👤 For all users
🔐 Available on all plans
🎯 For those who installed a template and want to adapt it to their real workflow
With the template installed, you already have the basic process structure working, phases mapped, relevant fields, and the input form configured. What comes next is the refinement stage: adapting names, adjusting fields, and configuring the automations that will make the process run on autopilot.
Customizing a template is not like renovating from scratch. It's like receiving a furnished apartment and rearranging it to suit your way of living. The structure already exists; what you're going to do is calibrate it to the reality of your team.
We will use the Employee Onboarding template as our example throughout, but the logic applies to any process.
📖 What you will do here:
Before editing: understand the template logic
Before changing anything, take a few minutes to understand the template logic. Why each phase is there, what each field represents, and how the intake form was designed. This quick mapping will help you customize with more precision and get more value from what is already built in.
- Read the name of each phase and identify what happens in it operationally
- Open the fields of each phase and see what is being collected at each step
- Read the intake form: what is requested from whoever opens a card
Only after this will you be able to tell what makes sense to keep from what needs to change.
Create a quick draft before editing. Write down your real process phases, the fields you need to collect, and the automations that would make a difference. Use this as a reference during customization.
Step 1 — Adjust the phases to your real workflow
Phases are the backbone of the pipe. Each one represents a step in the process, and a card only moves forward when that step is complete.
What the onboarding template delivers by default:
Planning → First Day → First Week → First Month → Done → Archived
This structure organizes onboarding around time milestones, from pre-boarding to cycle close.
Each phase has a clear focus: Planning covers preparation before day one, First Day covers the initial welcome, First Week covers team and process integration, and First Month covers performance review and development. Done and Archived are final phases with no fields, used to classify completed and cancelled cards respectively.
Depending on your process, you may want to adapt this structure. Common examples:
- Split Planning into two phases: Pre-hire (documentation) and Pre-boarding (access and equipment setup)
- Rename phases to your company's internal language
- Remove First Month if your onboarding process is shorter
- Add a Feedback phase after First Month to record the formal review
How to edit phases:
- To rename: click the phase title at the top of the column and edit it directly.
- To add: click the "+" button at the end of the columns or between two existing phases.
- To reorder: drag the column to the correct position.
- To remove: click the three dots on the phase and select Delete phase.
Deleting a phase permanently removes all cards and data inside it. Make sure it is empty before deleting.
Watch out for excessive granularity. Create a new phase only when there is a different owner or a clear exit criterion. If two steps share the same owner and the same completion criterion, they are probably the same phase.
Step 2 — Adapt the form fields
Understanding what is already configured is the first step to mapping the scope of what you still need to adjust.
What the template already includes:
In the intake form (which starts the process), the template already collects:
- Employee name (short text — required field)
- Employee email
- Employment contract type (label — Full-time, Contractor, Intern, Contract)
- Work arrangement (single select — On-site, Remote, Hybrid)
- Office and current location
- Department and position
In addition to the intake form, each phase already has its own fields:
| Phase | Pre-configured fields |
| Planning | First day of work (date), Digital setup (access checklist), Workstation ready? (yes/no), Onboarding schedule (attachment) |
| First Week | First week checklist (meetings, KPIs, training), Training date, First week comments |
| First Month | Employee manager (owner), First-month performance (scale 1-5), Qualitative feedback, Development plan (attachment) |
| Done / Archived | No fields — final classification phases |
What you will most likely need to add:
The template covers the temporal structure of onboarding well. What most teams tend to add:
- Job title / role: baseline information for requesting specific equipment and access
- Direct manager in the intake form: the template places the manager field only in First Month; moving it to the intake form enables automations from the start
- Required equipment: checklist: laptop, headset, monitor, chair (complements the existing digital setup field)
- Additional access systems: the template already lists Corporate email, Pipefy, Support system and Slack; add the tools specific to your team
How to add and remove fields:
To add: go to pipe settings → Initial form or the specific phase → drag or click the desired field type in the side panel.
To remove: click the three dots next to the field and select Remove. For freshly installed pipes with no real data, removal is safe.
Separate intake data from control data. Intake data is what you collect in the initial form (name, role, work arrangement). Control data is what gets filled in as the card moves through phases (access checklist, performance review). The template already follows this logic. Respect it when adding new fields.
Step 3 — Set up the essential automations
Automations are not included in the template — you will create them from scratch. Start with the ones that eliminate the most repetitive manual work in your workflow. Three that make an immediate difference in onboarding:
Automation 1: Notify the manager when the card enters its First Month.
Trigger: Card enters the First Month phase
Action: Send email to the Employee manager field
Why it matters: this is the phase where the manager needs to log performance and feedback. The automatic notification eliminates the manual HR reminder.
Automation 2: Move the card when the digital setup checklist is complete
Trigger: All items in the Digital setup field checked
Action: Move the Planning card to the First Day card.
Why it matters: the card should not advance until access is ready. This automation ensures the employee starts day one with everything in place.
Automation 3: Alert HR when a card has been stalled for more than 3 days
Trigger: Card stuck in the same phase for 3 days with no movement
Action: Send notification to the responsible HR member
Why it matters: delayed onboardings create poor experiences at the employee's very first touchpoint with the company.
Step 4 — Define members and permissions per phase
A typical onboarding pipeline involves three roles: HR (creates and monitors the card throughout the entire process), IT (acts in the Planning phase to configure access and equipment), and the direct manager (responsible for the first-month evaluation). Each needs adequate access, no more, no less.
To add members: go to pipe settings → Members → Invite by email. Set each person's role: standard member, administrator, or read-only.
To restrict access by phase: in each phase's settings, under Phase permissions, define who can view or edit the fields for that step.
Start with open permissions and restrict as needed. Run a pilot version first, identify where access issues arise, and adjust surgically.
Step 5 — Test before rolling out to the team
Before communicating the process to everyone involved, create 2 or 3 test cards — use fictitious names like the sample cards already in the template (Ross Geller, Joey Tribbiani) and walk through the entire workflow, from opening to the Done phase.
The test will reveal:
- Fields that are missing or in the wrong phase
- Phases com criterios de saida ambiguos
- Automations that do not fire because the condition is incorrect
- Permissions that block actions that should be allowed
Delete the test cards before releasing the pipe for real use.
Completion checklist
By the end of this article, you should have:
☐ Phases renomeadas com a linguagem do time (ou mantidas se ja fazem sentido)
☐ Intake form fields reviewed and adjusted
☐ Control fields added to the right phases
☐ At least 1 automation configured (notification or movement)
☐ Members added with appropriate permissions
☐ 2-3 test cards created and the full workflow walked through
☐ Test cards deleted before go-live
FAQ
Can I customize the template without losing the original structure?
Yes. The template was installed as a pipe in your account, so any changes affect only your instance. If you want to restore the original, delete the pipe and install the template again.
Is there any phase or field that cannot be removed?
There are no technical restrictions. The only practical limitation is that phases with cards cannot be deleted directly — you need to move or delete the cards first.
Can I add fields to specific phases, not just the intake form?
Yes. Each phase has its own field structure. In the pipe settings, you can access and edit each phase separately. That is how the template was built — with different fields at each step of the process.
What are the Done and Archived phases in the template for?
They are final phases with no fields, used to classify the outcome of the card. Done indicates a successfully completed onboarding. Archived indicates a cancelled or incomplete onboarding (employee withdrew, offer cancelled, etc.). You can rename or remove the Archived phase if your process does not use that classification.
How long does it take to customize the template?
For the onboarding template with phase adjustments, field additions, and 2 to 3 basic automations, expect 45 minutes to 2 hours.
Do I need to customize everything before using it?
No. Start with the minimum viable setup: phases with the right names, essential fields added, at least one automation. Use it for a week and adjust based on what surfaces in real operations.
