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Use the **Widgets** menu option to create and manage widget templates for use in Optimizely \<<product-name>'s Content Management System (CMS).



To view the widgets, go to **Admin Console** \> **Themes & Content** \> **Widgets**.

The **Widgets** page is set to display the following 6 columns by defalut:

Column NameDescription
**Edit**The Edit column indicates whether or not the widget template can be edited or is view only.
**System**The System column displays the System icon if the template is a System Template. If a template is a System Template, it also displays the View Only button in the Edit column- noting that the template is View Only and cannot be edited. Editable widget templates show the Edit button in the Edit column.
**Content Item Class**Provides the name of the Content Class, which is available in the widget drop-down when you add a widget to a site. Resulting in the templates becoming options under that content item class (Breadcrumb 2, Breadcrumb 3, and so on).
**Name**Simply the name of the Widget Template
**Status**Indicates whether or not the template has been published or not.
**Last Edited Version Number**Displays the version number of the last edited template.

This screen also displays the **Content Item Class**, **Name**, **Status** (either Published or Draft), and **Last Edited Version Number**. Search for a widget template using the **Search Bar** at the top of the page, or click a column header to sort the list by that column.

Click **Delete** at the top of the screen to delete a widget template. System templates cannot be deleted. If the widget template is linked to an active webpage, or marked as the default template for that Content Item Class, the system displays a pop-up as a reminder that the template cannot be deleted. Remove the template from the webpage, or assign another widget template as the default template, then return to the **Delete** screen to complete the deletion process.

## Clone a widget template

Create a new widget template by cloning a system template and modifying the code.

Note

The **Zone** system template cannot be cloned.

To clone a widget template:

  1. Go to **Admin Console** \> **Themes & Content** \> **Widgets**

  2. Click **View Only** next to a widget template.

  3. Click **Clone**.

  4. Assign the template a unique name on the **Details** tab, and click **Save**.

  5. Modify the other template tabs as needed.

A newly-cloned widget template publishes automatically as v1 of the template. Subsequent versions must be published manually.

## Edit a widget template

Edit cloned widget templates to update details, change code, or restore a previous version of the template. Editable templates show an icon in the Edit column. Cloned widget templates can be edited, while System templates cannot.

  1. Go to **Admin Console** \> **Themes & Content** \> **Widgets**

  2. Click **Edit** next to the widget template you wish to edit.

### Editing buttons

Editing buttons vary depending on the current state of the widget template (Draft or Published).

#### Discard Draft

  1. If the selected template is in **Draft** mode, select **Discard Draft** to delete the current draft and return to the last published version of the widget template. In the pop-up window, select **Discard Draft**.

    

#### Publish

  1. The **Publish** button appears when the widget template is in **Draft** mode. Add optional revision notes in the pop-up, and click **Publish**.

    

#### Clone

  1. Click **Clone** to clone the current widget template.

#### Compare

  1. Click **Compare** to compare the current template version either with a previous version of itself, or with a version of the template it was cloned from (if applicable). Select a version type using the radio buttons at the top of the pop-up, then select a template version using the checkboxes.

    

    Note

    Compare code options are limited to a maximum of 50 versions.

  2. Click **Compare** to open the code in a new window.

    

  3. Any differences between the two selected versions appears in blue. In the above example, a line of code was modified in the most recent version (the version on the left).

  4. Close the browser window to return to the Admin Console.

### Details tab

  1. On the **Details** tab of a cloned template, **Content Item Class**, **Last Edited Version Number**, **Status**, **Last Edited By**, **Last Edited On**, **Is Archived**, and **Cloned From** are set fields and cannot be changed. The cloned template inherits the **Content Item Class** and **Cloned From** field values from the parent template.

    

  2. Assign the template a unique name (required) and description (optional).

    Note

    After a widget template is created, it may NOT be renamed.

  3. At the bottom of the screen, select **Is Default** to mark the widget template as the default template for that content item class. This correlates to the **Use Default Template** checkbox in the CMS.

    If the **Is Default** toggle is changed to **YES**, and the changes saved, a pop-up appears if a widget template already is set as the default for that particular content item class. Click **Continue** in the pop-up window to accept changes and confirm the present widget template as the new default.

    

  4. Click the **HTML** tab to modify the template's code in the ACE editor.

    Note

    A system template's code cannot be modified.

  5. Click into the ACE editor and begin typing to add code. As code is entered, auto-suggest options are presented. Press the **Tab** key to enter the selected suggestion.

  6. In the upper right corner of the ACE editor, click **Upload File** to upload a file. The uploaded code replaces all of the current lines of code; it does not append the existing code. Click **More Options** to enter **Vim Mode**.

### HTML tab

### Version History tab

  1. Click the **Version History** tab to view the widget template's current and previous versions. Select the **View Only** to view additional information about a particular version.

    Note

    Version history is limited to a maximum of 30 versions.

    

  2. The **Details** tab lists the template's content item template name, version number, published by/on information, and any comments added when the version was published. All of this information is Read Only, and may not be changed.

  3. Click **Information** next to the version number at the top of the screen to view additional version details, like Created By, Created On, Modified By, Modified On, and Id.

  4. The **HTML** tab shows the HTML belonging to the selected version. This HTML is read only and cannot be modified.

  5. Click **Restore** in the upper right corner of the screen to restore a previous version of the widget template. If a Draft version currently exists, the **Restore** pop-up displays a warning. Click **Restore & Publish** to restore the version and publish the widget template, or click **Restore** to restore the version but leave the template in Draft mode.

    

    Note

    The Restore option appears only if a user selects a version other than the current Draft or Published version of the template.