> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flashduty.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Event templates

> Learn how to use pre-defined templates and message templates to quickly publish status page events

Manually filling in event details is time-consuming and prone to missing key information. Flashduty Status Pages provide **event templates** that let you quickly publish events using pre-set content, reducing repetitive work.

Status pages support two template types: **pre-defined templates** and **message templates**.

***

## Pre-defined templates

Pre-defined templates are used to quickly create events with complete initial information. Each pre-defined template contains the following fields:

| Field           | Description                         |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **Title**       | Event title                         |
| **Type**        | Event type: Incident or Maintenance |
| **Status**      | Initial event status                |
| **Description** | Detailed event description          |

### Use cases

Pre-defined templates are ideal for foreseeable, recurring event scenarios. For example:

* **Routine maintenance**: Create a template titled "Scheduled System Maintenance" with status pre-set to Scheduled and standard maintenance notification wording in the description
* **Known issues**: Create templates for common service degradation scenarios with pre-set titles and descriptions

### Manage pre-defined templates

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a template">
    In the status page settings under the **Templates** tab, select **Pre-defined Templates** and click **Create Template**. Fill in the title, type, status, and description.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use a template">
    When publishing an event, select a pre-defined template. The system auto-fills the template fields, which you can then adjust as needed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit or delete">
    You can modify a template's title, description, and status at any time, or delete templates that are no longer needed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Message templates

Message templates are used to pre-set update messages for different event status stages. Unlike pre-defined templates which focus on event initialization, message templates focus on the notification wording used as events progress.

Each message template contains the following fields:

| Field        | Description                               |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Title**    | Template name                             |
| **Type**     | Event type: Incident or Maintenance       |
| **Messages** | Pre-set update text for each event status |

### Message mapping

Message templates provide pre-set text for each status in the event lifecycle:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Incident message template">
    | Status            | Example pre-set message                                                    |
    | ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Investigating** | "We are investigating an issue affecting \[service name]."                 |
    | **Identified**    | "The issue has been identified and the team is actively working on a fix." |
    | **Monitoring**    | "A fix has been implemented and we are continuing to monitor."             |
    | **Resolved**      | "The issue has been resolved and service is operating normally."           |
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Maintenance message template">
    | Status        | Example pre-set message                                      |
    | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
    | **Scheduled** | "Planned maintenance will begin at \[time]."                 |
    | **Ongoing**   | "Maintenance is in progress. Some services may be affected." |
    | **Completed** | "Maintenance is complete. All services are back to normal."  |
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Use cases

Message templates are ideal for standardizing event update wording, ensuring that different team members use consistent language when progressing events.

### Manage message templates

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a template">
    In the status page settings under the **Templates** tab, select **Message Templates** and click **Create Template**. Fill in the title, type, and message content for each status.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use a template">
    When adding a timeline update to an event, select a message template. The system auto-fills the message text based on the current event status.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit or delete">
    You can update a template's title, type, and message content at any time, or delete templates that are no longer needed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Template preference

You can configure a **default template type** in the status page settings. When publishing events, the corresponding template list will be shown by default. This preference does not prevent you from switching to other template types.