Create Your First Blueprint
A blueprint defines the structure of a reporting cycle — its sections, fields, contributors, and outputs. Every edition and every published report traces back to a blueprint.
This guide walks you through creating a blueprint from scratch. For a reference-level field type list see Blueprint Field Types, and for custom form layouts see Blueprint Form Designer.
Before you begin
- You need the Blueprint Author or Admin role.
- Decide on the reporting frequency: daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, or ad-hoc.
- Sketch your sections — group related inputs such as progress, risks, commercial status, actions, and safety.
- Identify who fills each section (contributors) and who reviews and approves (reviewers).
- Know the target export format: PDF, Excel, Word, or a combination.
Step 1: Open the Blueprint Library
- Navigate to Report Forge from the main navigation.
- Select the Blueprints tab.
- Click + New Blueprint.
Step 2: Set blueprint properties
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Internal identifier — shown in the library and edition creation list. |
| Display name | Shown on report covers and in the report viewer. |
| Description | Short summary of the report's purpose. |
| Category | Group by type, e.g. Monthly Progress, Handover, Safety, Commercial. |
| Reporting frequency | How often editions are created: daily / weekly / biweekly / monthly / quarterly / annual / ad-hoc. |
| Icon / colour | Visual identifier in the blueprint library. |
| Version | Starting version label — default 1.0. |
Click Create to open the blueprint designer.
Step 3: Add sections
Sections group related inputs. Each section has a type that controls how contributors enter data.
- Click + Add Section.
- Enter a section name (e.g. "Executive Summary", "Risk Register", "Schedule Status").
- Choose the Section type:
- Single entry — one set of field values per edition. Use for summaries, narratives, status updates, and single-record commercial data.
- Repeating rows — multiple rows per edition. Use for risk registers, action lists, lookahead records, quantities, and activity lists.
- Optionally add a description to guide contributors.
- Click Save section.
Repeat for all sections. Typical first blueprints include: Executive Summary, Schedule Status, Cost/Commercial Status, Risk & Issues, Key Decisions, Upcoming Work.
Step 4: Add fields to each section
- Open a section and click + Add Field.
- Set the field name, display label, and field type.
- Mark required fields with Required: on.
- Save the field, then repeat for all fields in the section.
Field types reference
| Type | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Text | Short single-line text: names, codes, reference numbers. |
| Textarea | Multi-line plain text: brief descriptions, notes. |
| Rich text | Formatted narrative: executive summaries, key issues, progress descriptions. Supports headings, bullets, bold, tables, and inline images. |
| Number | Integers or decimals: counts, durations, quantities. |
| Currency | Money values with currency symbol and precision. |
| Percent | Decimal stored as a fraction (0–1), displayed as percentage. |
| Date | Calendar date picker. |
| Datetime | Date + time picker. |
| Select | Single choice from a predefined list. Use for status fields: Not Started / In Progress / Complete / On Hold. |
| Multi-select | Multiple choices from a list. Use for disciplines, work types, tags. |
| Toggle | Boolean yes/no. Use for "Is this section complete?", "Is this a critical risk?". |
| Image | Image upload. Embedded in form mode and bindable in output components. |
| File | File attachment. Linked to the edition record; accessible to reviewers. |
| URL | Hyperlink field with display text. |
| Email address with validation. | |
| Rating | 1–5 star rating. |
| RAG | Red / Amber / Green status picker. Used for schedule status, safety status, cost status. |
| Computed | Calculated from other fields in the same section using a formula expression. See Parameters and Calculated Fields. |
| Lookup | Pulls a value from another blueprint's edition. See Lookup Fields. |
Step 5: Configure field options
For each field you can also configure:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Placeholder | Hint text shown inside the empty field. |
| Default value | Value pre-filled when a new edition is created. |
| Validation | Min/max for numbers; date range constraints; character limits for text. |
| Conditional visibility | Show or hide this field based on the value of another field. See Conditional Field Visibility. |
Step 6: Set section permissions (optional)
For each section you can restrict which roles can view or edit it:
- Open the section → Permissions.
- Assign Edit to roles responsible for data entry.
- Assign View to roles that review but do not edit.
- Leave blank to inherit the project-level role defaults.
See Section Permissions for the full configuration guide.
Step 7: Set up the form layout (optional)
The Form Designer lets you organise fields across tabs and multi-column layouts rather than a single scrolling list.
- In the section settings, click Form Designer.
- Add tabs to group related sections or workflows.
- Drag fields into layout cells — each row supports up to 4 columns.
- Choose a display mode per section block: Form (guided input), Table (row-and-column), or Spreadsheet (inline editable grid).
See Blueprint Form Designer for the full layout reference.
Step 8: Review and publish
- Click Preview to verify the section and field structure.
- Test by creating a Draft edition — enter sample data and confirm the form layout works for contributors.
- When the structure is correct, click Publish blueprint.
Published blueprints can be used to create editions. You can still edit and republish a blueprint — existing editions are not affected unless you increment the version.
Blueprint design tips
- Structure fields whenever you can. Structured fields (Select, RAG, Number, Percent) can be charted, filtered, and aggregated in outputs. Free text cannot.
- Keep required fields minimal. Only require what genuinely blocks review. Excessive required fields slow contributors and create friction at deadlines.
- Name sections for the audience. "Executive Summary" is better than "Section 1".
- Use Select for status. Define a consistent status vocabulary (Not Started / In Progress / Complete / On Hold / Cancelled) and reuse it across all your blueprints.
- Create a test edition before publishing. It is far easier to fix field names and order before anyone has entered real data.
- Use Repeating rows for anything list-like. Risks, actions, decisions, quantities, and lookahead items all benefit from grid-mode entry and can be charted in outputs.