How to Create a Checklist Template | Latner Software Documentation

A Checklist Template is the reusable list of checks Latner copies onto a record whenever a machine needs to be inspected, serviced, started for the day or signed off as safe.

Overview

Nobody wants to retype the same twenty checks every time a machine comes back off hire. You build the list once as a template, and Latner takes a copy of it each time it needs one.

A template is a Checklist Type, a Checklist Name and an ordered list of tasks.
The Checklist Type decides where the template can be used - a Run Up template only appears in Run Up Checklist fields, a Take 5 template only in the Take 5 settings.
Every task belongs to a group, so long checklists stay readable on a phone, and any task can be made to require a photo.
The Default Response sets the answers a person can give on each task. Left blank, the template uses the built-in Pass / Fail / N/A answers.
Templates are versioned. Changing the tasks starts a new version, and checklists that already exist keep the tasks they were created with.
A Checklist Name only has to be unique within its Checklist Type, so you can have a Run Up and a Rental Return checklist that share a name.

Before You Begin

Checklist Templates live in the Equipment configuration area, so you need the configuration permission for it.

Requirement	Where to Find It
Checklist Templates permission	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups, then the group, then Equipment › Configuration
A Checklist Response (optional)	Equipment › Configuration › Checklist Responses - only needed if Pass / Fail / N/A does not suit
Somewhere to use the template	An equipment class, equipment model, serialised stock item, service schedule or Take 5 setting that will point at it

The Checklist Templates permission under Equipment - Configuration; the same permission also opens the Checklist Responses screen

Without this permission, Checklist Templates is not listed under Equipment › Configuration at all, so the screen simply is not there rather than showing an error.

Creating the Checklist Template

Step 1 - Open the Checklist Templates screen

Go to Equipment › Configuration › Checklist Templates. Every template on your system is listed here, whatever it is used for.

The Checklist Templates screen - the Tasks column counts the tasks in each template's current version

Step 2 - Start a new checklist

Select Options › Create New Checklist. The Add Checklist Details dialog opens with one empty task row ready to fill in.

Export Checklist stays greyed out until you tick at least one row in the list

Step 3 - Choose the Checklist Type

Checklist Type is required and it decides where the finished template can be used:

Service - the checklist attached to a service schedule on an equipment class, model or single machine, which then flows onto the work order.
Run Up - run up inspections, set as the Run Up Checklist on an equipment class or model.
Rental Return - return inspections, set as the Return Checklist on an equipment class or model.
Equipment Transfer - transfer inspections, set as the Equipment Transfer Checklist on an equipment class or model.
Pre Sale - pre sale inspections, set as the Pre Sale Checklist on a serialised stock item.
Pre Start - the operator's start-of-day check, set as the Pre Start Checklist on an equipment class or model.
Take 5 - the on-site safety check for work orders and internal transport dockets, chosen in Security › Settings.

The seven Checklist Types - each one is offered in a different part of Latner

Step 4 - Name the checklist and pick a Default Response

Fill in the two remaining header fields.

Checklist Name - required. It has to be unique within the Checklist Type, otherwise saving fails with "Checklist Name must be unique for each Checklist Type combination". Name it for what it checks rather than for one machine, since the same template can serve a whole class.
Default Response - optional. This is the set of answers offered on every task in the checklist. Leave it blank and the template uses the built-in Pass / Fail / N/A answers.

Leave Default Response blank and the template falls back to Pass / Fail / N/A

Step 5 - Add the tasks

Each row in the lower half of the dialog is one task. Use Add Task for another row, the up and down arrows to reorder a row, and the bin to remove one.

Group - required. Tasks are shown grouped under this heading, so use a small set of repeated values such as Exterior, Fluids and Cabin.
Task Summary - required. The short line the person doing the check reads first.
Task Description - required. The detail that tells them what a pass actually looks like.
Photo Required - optional. Tick it and the task cannot be answered until a photo has been attached to it.

Four tasks across three groups - the arrows reorder a task and the bin removes it

The order you leave the rows in is the order the tasks appear in every checklist created from this template, so it is worth putting them in the order someone would actually walk around the machine.

Step 6 - Save

Select Save. The template appears in the list, and the chevron at the start of its row expands to show the tasks you entered.

The saved template expanded - the tasks are listed in the order they were entered, with Photo Required shown per task

After Creation

The template is now available to be pointed at from wherever its type is used - the Run Up, Return, Equipment Transfer and Pre Start Checklist fields on an equipment class or model, the Pre Sale Checklist on a serialised stock item, a service schedule, or the Work Order Take 5 Checklist and Transport Docket Take 5 Checklist settings.
Nothing happens until it is assigned. Creating a template on its own does not add a checklist to any record.
Where both an equipment model and its class name a checklist for the same type, the model's checklist is the one used.
To change a template, double-click its row, or tick the row and use the edit pencil. Both open the same dialog in edit mode.
Changing the tasks creates a new version of the template. Checklists that already exist keep the tasks they were created with, so a checklist completed last month still reads the way it was answered; only checklists created from then on get the new list.

Ticking a row reveals the edit pencil and enables Export Checklist

There is no delete on this screen. Templates stay on the system because completed checklists still refer back to them. If a template is no longer wanted, clear it from the class, model, stock item or setting that points at it rather than emptying out its tasks - stripping the tasks changes what future checklists ask, but does not remove the template.

Importing and Exporting in Bulk

Building twenty checklists a row at a time is slow, so the list screen also moves them as a CSV.

Export - tick one or more rows, then Options › Export Checklist. You get a checklists_export.csv containing one line per task.
Import - Options › Import Checklist, then upload a file saved as CSV UTF-8. The file must have the columns Checklist ID, Checklist Name, Checklist Type, Task ID, Order, Group, Summary, Description and Photo Required, or the import stops and tells you which headers are missing.
A row with a Checklist ID updates that existing template; leave the Checklist ID blank and a new template is created. The safest way to build an import file is to export an existing checklist first and edit that, which also gives you the exact Checklist Type values the import expects.

The import only accepts a file saved as CSV UTF-8

FAQs

Checklist Templates isn't in the Equipment menu. Why?

The Checklist Templates permission has not been granted to your permission group. It sits under Equipment › Configuration in Security › Configuration › Permission Groups, and it controls both the Checklist Templates and the Checklist Responses screens.

Can I delete a Checklist Template?

No. Checklists that have already been completed refer back to the template they came from, so templates are kept. Remove it from whatever points at it instead, and the template stops being used.

I edited the tasks. What happens to checklists that are already out there?

They are untouched. Editing the tasks creates a new version of the template, and each checklist stays on the version it was created from. Checklists created after the edit use the new tasks.

Saving fails with "Checklist Name must be unique for each Checklist Type combination".

Another template of the same Checklist Type already uses that name. Either rename this one, or edit the existing template instead of creating a second copy. The same name is fine on a different type.

A technician says they can't mark a task as passed.

That task most likely has Photo Required ticked. Until a photo is attached to the task, answering it is rejected with "Checklist task requires a photo". Take the photo on the task first, then answer it.

Can I use answers other than Pass, Fail and N/A?

Yes. Create your own set on Equipment › Configuration › Checklist Responses and choose it as the template's Default Response. The two responses that ship with Latner are system ones and cannot be edited or deleted. Bear in mind that an option cannot be renamed once checklists have used it, so if a wording needs to change, deactivate that response and create a new one.

Where do I attach the template so it actually gets used?

It depends on the type. Run Up, Rental Return, Equipment Transfer and Pre Start templates go on the equipment class or model, Pre Sale templates on the serialised stock item, Service templates on a service schedule, and Take 5 templates on the Work Order Take 5 Checklist and Transport Docket Take 5 Checklist settings under Security › Settings. See How to Assign an Inspection Checklist to a Class / Model and How to Assign a Service Schedule Checklist to a Class / Model / Equipment.

Watch the Demo

Prefer to watch it? Step through the same flow here.