Starting from a template instead of a blank table
The hardest moment in a new tool is the empty screen. A blank table asks you to decide what the columns are, how two lists relate to each other and what a finished record looks like, all before you have used the thing once. People who are good at their jobs but are not database designers tend to freeze, or to build a single wide sheet because that is the only shape they know.
A template is a different starting point. You get a working set of tables, linked to each other, with example rows and a few saved views, and you edit it into your own process. Here is what that looks like in Appdor, using three real templates, and where it falls short.
Where the gallery is
A new account's first screen offers four doors: Start from a template, Describe it with AI, Import your existing data and Create a blank app. The template tile is described as "Ready-made apps for CRM, projects, inventory and more." Picking a use case opens the gallery filtered to it.
The gallery itself has a search box ("Search templates…"), filters for category, feature and industry, and a checkbox labelled Include sample data, which is ticked by default. Each card says how many tables the template has and how many view modes. Installing creates a complete new application. If you try to install the same template twice, the app refuses and tells you to delete the first one before reinstalling.
Three templates, read closely
Applicant Tracker (ATS) has three tables: Candidates, Positions and Interviews. A candidate has a stage (Applied, Screening, Interview, Offer, Hired, Rejected), a source, an expected salary and a resume attachment. Candidates link to interviews, so each candidate carries an interview count and an average interview score rolled up from the interview ratings. A formula column, "Days in pipeline", counts days from the application date to today. The saved views include a kanban called "Hiring pipeline", a calendar called "Interview schedule" and a list of open positions. There is a "Job application" form for candidates to fill in.
Inventory & Warehouse has Suppliers, Items and Stock movements. Items hold a SKU, a unit cost, the quantity on hand and a reorder level, and two formulas work from those: "Stock status" returns Reorder, Low or OK by comparing quantity with the reorder level, and "Stock value" multiplies quantity by unit cost. Each item links to its supplier, and a lookup pulls the supplier's lead time onto the item. Movements are logged with a type, a quantity and a date, and shown as a log, a calendar and a timeline. The form is called "Record a movement". It also uses field types that check themselves, such as a VAT number, an HS code and an EAN-13 barcode.
Project Tracker has Projects, Tasks and People. Tasks can depend on one another, and formulas flag a task as overdue when its due date has passed and progress is below complete. Projects roll up estimated hours from their tasks and show budget left. The views are a grid, a board, a timeline, a calendar and a portfolio grouped by status.
The file templates/AUTHORING.md is the rule set behind all three: at least three views per template, at least one formula column, at least one form, at least one automation, and realistic sample rows. Columns are drawn from the same 90 field types you get in your own tables, so nothing in a template is a special case you could not build yourself.
Before you rely on one
A template is a shape, and a few of its defaults deserve a look before real people use it.
The sample rows are invented. Leave Include sample data ticked while you explore, because a table full of plausible rows teaches you what the views are for. Untick it when you want to start empty.
Forms install public. The authoring guide says every template form is publicly reachable by its link, and tells authors to choose the fields as if a stranger holding the link will post to it. Check which fields a form exposes before you share the link.
Automations install disabled. The guide says so, and it matters: the email automations in the Applicant Tracker and Inventory & Warehouse templates are addressed to placeholder addresses at example.com, so they should be pointed at a real mailbox before you switch them on.
Template text is authored in English and Bulgarian. The guide says other languages, Chinese today, are translation overlays on top of that.
Last, the gallery is a starting point for common shapes, not a fit for every business. If your process is unusual, a template may be a poor description of it, and it is cheaper to find that out in an afternoon than after you have migrated.
Making your own
When you have an app that works, you can reuse it. The action is labelled Save as template, and the app must be published first. The dialog asks who can use the template (Only me, Anyone signed in or Anyone with the link) and says plainly that the tables, fields and views travel and your records do not: a template is a shape, not a copy of your data. Executable workflows that cannot be copied safely are left out, with a confirmation first. Your own templates are listed in the gallery under Your templates.
Try one on a real list this week, and open the gallery from Appdor.