The appearance and content of a published model can be customized by applying a custom template. Creating custom templates allows you to define which elements of your model are displayed on the web, and how the data of these elements is represented. If a custom template is created as a separate .mdzip file, you can apply it to multiple models. In order to apply such a template for publishing, you need to use it in the model you intend to publish. This page describes how to accomplish this task.


To use a custom template in a model


  1. Do one of the following:
    • From the File menu, select Use Project > Use Local Project.
    • From Options menu, select Project Usages and click the Use Project button.
  2. In the open Use Project wizard, select a project to use From file system.
  3. Near the Project file box, click   .
  4. In the open dialog, navigate to the directory in which you store your custom template, and select it.

  5. Click the Open button.
  6. In the Use Project wizard, click the Next button to specify project usage options.
  7. In the Accessibility area of the wizard, select the Read-write option.
  8. Click the Finish button.


Now that the template is used in your model, you can apply it when publishing the model on the web. Note that you can modify your custom template both before and after using it in a model. If you want to avoid changing the template after using it, skip steps 6 and 7 in the custom template usage procedure described above.

For more information about using projects see Using other projects in a project.