Editing a published template
You can edit a template at any time, even after it has been published and used to create reports. Here is what changes and what does not when you edit a published template.
What happens to existing reports
Existing reports are not affected. When you create a report, Inspector Studio takes a snapshot of the template at that moment and uses it for that report. Changes you make to the template later do not flow back into reports that were already created.
This is by design — you do not want a template change to silently alter a report you already delivered to a customer.
What the change affects
Template edits apply to new reports created after the edit. If you fix a typo in a deficiency description, add a new question, or reorganize a section, those changes will appear in all reports created from that template going forward.
How to edit a published template
Go to Templates and click the template you want to edit.
Make your changes in the editor — add, remove, or update sections, questions, deficiencies, and narratives as needed.
Changes save automatically.
You do not need to unpublish the template to edit it. It remains available for new reports while you work on it.
Making significant structural changes
If you are making large structural changes — reorganizing sections, adding many new questions, overhauling your deficiency library — consider duplicating the template first, making your changes on the copy, and publishing the copy as your new default. This gives you a clean break between the old and new structure and preserves the original if you need to reference it.
Versioning and history
Inspector Studio keeps a record of which template version was used to create each report. This means you can always trace back what template structure a specific report was built from, even if the template has changed significantly since.
Communicating changes to your team
If you make changes that affect how inspectors fill out reports — new required questions, changed deficiency wording, new sections — let your team know. Template changes are not announced automatically to inspectors. A quick team message or training note prevents confusion on the next job.
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