subject: Choosing a Visio template [print this page] Choosing a Visio template Choosing a Visio template
The type of drawing or diagram you need is obviously going to dictate your choice of template, but there is so much choice available it is helpful to know a bit about each one. I will briefly describe the properties of each one in the Professional edition, as Standard edition users will not have some of these templates included.
The Business category includes Organization Chart and Pivot Diagram, which are fairly straightforward, and a Brainstorming template similar to what was called Mind Mapping in earlier versions. There is a wide choice under the Other Templates category, including Audit diagrams, Cause and Effect diagrams, a Fault Tree Analysis diagram and a TQM diagram all of which have quite specific purposes. Business processes are well catered for as well, with an EPC diagram and ITIL diagram template ready to go.
From the Engineering category can be found a number of special diagram types including Piping, Electrical Circuitry, Parts and Assembly and Fluid Power diagram templates, while from Flowcharts, in addition to the usual flowchart diagram there is a Cross Functional template for creating Swim-Lane diagrams, a Work Flow diagram template and one for Data flow diagrams. You may notice that some templates appear in more than one category, and you would be right! But then the range is so versatile that it is entirely feasible that one template may be used in more than one endeavour.
The General category is self explanatory, as is the Maps and Floorplans, although this does include some interesting templates if you are designing a Security system or a Plant Room. Under the Network category are templates for Conceptual Web Design in addition to the standard Network diagram, but this can be extremely useful as an asset record for a network administrator, as might the Rack Diagram template as it uses industry-standard sizes.
The Schedule category houses a selection of project related templates including Timeline, Gantt Chart and Pert Chart templates. The timeline feature is a useful one if you need to provide a project update to non technical people, and each of these can be connected to a real project so that the data is updated automatically.
The final category, Software and Database includes both Database modelling and UML diagram templates but also ones for diagrams that use the Express G, Jackson and ORM methodologies making this a serious tool for the software professional.
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