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Area Templates

📑 Area Templates in the IoT Server Dashboard are reusable defaults that areas inherit through their Base Template selector. Use templates to define shared display names, descriptions, localizations, and metadata once and have many areas pick them up automatically.

📍 Accessing Area Templates​

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This page requires an account with the Admin, Engineer, or Operator management role.

  1. Log in to the IoT Server Dashboard with your management credentials.
  2. Open Controls & Areas in the left sidebar.
  3. Click Area Templates to open the templates list. Area template navigation

📋 Viewing Area Templates​

The Area Templates list shows one row per template.

The table includes the following columns:

  • Name — The template name. Click the name to open the template details page.
  • Areas — The number of areas currently using the template as their Base Template.
  • Created At — Hidden by default. Enable it from the column settings to display the row creation timestamp.

Each row also exposes the Enabled toggle in the actions column.

Area template table

🔍 Searching, Sorting, and Pagination​

  1. Enter text in the Search field to narrow the list by template name.
  2. Use the column sort arrows on Name or Created At to sort the list. The list defaults to most recently updated first.
  3. Use the pagination controls to move between pages and to change the rows-per-page value.

➕ Creating a Template​

  1. Click Create Template on the list toolbar.
  2. Fill in the required field:
    • Template Name — A unique, human-readable name shown in the Base Template selector on areas.
  3. Fill in the optional fields:
    • General Information — Provide localized Display Name and Description values per language. The English entries become the canonical fallback used when a language is not provided.
    • JSON Metadata — Free-form structured data merged into every area that selects this template. The value must be valid JSON.
  4. Toggle Enabled to control whether new and existing areas can resolve defaults from this template.
  5. Click Create Template.
  6. The new template opens in view mode. Confirm that the localizations and metadata appear as expected. Area template create form
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Start with the smallest possible template: just Name and a default Display Name. Add descriptions, localizations, and metadata incrementally as more areas reuse the template.

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Unlike control templates, area templates are not scoped by type — any area can pick any enabled area template as its Base Template.

✏️ Editing a Template​

  1. Open the template details page and click Edit, or click Edit on the row in the list view.
  2. Update any fields on the Details tab.
  3. Click Save Template.
  4. Confirm that the success alert appears and the new values are reflected in the view.
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Areas that are linked to the template are automatically updated and will show the updated template values for any field the area did not override.

🏷️ Managing Tags​

  1. Open the template in view mode or edit mode.
  2. In the Tags card on the right, type a tag name and select it from the suggestions, or press Enter to create a new one.
  3. Click the remove icon next to a tag to detach it from the template.
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The Tags card only appears after the template has been created. Save the template first, then attach tags from its details page.

🚦 Enabling and Disabling​

  1. Locate the template in the list view.
  2. Use the row toggle to set the template to Enabled or Disabled.
  3. Confirm that the row reflects the new state.
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Disabling a template does not remove it from areas that already link to it; the areas keep their cached template. Disable templates that you plan to retire, then migrate the linked areas using the Merge Into feature.

🧩 Viewing Linked Areas​

  1. Open the template details page.

  2. Click the Areas tab. The tab label shows the current count, for example Areas (4).

  3. Review the table of areas that select this template as their Base Template. Each row shows the area name, its parent area, and its enabled state.

  4. Click an area name to open it in the Areas page.

    Area template related areas

🔀 Merging Templates​

Use Merge Into to consolidate two templates into one. Every area that selects the source template is reassigned to the target template, and the source template is deleted.

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A merge deletes the source template after migrating its areas. This action cannot be undone. Confirm the target template carries the defaults you actually want before continuing.

  1. Open the source template details page, or locate it in the list.

  2. Click Merge Into in the header (detail page) or in the row actions (list view).

  3. In the Merge Area Templates dialog, start typing the target template name and select it from the dropdown.

  4. Review the source name, the target name, and the warning text.

  5. Click Continue.

  6. Review the final confirmation dialog and click Merge to apply the change, or Cancel to abort.

  7. Confirm that the success alert appears and the source template no longer appears in the list.

    Area template merge into dialog

🗑️ Deleting a Template​

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Deleting a template that is still linked to areas is blocked by the dashboard. Either re-link those areas to a different template first, or use Merge Into to migrate them in one step.

  1. Open the template details page, or locate the template in the list.
  2. Click Delete in the header, or click Delete on the row.
  3. Review the confirmation message.
  4. Click Delete to confirm.
  5. Confirm that the template is removed from the list.
  • Areas — Pick a template from the Base Template selector when creating or editing an area.
  • Control Templates — The equivalent reusable defaults for controls.
  • Controls — Manage the user-facing controls placed inside areas that inherit from templates.
  • Activity Logs — Audit template create, update, merge, and delete actions.