Before you begin: This article is for users who want to create reusable, AI-powered SmartSlides™ templates in TapClicks. SmartSlides™ templates let teams standardize report structure, branding, data selection, and AI prompts, so anyone can generate consistent presentations quickly for any client. For more information on SmartSlides™ presentations, refer to FAQs: SmartSlides™ or How to Use SmartSlides™.
What Are SmartSlides™ Templates
SmartSlides™ templates are saved presentation blueprints that define the theme, date settings, data sources, and AI instructions used to generate future slide decks. Instead of building each presentation from scratch, you configure a template once so anyone can produce report-ready decks with the same structure and tone.
Templates include:
- A title
- Data hierarchy and assignment (optional)
- Date range (optional)
- Theme (optional)
- Number of slides
- An AI prompt that guides how the presentation is written
- Source of data
- Data sources or dashboard content
When you create a presentation from a template, any data hierarchy, date range, theme, and number of slides saved in the template carry over to the presentation. If you leave the data hierarchy, date range, or theme blank, SmartSlides™ applies a default when the presentation is created, and you can change it at that time.
How to Create a SmartSlides™ Template
1] Log in to TapClicks and, on the Reports menu, click SmartSlides.
2] The SmartSlides™ overview page appears. From the tabs at the top, click the Templates tab.
3] In the upper-right corner, click the add template (plus) icon.
4] The New Template page appears. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. In the Title field, enter a name for your template.
5] Optionally, Under Data Hierarchy, select All, Client, Client Group, Business Unit, or Smart Campaign to set the scope of the template. If you select any option other than All, a dropdown menu appears below it. From the dropdown menu, select the specific client, client group, business unit, or Smart Campaign to assign the template to. When you select Client or Client Group, the dropdown menu displays "Select a Campaign" as its placeholder text.
6] Optionally, click the Date Range field and use the calendar to select a date range.
7] Optionally, from the Theme dropdown menu, choose a theme for your template. To clear a selected theme, click the X in the Theme field.
8] Use the Number of Slides slider, or enter a value in the field, to set how many slides the presentation includes.
9] In the Prompt field, enter the AI guidance for the template.
10] Optionally, click Suggestions to expand a list of AI-generated prompts, then select one. The selected suggestion replaces any text in the Prompt field.
11] Under Source of Data, select Data Category or Dashboard, then follow the steps below for your selection.
If You Select Data Category
12] From the Data Sources dropdown menu, select one or more data sources to pull data from. Each data source you select appears in its own section below the dropdown menu.
13] In each data source section, from the Data View dropdown menu, select a Data View.
14] From the Metrics dropdown menu, select one or more metrics to include in the template.
15] From the Dimensions dropdown menu, select one or more dimensions to include in the template.
16] Optionally, to add another Data View to the same data source, click Add Dataview and repeat steps 13–15. To remove a Data View, click the X icon to the right of its Dimensions field.
If You Select Dashboard
12] From the Dashboard dropdown menu, select the dashboard you want to connect to the template.
13] From the Sections dropdown menu, select one or more dashboard sections for SmartSlides™ to use.
14] From the Widgets dropdown menu, select one or more widgets from each section to include in the template.
Save the Template
1] Click Create Template at the bottom of the page. It will now appear in the list of template on the template overview page and will be available when creating a SmartSlides™ Presentation.