---
schema_version: "1"
id: a042213b45afdc6f5d5fb066f6e3f65e8c8c88d5c9a816900d779c5ad1f8987a
title: Update Your Experience Builder Site’s Template
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/experience/264-0-0/communities_update_template.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.communities_update_template.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 7ea5633b349d6644a40c4e27b92c032e9152978a0d93c91bb48b1503e7bee16b
description: We introduce amazing features and enhancements with every release, so it pays to keep your Experience Builder site up to date! Typically, we automatically update your template to the latest version, so you can start adding the newest features to your site right away. However, when the changes are significant, you’re required to update your template manually.
products:
  - Experiences
release: "264"
---
# Update Your Experience Builder Site’s Template

We introduce amazing features and enhancements with every release, so it pays to keep your Experience Builder site up to date! Typically, we automatically update your template to the latest version, so you can start adding the newest features to your site right away. However, when the changes are significant, you’re required to update your template manually.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d52219e70">User Permissions
              Needed</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e70 ">To update your template</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e70 ">Create and Set Up Experiences AND Manage Experiences</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-experience-communities-264-0-0-production-enus/bf7df212-91a1-4fa3-a007-4d6f3e3b470b/images/icon_note.png)

Note

All template improvements are made on the latest version. Avoid missing out by keeping your template current.

The Koa and Kokua templates are in a phased retirement. From Summer ’17, you can no longer use them to create sites. We therefore recommend working with Salesforce Support to replace your existing Koa and Kokua sites. Take advantage of the latest templates, which provide richer support for Knowledge and case management, along with a slew of other new features.

We no longer support Koa, Kokua, and Customer Service template versions from before Winter ’16 (October 2015).

The impact of updating a template depends on the version your site is using. When a manual template update is available, a red notification icon (![Updates Available Indicator](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-experience-communities-264-0-0-production-enus/bf7df212-91a1-4fa3-a007-4d6f3e3b470b/communities/images/communities_updates_available.png)) appears over the Settings icon.

![Experience Builder settings](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-experience-communities-264-0-0-production-enus/bf7df212-91a1-4fa3-a007-4d6f3e3b470b/communities/images/community_builder_left_nav.png)

![Important](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-experience-communities-264-0-0-production-enus/bf7df212-91a1-4fa3-a007-4d6f3e3b470b/images/icon_important.png)

Important We strongly recommend that you test the impact of the update in a sandbox environment. After you update and publish your site, you can’t revert to an older version.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
          <col style="width:66.66666666666666%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d52219e130">My Current Template Type and Version</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d52219e133">What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Winter ’19 templates and Lightning Bolt solutions </td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">
              <ul>
                <li>Accessibility and performance improvements on the following components:<ul>
                    <li>Navigation Menu</li>
                    <li>Reputation Leaderboard</li>
                    <li>Related Records</li>
                    <li>Trending Articles by Topics </li>
                  </ul>
                </li>
              </ul>
              <p>If you’ve applied CSS customizations, migrate them in the upgraded components.
              </p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Overriding CSS isn’t recommended. The best way to update the styling of your
                components is to use the Theme panel in Experience Builder. To update existing CSS
                overrides see <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.communities_dev.meta/communities_dev/communities_dev_migrate_css.htm" target="_blank">CSS mappings for updated
                  components</a>.</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Summer ’18 templates and Lightning Bolt solutions</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">Your site is updated automatically with all the features of the Winter ’19
              release. No need to manually update.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Spring ’18 templates and Lightning Bolt solutions</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">
              <ul>
                <li>Improvements to tooltip positioning by changing several panels, dialogs, and
                  tooltips to use a shared container</li>

                <li>Updates to the Language Selector’s functionality and appearance (current
                  preferences are maintained)</li>

                <li>Improvements to the property editor container</li>

                <li>All the changes that apply to subsequent updates</li>

                <li>If you’ve applied CSS customizations, migrate them to the upgraded
                  components</li>

              </ul>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Overriding CSS isn’t recommended. To update existing CSS overrides, see <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.communities_dev.meta/communities_dev/communities_dev_migrate_css.htm" target="_blank">CSS mappings for updated components</a> and
                <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.communities_dev.meta/communities_dev/communities_dev_customize_tokens.htm" target="_blank">Standard Design Tokens for
                  Sites</a>.
              </p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Winter ’18 templates and Lightning Bolt solutions</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">
              <ul>
                <li>A dropdown menu to set audiences at the component level</li>

                <li>Out-of-the-box UI enhancements, such as font sizing</li>

                <li>Upgraded Reputation Leaderboard, Trending Articles by Topic, and Related
                  Articles. If you’ve applied CSS customizations, migrate them to the upgraded
                  components.<p>Overriding CSS isn’t recommended. The best way to update the
                    styling of your components is to use the Theme panel in Experience Builder. To
                    update existing CSS overrides see <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.communities_dev.meta/communities_dev/communities_dev_migrate_css.htm" target="_blank">CSS mappings for updated
                      components</a>.</p>
                </li>

                <li>A new User Profile Menu component that automatically replaces the Profile
                  Header component in updated templates</li>

                <li>The base component on the Record Detail page for custom objects is replaced
                  with a newer version for desktop view mode. If you currently have CSS overrides
                  for record layout, keep them, and refer to <em>CSS Overrides Migration for the
                    Record Layout Component</em> to add your styles and customizations to the new
                  component</li>

                <li>A new Theme panel that redesigns the Branding Panel in Experience
                  Builder.</li>

                <li>Additions to Theme settings that help you easily see which pages a theme
                  layout is associated with</li>

                <li>More metadata options to improve discoverability of pages through SEO</li>

                <li>Query parameters in a site URL, other than language, no longer persist while
                  navigating within a site</li>

                <li>Updates to CMS Connect (JSON) require manual updating to connections created
                  with the Winter ’18 release.<ul>
                    <li>CMS Connect (JSON) now autocreates detail pages. URL’s using query
                      parameters pointing to your manually created pages continue to work.
                      However, they aren’t accessible from the CMS Connect (JSON) Property Editor
                      in Experience Builder.<p>For better SEO and management, it is best to use
                        the new, automatically created pages.</p>
                      <ul>
                        <li>In Experience Workspaces, add a Content Type and the JSON path for
                          both ID and Title.</li>
                        <li>In Experience Builder, open the Property Editor of the existing CMS
                          Connect (JSON) component by selecting it. </li>
                        <li>Click <strong class="uicontrol">Save</strong> to create and autoconfigure the new
                          detail page.<p>The standard page you created in Winter ’18 for
                            navigation isn’t automatically deleted. If it’s not referred to by any
                            other component, you can manually delete it from the Pages
                            menu.</p>
                        </li>
                      </ul>
                    </li>
                    <li>CMS Connect (JSON) has new configuration fields.<ul>
                        <li>When editing an existing JSON connection, the Connection Type is
                          Public by default and Content Type, Title, and ID are empty. Title and
                          ID have to be filled before the connection can be saved again.<p>You can
                            have only one Content Item per Type and it’s necessary to define a
                            Content Item for navigation support.</p>
                          <ul>
                            <li>If you have multiple Content Lists and a single Content Item in an
                              existing connection, when you edit your CMS Connection a single
                              Content Type is created in the JSON section with the Content Item
                              and Content Lists assigned to it.</li>
                            <li>If you have multiple Content Items and Content Lists, when you
                              edit your CMS Connection you have one Content Type with a single
                              Content Item and all of your Content Lists under it. The remaining
                              Content Items are each in a separate Content Type.</li>
                          </ul>
                        </li>
                      </ul>
                    </li>
                  </ul>
                </li>

                <li>All the changes that apply to subsequent updates.</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Spring ’17 and Summer ’17 Customer Service, Partner Central, and Lightning Bolt
              solutions</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">
              <ul>
                <li>Decoupling of the search box from the site header, making it easier to insert
                  your own search experience within a site. <p>The Search page in the Winter ’18
                    version of the Customer Service (Napili) template doesn’t include the Headline
                    component out of the box. If your site’s Search page includes the Headline
                    component, it’s removed as part of the upgrade.</p>
                </li>

                <li>Sleeker header component improves your site’s mobile experience, leaving more
                  room to show what’s important to your site.</li>

                <li>Out-of-the-box UI improvements, such as improved spacing in text fields.</li>

                <li>Streamlined new Global Search for Peer-to-Peer Sites. </li>

                <li>Upgraded, high-performance navigation menu that offers more styling options
                  and reduces the need for CSS overrides. If you have applied CSS customizations,
                  migrate them to the upgraded navigation menu. <p>Overriding CSS isn’t
                    recommended. The best way to update the styling of your navigation menu is to
                    use the Theme panel in Experience Builder. To update existing CSS overrides
                    see <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.communities_dev.meta/communities_dev/communities_dev_migrate_css.htm" target="_blank">CSS mappings for updated
                      components</a>.</p>
                </li>

              </ul>
              <ul>
                <li>Adoption of Lightning Design System principles in all content layouts.</li>

                <li>Two new branding options: Navigation Background Color and Navigation Text
                  Color. </li>

                <li>All the changes that apply to subsequent updates.</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Winter ’16 to Spring ’17 Customer Service (Napili)</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">
              <ul>
                <li>Login pages retain branding but lose custom code or component
                  customizations.</li>

                <li>All the changes that apply to subsequent updates.</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Pre-Winter ’16 Koa, Kokua, or Customer Service (Napili)</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">
              <p>Most component customizations and properties are overwritten. However:</p>
              <ul>
                <li>For Koa and Kokua, general settings, such as Category Group Name, Top-Level
                  Category, and Company Name, carry over.</li>
                <li>For Customer Service (Napili), topic definitions carry over.</li>
                <li>All the changes that apply subsequent updates.</li>
              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Pre-Spring ’16 Aloha template</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">Most branding properties defined using the Branding Editor in Experience
              Builder are maintained. However, sometimes your site’s colors are reset to the
              default value. After you update the template, check the branding properties and
              update the ones that were reset</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="My Current Template Type and Version" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e130 ">Salesforce Tabs + Visualforce</td>

            <td data-label="What Can I Expect When Updating to Spring ’19?" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e133 ">Template updates for sites using Salesforce Tabs + Visualforce aren’t managed
              from Experience Builder.</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

For information on component compatibility with older template versions, see [Which Components Can I Use with Each Template?](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.rss_component_reference_table.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Aura site templates, such as Customer Service and Partner Central, are each composed of pages, which in turn are made up of customizable components. Consult this table to find out which Aura template each component can be used in, and when the component became available.")

To update your template:

1. In Experience Builder, click **![Settings](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-experience-communities-264-0-0-production-enus/bf7df212-91a1-4fa3-a007-4d6f3e3b470b/communities/images/community_builder_settings.png)** | **Updates**.
2. Click **Update** and confirm the update when prompted.
3. Make sure that your login pages look correct, and reconfigure missing branding properties, custom code, and component customizations.
4. [Publish your site](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.community_designer_publish.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Publish your Aura or LWR site in Experience Builder to make your site updates and component customization updates available to your site members.") to apply the template updates.

If you are upgrading from a pre-Winter ’18 template, some of the old branding properties are reorganized but still there, while others map to different properties. Let’s take a closer look at the changes.

![Old and updated branding and theme properties, numbered 1-7](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-experience-communities-264-0-0-production-enus/bf7df212-91a1-4fa3-a007-4d6f3e3b470b/communities/images/community_builder_themepanel_schematic.png)

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d52219e487">Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ...</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d52219e490">Map to these updated branding properties ...</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Background Color (1)</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">Background Color (1)</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Button Color (2)</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">Action Color (2)</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Button Border Color</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">—</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Button Hover Color</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">—</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Button Hover Border Color</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">—</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Font Color (3)</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">Text Color (3)</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Error Font Color (4)</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">Error Font Color (4)</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Background Image (5)</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">Background Image (5)</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Card Background Color (6)</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">
              <p>Card Background Color (6)</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Also controls card transparency</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Card Border Color</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">—</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Card Transparency</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">—</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Pre-Winter ’18 branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e487 ">Font Family (7)</td>

            <td data-label="Map to these updated branding properties ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d52219e490 ">Primary Font (7)</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

#### See Also

- [Experience Builder Settings](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.community_builder_general_settings.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Use the Settings area to track which template you’re using, view your site’s status and publication history, and customize your template. If you’re using the Customer Service template, access your navigational and featured topic settings.")
- [Customize Sites with Experience Builder](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.community_designer_overview.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Experience Builder lets you easily style your site, create and customize pages, add drag-and-drop components, and deliver personalized experiences to different audiences. Choose a template to quickly start your site, and then style the pages to match your company’s branding.")
- [Considerations for Changing Your Template](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.networks_template_considerations.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Changing your template affects site navigation, branding, and customizations.")