places tied to that template via Use in these places.^[1]

If you cannot access Account menu > Designer, confirm you have a role/permission set that grants access to Designer (the documentation notes access requires the Admin role and references the Edit community settings permission granting access to Designer).^[3]

Frequently asked questions

Q1: How do I ensure I’m previewing the right type of content while editing?

A1: Use When editing, use sample content from to select the place whose sample content you want to see while editing the template.^[1]

Q2: How do I create a place-specific layout without affecting other places?

A2:  Duplicate a template and, in the duplicate workflow, select the place(s) that should use that duplicated template via Use in these places. This keeps your layout changes scoped to those selected places.^[1]

Q3: When do members actually see my template changes?

A3: The Page Templates documentation notes that when you click Save and Publish, your changes are published immediately on pages using the page template you edited.^[2]

References

1. Aurora: Duplicate templates to customize individual community places
2. Using Aurora Page Templates
3. Aurora: Getting Started as a Site Designer