A template in ODB is a configuration of settings and codes, loaded as part of the setup process. After you have customized ODB, you then can save your configuration to a new template, which may be shared with other groups.

Templates may be chosen during setup using the Wizard, if you choose the option to “Create a new database file.” It is not necessary to choose a template; if you just accept the default selection of “standard”, ODB will populate your codes and setting with values that can easily be deleted and replaced with your own.

If you have already gone through the setup wizard once and you want to start over, you can reset ODB to start from scratch. To do this, click the Detach DB button on the first page of the Settings and Administration screen. You must enter a password to complete this action. The password defaults to “admin”. If you upgraded from ODB 0.9, the password is whatever it was in 0.9, which by default is “Administrator” (it is case sensitive). The template selection menu will appear in step 4 (provided you selected "create a new database" in step one). At this screen, click the help button for information on accessing additional templates that have been shared by ODB users. Templates are very small text files, located in the directory where ODB resides (c:\program files\oc\templates on most machines). You can save your template to a different folder, but in order to use it to create a new database, that template must be present in the Templates folder.

Once you have chosen a template that matches your group best, you can still customize it to be even more specific to your activities. Or you can choose a very standard template and make all the modifications to the template from scratch. You can then permanently save your setup by clicking the Save Template button, under the Settings and Administration screen. An organization with chapters, with help from OC, can create an installer for ODB that includes this template as one of the options or as the only option. This allows all the chapters to create similar, compatible databases.

Please submit your templates in the ODB user forus (http://organizenow.net/users)! We may include them (after removing your organization’s contact information) in future installations of ODB, under a generic name, so that other organizations with similar needs may find them.