# What to do with a sample project once it has been used for a Template **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask the Community\ **Created:** [1 November 2018 21:07 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491 "2018-11-01T21:07:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Matthew\_Pritchard](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/matthew_pritchard/32/16606_2.png) [@Matthew\_Pritchard](https://forum.asana.com/u/Matthew_Pritchard)\ **Post date:** [1 November 2018 21:07 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/1 "2018-11-01T21:07:12Z")
I recently ran our first project with Asana and I want to reuse its structure in future projects. So I followed the instructions here: > **[How to create and use Asana templates | Product guide • Asana Product Guide](https://asana.com/guide/team/advanced/create-use-asana-templates)** > > Use Asana-created templates or make your own custom templates to use for recurring workflows. where it describes how to copy the project, clean it up, turn it into a template and then create the new project, all good. My question is what to do with the cleaned up ‘Template’ project after? I don’t want its activities appearing in users’ Inbox. Can I delete it? Or will that mean the Template won’t work in future? Archiving doesn’t seem to do much, same with taking it private. Is there an undocumented trick? ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Shannon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/drew_shannon/32/22432_2.png) [@Drew\_Shannon](https://forum.asana.com/u/Drew_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [1 November 2018 21:23 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/2 "2018-11-01T21:23:08Z")
Hi @Matthew_Pritchard, if I’m understanding you correctly, you’re asking what to do with the Project you worked on before clicking on “Save As A Template”, correct? Unfortunately, if you delete that Project, you’ll also delete the Template. The benefit, however, is that you can continue to make changes or additions to that Project, and all future Template-created Projects will automatically inherit those additions. _For example, every time we have a new item to add to our Employee Onboarding Template, we’ll make changes to that Project, which ensures that every future Onboarding Project is up-to-date with those additions._ As you pointed out, however, tasks that are assigned to a user in the Template Project will show up in that user’s Inbox and My Tasks, even though it’s the Template and not an _actual_ project. This is admittedly one of my biggest frustrations with Asana’s Template feature, but there are a few workarounds that can work: 1. Keep all Template Tasks unassigned. - **Pros** - You won’t clog up a user’s My Tasks with tasks they’re not actually expected to complete. - **Cons** - each time you create a new Project from the Template, you’ll have to assign each task, which in some ways defeats the purpose of a Template. 1. Educate users that Template tasks are not “real” tasks, and that they therefor don’t need to complete them. In My Tasks, users can mark a task as “Later”, which will move it to the bottom of My Tasks and out of the way. - **Pros** - When you create a new Project from the Template, each task will automatically already be assigned to the right user. - **Cons** - If you’re anything like me, you’ll still have some users confused about these tasks and/or you’ll get notifications that the Template tasks have been completed. Hope this helps! ---
**Author:** ![Matthew\_Pritchard](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/matthew_pritchard/32/16606_2.png) [@Matthew\_Pritchard](https://forum.asana.com/u/Matthew_Pritchard)\ **Post date:** [1 November 2018 22:53 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/3 "2018-11-01T22:53:35Z")
Thanks, @Drew_Shannon, you understood my question correctly. Your answer was pretty much the conclusion I came to trawling through the message boards - so annoying. Until Asana has some sensible archiving functionality or can screen out tasks from Templates, it would be helpful to add these steps to the Template creation guide. ---
**Author:** ![Marie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/marie/32/42208_2.png) [@Marie](https://forum.asana.com/u/Marie)\ **Post date:** [2 November 2018 16:03 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/4 "2018-11-02T16:03:29Z")
Hi @Matthew_Pritchard and @Drew_Shannon 👋🏼 I would advise you to add your votes to this other [thread](https://forum.asana.com/t/template-assigned-tasks-show-up-in-my-tasks-automatically/4125) from our #productfeedback category. On my end, I’ll make sure to keep you posted as soon as I have some updates! ---
**Author:** ![Yakir](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/yakir/32/24610_2.png) [@Yakir](https://forum.asana.com/u/Yakir)\ **Post date:** [2 November 2018 17:34 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/5 "2018-11-02T17:34:13Z")
this is a big problem for me too. very annoying. what can we do, any work around? ---
**Author:** ![Caleb\_Sutton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/caleb_sutton/32/20360_2.png) [@Caleb\_Sutton](https://forum.asana.com/u/Caleb_Sutton)\ **Post date:** [2 November 2018 20:42 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/6 "2018-11-02T20:42:23Z")
We have taken to using a custom field drop-down to show which team members are responsible for each task in the template project. When a project is built using the template, it only takes a few minutes to assign each task since you can see at a glance who is responsible for what. ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Shannon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/drew_shannon/32/22432_2.png) [@Drew\_Shannon](https://forum.asana.com/u/Drew_Shannon)\ **Post date:** [2 November 2018 20:47 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/7 "2018-11-02T20:47:10Z")
That’s a great suggestion - smart! ---
**Author:** ![Marie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/marie/32/42208_2.png) [@Marie](https://forum.asana.com/u/Marie)\ **Post date:** [5 November 2018 08:24 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/8 "2018-11-05T08:24:12Z")
Love the is idea, thanks for sharing it with us @Caleb_Sutton 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/system/32/276370_2.png) [@system](https://forum.asana.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [27 April 2022 14:26 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/what-to-do-with-a-sample-project-once-it-has-been-used-for-a-template/34491/9 "2022-04-27T14:26:08Z")
Closed on 27 April 2022 14:26 UTC