I will discuss this topic in great detail as a personal Project Template can be crucial in organizing Scrivener with many custom adjustments. Once this is created, then this template can be used for every new project going forward.

Project Templates are ordinary projects that have basic starter material added to the binder, settings tweaked, and useful information added to help you start your new project. Scrivener includes default project templates to start projects, but these become more useful when personalized. These serve as starting points and can be customized to fit your personal work flows.

Basically consider a Project Template as a blank Project with a unique structure.

Scrivener’s built in Templates will include a help document at the very top of the binder and contain step by step instructions for popular modifications. (see the default novel template below)

Scrivener’s built in Project Templates cannot be overridden or modified, but any new projects created from them can be. These new personal Project Templates can be modified any way you want.

Project Templates can contain/be customized with:

A custom Title and custom category
Custom labels and Status definitions
Custom Keywords
Project Bookmarks (With lists of writing resources, research portals and can include links)
Compile Settings (such as ebook with layouts, front and back matter)
A Template Folder with a preset group of Document Templates-Character Sketches, Settings, etc.
Collections (Static or Dynamic)
Custom Icons
Project and Session word targets
Project Backgrounds
Styles including Paragraph and Character styles can be saved or imported from another project for a project template
Structure-such as a novel setup with Acts, Chapters, and Scenes prepopulated (which could include built in inspector notes, or word targets) or popular plotting methods like the Hero Journey, Save the Cat, and Seven Part Story Structure.

You can even rename the Manuscript and Research folders if you want.

Template Placeholders can be helpful if you plan to share your templates with others and do not want to include your personal information. (see a list of useful ones below)

You can click to save a Project’s current Styles when creating a new project template by clicking the checkbox. (shown below)

Remember these Project Template Facts:

1. You can import Keywords, Labels, Status, and Metadata, or Collections (especially dynamic ones connected to keywords, labels, status) from any existing project into your newly created Project Template.

2. Anything that you can save in a existing project can be included a Project Template.

3. It is Easier to start with an existing project closest to what you want and then modify this and relabel. Save the project you intend to use as a new Project with a different name before modifying to avoid affecting your original project. Use the File > Save As function. Once done then strip out files and folders you do not need such as the original novel.

4. But you can start from Scratch

5. Customize metadata the way you want. Then once set up can use again and again for specific task like novels, poetry, short stories, blogs etc.

Creating a New Project Template from an existing project.

The easiest way to create a new project template is to take an existing project that’s set up the way you want it and use it as the basis for your new template.

The key thing to remember is that EVERYTHING in your current project gets copied:

All your Metadata including Labels, Status, Keywords, and Custom Metadata
Section Types
Everything that’s in the Binder (structure, files, images, imported docs)
Collections
Compile settings
Project Bookmarks/References
All project-specific preferences such as default text styles, full screen settings, typewriter scrolling, toolbar icons, and scrivener themes, layouts, etc

Saving a New Project Template

First, use the File>Save As function to save the Project with a new name such as Delete Me. This is the throwaway project you will use to create the new Template without effecting your original project.

Open the newly created Project.
Strip out all the files and folders holding information you do not want. Replace these with blank files and folders in a structure that will support your planned uses. (For example; with novels, you might include folders such as acts, chapters and scenes all including preset word targets and custom icons.) Remember, you are keeping the shell to start fresh for future projects. You can even create chapter templates with included scenes with word targets and default inspector notes. Having a chapter template makes it easy to add this template again and again to rapidly create a novel structure.
Add what you need including Front and Back Matter folders, Character Folders, Scraps folder for deleted scenes, or scene fragments, Notes folder for things to work on or expand as write, or anything else you find useful.
Review your Template Folder and keep, discard, or add any Document Templates you want for this New Project Template. (You can drag in Document Templates from a single or multiple current Projects. Any file or folder can become a new Document Template for your new Project Template.)
Add any styles, labels, status, keywords, custom metadata, or icons you want to include in your new Project Template. You can add elements from multiple different current projects to your new Template.
When you are finished, then use the menu command File>Save as Template.

Then you will see the New Project Template Panel. Remember to click the Save styles checkbox to preserve current styles.

The File>Save as Template option brings up this dialog window to name the New Project Template by clicking and editing the Title. In the field below, you can assign the new template to a category or Create a custom category.

Category choices including a custom category.

Project Template Info to Include:

Title —

The visible title of the template, as you want it to appear in the template browser.

Category —

Declares which section to add the template to in the browser.

Select “Custom” to create your own category, using the name supplied in the text field below. Any existing categories that have been installed into the software will be listed here for your convenience.

Icon —

Here you can select the appearance of the template thumbnail. You can choose from a number of available presets, or if you wish to make your thumbnail stand out from the built-in templates, you can click the Save Icon… button, which will generate a file for you based on the currently selected thumbnail. (You can even use png and ico files that you have imported as Scrivener icons or choose premade options.)

Styles-

Save Styles into Template: If you have created paragraph or character styles which you prefer, you may want to save them to your new template so you can reuse them. (see below Icon, option to click to save styles)

The Project Template Window Interface

The Footer Buttons explained.

Options include:

Setting Default Template when open the project template window. This template will be highlighted when open Template chooser.

Hide Getting Started options in Project Template window hides the Getting Started category.

Importing Templates

A. Open project Template Window-File> New Project

B. Click options tab in footer and chose import.

C. Migrate to the folder holding the template and import.

D. Or File> Show Application Support Folder and choose a default template file

Export Templates (This is the method to transfer Project Templates between different computers is you use multiple ones.

Edit Template Info (This choice is only available for templates you create or import but not for Scrivener default templates)

Reveal Template File Location (will show its location in windows explorer) Templates are stored in Scrivener’s support folder. (Menu dropdown-File> Reveal Application Support Folder will get you there easily under project templates subfolder.)

Delete Template (Built in Templates cannot be deleted.)

Open Recent:

Allows you to see recently opened projects and choose one to open to form the basis for a new Project.

Open Existing:

Will open the Windows Explorer window and allow you to navigate to a folder containing a Scrivener Project and open the Scrivx file. (This functions the same way as the File>Open command in the File Menu options does.)

Note: you can also right click on Project Templates and have various options as well.

Editing Template Info will modify how the template appears in the Template Chooser. (You can change the name, icon, and category from this menu.)

Points to Remember:

Once you customize the Project Template and save, then the copies of that project template and all other project templates are stored at the same folder location by default. This is the Scrivener Application Support Folder, but you can save a copy anywhere else as well. Note in the Project Template window have various buttons with choices at the bottom. One is Options with the choice to Reveal Template File location and you can use this to go there and copy the Template file and save elsewhere like a cloud based folder or to share with others by exporting.

Built in Scrivener Templates cannot be overwritten or modified directly. However, you can use the default Scrivener Templates to create a new project and THEN modify this newly created custom project. So with extra steps, you can modify copies of Scrivener’s default templates.

If you store any Project Templates that you create in a cloud based folder, then these can be imported and used on other computers you use Scrivener with.

Right clicking on any Project Template has an option to Reveal File location, or click the options button at far bottom left and also have the Reveal File location.

You can overwrite/update an existing custom template with updated information added such as styles, metadata collections etc. Or even add additional icons as well as you learn more about how to use Scrivener and your needs for a New Project changes.

When you attempt to overwrite an existing template, you will see this window.

Click Yes to update this Project Template.

You can now safely delete the Project you used to create the Template if this was a throwaway project for this purpose.

Importing a Template

First find and download templates. If these are compressed (zip files) they need to be opened (extracted) before they can be imported into Scrivener. Now store these templates in a folder you will remember and consider placing them in a shared folder of your chosen cloud service if you work on Scrivener from more than one location. Templates opened on one computer will NOT be available on the other computer unless you have imported a specific Project Template on that computer as well.

Open Scrivener.
Go to File > New Project in the Scrivener Top Menu.
Locate and click Options in the bottom left corner of the New Project Window.
Select Import templates and navigate to the unzipped templates.

Select a SCRIVTEMPLATE File to open to Import the chosen template.

Please note that Scrivener will not allow you to import the template if is still compressed or zipped.

Go back to Scrivener File> New Project. Now you will see the new template is available for use.

Opening a New Project Template

In any existing project go to your menu and choose File>New Project and bring up the window below to choose a template for a New Project.

Options include Default preset Scrivener options, Any created or imported Templates.

Clicking All shows every Project Template available at once.

Choose a Project Template for the new Project and click Create in the lower right corner.

(Note: You can take this Template and change it by adding or subtracting custom information and then save it as a new template replacing the one you just opened or saving as a new Project Template.)

File>Save as Template

Renaming a Project via Two Methods

1. File>Save As- Menu dropdown function allows you to save a project with a different name, BUT this project is now new and severed from the old project. This project and data only starts from when it was created.

2. Rename Project Folder- If you rename the project folder in Windows explorer then the Project Name.scrivx file will automatically change to match the new folder name after you click on it to open the Scrivener Project. The project will open with the new name, but contain all the data from the project you just renamed.

In Conclusion

Creating Custom Project Templates is crucial in allowing you to organize a project to get the maximal benefits from Scrivener and once created this can be used again and again, which saves a lot of time customizing the default templates. This can also change as how you use Scrivener evolves. Or you can use a simple default template when you start and save advanced custom templates for later.

using and creating Project templates