Group Templates group-templates

The Group Templates console is similar to the Site Templates console. Both are blueprints for a set of pre-wired pages and features which form a community site. The difference is that a site template is for the main community and a group template is for a community group, a subcommunity nested within the main community.

A community group is incorporated into a site template by including the Groups function (which may not be the first nor only function in the template).

As of Communities feature pack 1, it is possible to nest groups by including the Groups function within a group template.

The moment an action is taken to create a community group, the group’s template (structure) is selected. The selection depends on how the Groups function was configured when added to the site or group template.

Group Templates Console group-templates-console

To reach the group templates console in the AEM Author environment:

This console displays the templates from which a community site can be created and allows new group templates to be created.

Create Group Template create-group-template

To get started creating a group template, select Create.

This brings up the Site Editor panel which contains three subpanels:

Basic Info basic-info

On the Basic Info panel, a name, description and whether the template is enabled or disabled are configured:

Thumbnail thumbnail

(Optional) Select the Upload Image icon to display a Thumbnail along with the Name and Description to creators of community sites.

Structure structure

To add community functions, drag from the right side to the left in the order the site menu links should appear. Styles are applied to the template during creation of the site.

For example, if you want a forum, drag the forum function from the library and drop under the template builder. This results in the forum configuration dialog opening. See the functions console for information about the configuration dialogs.

Continue drag-and-drop of any other community functions desired for a subcommunity site (group) based on this template.

Once all desired functions have been dropped into the template builder area and configured, select Save in the upper right corner.

Edit Group Template edit-group-template

When viewing community groups in the main Group Templates console, it is possible to select an existing group template for edit.

Editing a group template does not affect community sites already created from the template. It is possible to directly edit a community site’s structure instead.

This process provides the same panels as creating a group template.