# Duplicating Space Template - child objects not duplicated

**URL:** <https://community.fibery.io/t/duplicating-space-template-child-objects-not-duplicated/4657>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Created:** [June 22, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/duplicating-space-template-child-objects-not-duplicated/4657 "2023-06-22T01:39:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![IMTanuki](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/imtanuki/32/7751_2.png) [@IMTanuki](https://community.fibery.io/u/IMTanuki)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/duplicating-space-template-child-objects-not-duplicated/4657/1 "2023-06-22T01:39:53Z")

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Hi, new user again…

In each of my spaces, I have an instance called Template - for ex in the Project Management space, one of the projects is Template.

Project Management (space) structure

- projects
- sections M:1 project
- tasks M:1 project, M:1 section (I know)

Template (project) has:

- 3 sections
- 3 tasks

When I duplicate the Template (project) to create a new project:

- the project record is correctly duplicated
- but other child objects (sections and tasks) are not duplicated
- so the overall new project structure is correct, but it’s missing important content.

Is tjhis by design? Or am I missing sth?

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**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 5:45am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/duplicating-space-template-child-objects-not-duplicated/4657/2 "2023-06-22T05:45:07Z")

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The behaviour you describe is to be expected.  
If you clone an entity, you do not automatically clone related entities.  
I can understand why you might expect it, but because Fibery workspace relations can become more complex than your example, making the ideal rules for which linked entities should be cloned and which shouldn’t is not easy.

You might want to check out [Fibery Templates | Fibery templating](https://fibery.io/templates/templating) for an example of how cloning collection(s) can be achieved with automations.

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**Author:** ![IMTanuki](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/imtanuki/32/7751_2.png) [@IMTanuki](https://community.fibery.io/u/IMTanuki)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/duplicating-space-template-child-objects-not-duplicated/4657/3 "2023-06-22T15:43:31Z")

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I get that duplicating an entity can be complex, but I guess I’m used to vanilla copy/paste functions that will duplicate a “template” in its entirety.

On the other hand…while it looks like automation may require a little bit of setup, it seems to have all the functionality to accomplish what I need. I’ll give it a shot!

Thx for the quick reply!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![IMTanuki](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/imtanuki/32/7751_2.png) [@IMTanuki](https://community.fibery.io/u/IMTanuki)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/duplicating-space-template-child-objects-not-duplicated/4657/4 "2023-06-23T16:55:09Z")

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@Chr1sG I looked at the automation solution, but I have some heartburn over how it works - by creating a persistent relationship between the template and projects:

- changing a project category triggers the automation and adds new tasks
- adding a new task to a template adds that task to existing projects (yikes), but…
- bc the trigger is on the task template add, the task contents, which are updated after the task template record is created, don’t get updated (but I see the code to copy contents)
- deleting a task template doesn’t have any effect on existing project tasks (a good thing)

I can see where downstream maintenance on either/both a project and template could get a bit tricky.

So, I’ll pass on this approach - but is there an automation that does not rely on a persistent category-project relationship - eg. click a button and the automation simply copies a project template (in its entirety) with no residual relationship once the new project is added?

I guess I can always write a JS routine…