A template may refer to any of the following:

  1. A design template or template is a file created with an overall layout to be used with one or more documents. For example, a word processor may have a template for a resume. With a resume template, the overall layout is designed with placeholder text (e.g., your objective, previous job experience, etc.) that you can replace with information relevant to you.

A program may come with pre-designed templates, with the ability for a template to be created by the user. Custom templates may contain theme fonts, layouts, theme colors, theme effects, background styles, and content. Once created, a custom template can be saved and reused or shared with other users.

Design templates vary depending on the work you are creating, but should share similar themes and patterns throughout your completed work. A design template for a photo gallery page differs from the layout for a story page, which differs from a contact page.

Microsoft PowerPoint has design templates that help provide a cohesive and visual organization to your presentations. Each slide may have a different layout and graphics, but the overall look has continuity. There are templates available for all Microsoft Office programs and other programs such as Adobe InDesign, iMovie, and Google Docs, each with similar options.

  1. In web design, templates help structure the overall web page design. They provide you with areas to place pictures and text, or items like navigation bars and other widgets when designing a website. Companies like Squarespace have hundreds of templates that anyone can use to help set up a website more easily.
  • Where can I find a template in Microsoft Excel?
  • What is the normal.dot file?
  1. In programming, a template can be used as the basis for unique code units. C++, an object-oriented computing language, has standard template libraries where programmers can choose individual template classes to modify. The MFCL (Microsoft Foundation Class Library) is an example of such a template.

Form letter, Placeholder, Temporary file, Word processor terms