How to: Choose a Template

The easiest way to create a new Microsoft Office Live Small Business application, workspace, list, or library is to use one of the Office Live Small Business templates as a starting point. A template is a predefined version of one of these features. You can add a new Office Live Small Business feature to your subscription by selecting a template and then customizing it for your specific needs. This topic describes the templates that are included with Office Live Small Business. For information about creating an application or workspace from a template, see How to: Create an Application or Workspace from a Template. For information about the schema reference for any of the templates, see Application Schemas.

Application templates

Applications have a dashboard page as the default page. It contains lists and/or libraries that are appropriate to the information management task for which they were created. Use application templates to create copies of applications that are provided with your Office Live Small Business subscription. The copies you create contain the same lists, libraries, and other features as the applications provided with your subscription. The following templates are included:

Template	Description
Company Assets	Track assets, their value, and the use of fixed assets by employees.
Competition Tracker	Store and share information about your competition, and monitor their risk to your products.
Customer Support	Track customer service requests, their resolution, and information used in addressing those requests.
Document Manager	Store, share, and monitor the versions of your business documents in a central location.
Employee Directory	Maintain basic information about employees.
Estimates	Track quotes for, and orders from, customers and their status.
Expenses	Record and track details about employees’ expenses.
Jobs & Hiring	Track open positions, candidates, and candidate feedback across interview cycles.
Project Manager	Track your projects’ progress and issues in a central, shared location.
Time Manager	Schedule events, track schedules, and plan usage of company resources in a central, shared location.
Training	Track training events and participants.

Workspace templates

Workspaces have a dashboard as the default page. It contains lists and/or libraries that are appropriate to the information collaboration task for which they were created. Use workspace templates to create copies of workspaces that are provided with your Office Live Small Business subscription. The copies you create contain the same lists, libraries, and other features as the workspaces provided with your subscription. The following templates are included:

Template	Description
Basic Meeting	Plan and organize a meeting, including its agenda, attendees, documents for review, and objectives.
Blank	Customize this blank workspace to meet your business requirements by adding appropriate lists, libraries, and features.
Blank Meeting	Customize this blank meeting workspace to meet your business requirements by adding appropriate lists, libraries, and features.
Blog	Communicate with individuals or teams to post ideas, observations, and expertise that site visitors can comment on.
Customer	Share information with your customers and other contacts.
Decision Meeting	Track item status or make decisions in meetings. It provides lists for creating tasks, storing documents, and recording decisions.
Document	Collaborate with colleagues on a document. It provides a document library for storing the primary document and supporting files, a tasks list for assigning to-do items, and a links list for resources related to the document.
Social Meeting	Plan social occasions. It provides lists for tracking attendees, providing directions, and storing pictures of the event.
Team	A central storage place for information about your team, including guidelines, schedules, and announcements.
Wiki	Create a forum for sharing knowledge. For example, you could brainstorm ideas, collaborate on designs, or build an encyclopedia of knowledge.

List templates

The following list templates are available with your Office Live Small Business subscription. You can add the first three lists to all applications and workspaces. The remaining lists can be added to specific workspaces only, as noted. The following templates are included:

Template	Description
Announcements	Share news, status, and other short bits of information. You cannot add this list to the Business Contact Manager application.
Links	Share links to Web pages or other resources.
Import Spreadsheet	Create a list that has the same columns and content as an existing spreadsheet. Importing a spreadsheet requires a Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 compatible spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Office Excel.
Contacts	Manage information about people that your team works with, such as customers or partners. You can add this list to the Team, Basic Meeting, and Wiki Workspaces.
Tasks	Track a group of work items that you or your team needs to complete. You can add this list to the Team, Basic Meeting, and Wiki Workspaces.
Project Tasks	Create a Gantt chart that displays a group of work items that you or your team needs to complete. You can add this list to the Team, Basic Meeting, and Wiki Workspaces.
Issue Tracking	Manage a set of issues or problems. You can assign, prioritize, and follow the progress of issues from start to finish. You can add this list to the Team, Basic Meeting, and Wiki Workspaces.
Other Basic Meeting Workspace lists	There are three other lists unique to the Basic Meeting Workspace: Decisions, Objectives, and Things to Bring.
Custom List and Custom List in Datasheet View	A starting point from which to create a list tailored to your business needs.

Library templates

Four library templates are available with your Office Live Small Business subscription: Document, Picture, Forms, and Wiki libraries. You can add the first three to all applications and workspaces; however, you can add the Wiki Library to the Team, Basic Meeting, and Wiki Workspaces only. The following templates are included:

Library	Description
Document Library	Collaborate, share, and monitor the versions of documents in a central location.
Picture Library	Store and share your pictures in a central location. Picture libraries provide special features for managing and displaying pictures, such as download options, picture thumbnails, and a slide show.
Forms Library	Manage XML-based business forms, such as status reports or purchase orders. Forms libraries require a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 compatible XML editor, such as Microsoft Office InfoPath.
Wiki Library	Provide a community with a central location to brainstorm and share ideas. You can edit Wiki Library Web pages quickly to record information and then link the pages together using keywords.

Other templates

Discussion boards and surveys are other features available from Office Live Small Business. You can add them to the workspaces specified below. The following templates are included:

Template	Description
Discussion Board	Provide a place for newsgroup-style discussions. You can manage discussion threads and ensure that only approved posts appear. You can add this list to the Team, Basic Meeting, and Wiki Workspaces.
Survey	Poll other users in your organization. You can quickly create questions and define how users specify their answers. You can add this list to the Team, Basic Meeting, and Wiki Workspaces.