Why isn't "Add a template folder" in Affinity Designer working on my Mac?

[tamaracks]

I am baffled. I have created a folder on my Mac. I have saved documents as templates there (they have the .aftemplate extension). I open the New Document window and select the Templates section. I click the "Add template folder" button and choose a folder with the templates. But nothing ever shows up. No folders appear in the list on the left in the Templates section of the New Document dialog. I don't know what could be preventing the folders from showing up. Any ideas?

macOS Sequoia 15.0.1

Affinity Designer 2.5.5

[Old Bruce]

16 minutes ago, tamaracks said:

I am baffled. I have created a folder on my Mac. I have saved documents as templates there (they have the .aftemplate extension). I open the New Document window and select the Templates section. I click the "Add template folder" button and choose a folder with the templates. But nothing ever shows up. No folders appear in the list on the left in the Templates section of the New Document dialog. I don't know what could be preventing the folders from showing up. Any ideas?

Where on your Mac is the folder with the template files? If it is on a Network or in a cloud there may be a problem accessing it. There may be a problem with some security/privacy setting in Mac OS 15. that is not allowing Designer access to the folder you have created.

[tamaracks]

24 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Where on your Mac is the folder with the template files? If it is on a Network or in a cloud there may be a problem accessing it. There may be a problem with some security/privacy setting in Mac OS 15. that is not allowing Designer access to the folder you have created.

I thought of that, but I don't think it's the problem. The folders are in my home drive, not a network or cloud drive. I even tried enabling Full Disk Access for Designer and it changed nothing.

[Old Bruce]

1 minute ago, tamaracks said:

I thought of that, but I don't think it's the problem. The folders are in my home drive, not a network or cloud drive. I even tried enabling Full Disk Access for Designer and it changed nothing.

That is how I have my Template folder set up. I don't run OS 15 though. I am almost out of ideas.

Okay, now to try Roy's* perennial advice. "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

 

* (from The IT Crowd)

[tamaracks]

1 minute ago, Old Bruce said:

That is how I have my Template folder set up. I don't run OS 15 though. I am almost out of ideas.

Okay, now to try Roy's* perennial advice. "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

 

* (from The IT Crowd)

Ha, as an IT professional, I can attest that jokes falls under "it's funny because it's true". I have definitely tried quitting and relaunching the app to no avail. I have not restarted my Mac yet today, but I also think that this problem may have been going on for a while. I think I tried to set up the templates folder a couple months ago. I definitely created an .aftemplate file at that time. I will try rebooting today when I get the chance, but I'm not too hopeful because I feel like I tried it already.

[walt.farrell]

How did you save the templates to the folder? Normally, if they're for Designer, you would use Designer to do that, which would indicate (if successful) that is not a permission problem. 

 

[R C-R]

@tamaracks, if you navigate to the folder with your templates in it in Finder, what does it show? If you use the "Get Info" function with it selected, what is the file path shown for it & is the Locked item ticked?

Anything else unusual you can see there?

[westcoastguy]

I have the same problem. My Templates folder is located on Dropbox. I enable the link with Dropbox, but still I cannot add the Dropbox location in Affinity Publisher. This has worked without issue until the last two updates. The files have correct permissions. 

[RNKLN]

I just copied a regular .afdesign file to my templates folder. The file shows up and I can create a document from it. Hence, there apparently is no requirement that the files in the templates folder are of the .aftemplate type. 

For what it's worth.

[westcoastguy]

Glad you have a positive experience. The problem is that I can't even add a folder to the Templates area. It doesn't take in any Affinity app.

[HCl]

.

[R C-R]

15 hours ago, westcoastguy said:

My Templates folder is located on Dropbox. I enable the link with Dropbox, but still I cannot add the Dropbox location in Affinity Publisher.

What specifically happens when you click the Add templates folder button at the bottom left of the Templates pane in the File > New dialog? From there, can you navigate into your Dropbox folder(s) & see anything that looks like it might be your folder? Also, what did you name that folder?

Either way, can you add a new Templates folder to your local drive, one that is not synced to Dropbox?

[westcoastguy]

I have tried adding Dropbox folders and also a folder on my internal hard in the Documents/Templates/ path. Nothing works. Also, now when I open Publisher and click on any "Recent" file, nothing will open. Even when I select "Recent items" from the topbar menu, the file I previously opened will not open. I have use the Open command and go find the file.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, westcoastguy said:

I have tried adding Dropbox folders and also a folder on my internal hard in the Documents/Templates/ path. Nothing works.

Again, what specifically happens when you try? Do you not even get the "Please choose a folder for your templates." window, or you do but it does not allow you to choose any folder; or just not the user's Documents/Templates folder you previously created for them?

EDIT: In Finder, if you navigate to the Documents/Templates/ folder you created on your HD, what if anything does it show is in it?

Edited December 2, 2024 by R C-R

[westcoastguy]

I am presented with 'choose folder', which I do. I click on the folder, the selector closes, and nothing happens. No folder is added. The folder I select has templates in it. See attached video.

[R C-R]

10 minutes ago, westcoastguy said:

No folder is added.

What macOS version are you running? Do you run any add-on 'helper' apps that affect file management in any way? If in Finder you select your Affinity Templates folder, what does 'get info' show for permissions? Anything else unusual about what that shows?

[Old Bruce]

 

2 hours ago, westcoastguy said:

No folder is added. 

Does your Dropbox manage your Documents folder? You and I have very similar setups but I do not have any cloud services set up.

 

[westcoastguy]

Thanks for everyone's help. This is a mystery to me.

[westcoastguy]

On 12/3/2024 at 11:33 AM, R C-R said:

What macOS version are you running? Do you run any add-on 'helper' apps that affect file management in any way? If in Finder you select your Affinity Templates folder, what does 'get info' show for permissions? Anything else unusual about what that shows?

Sonoma 14.7.1 Permissions are set to Owner RWX. I do run Forklift as a Finder replacement, but that should not effect choosing a folder.

[westcoastguy]

On 12/3/2024 at 1:18 PM, Old Bruce said:

 

Does your Dropbox manage your Documents folder? You and I have very similar setups but I do not have any cloud services set up.

 

I don't know what "Does your Dropbox manage your Documents folder" means. If what you mean is: does Dropbox automatically copy all the files in my Documents folder on my internal hard drive to Dropbox, the answer is no.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, westcoastguy said:

I do run Forklift as a Finder replacement, but that should not effect choosing a folder.

One would think not, but it seems to be the only reasonable explanation remaining for why something that works for just about everyone else does not work for you.

Just to test, is there some way you can completely disable it & see if anything changes?

[thomaso]

13 hours ago, westcoastguy said:

I do run Forklift as a Finder replacement, but that should not effect choosing a folder.

"should". Forklift does not seem to be fully trouble-free:
https://www.reddit.com/r/raycastapp/comments/1avfhh1/issue_with_forklift_4_open_folder_interaction/

Or possibly another hidden task (e.g. launch agent or daemon, login item) that may influence the macOS Finder?

An easy way to temporarily avoid the influence of custom system extensions is to start the Mac in Safe Boot Mode with minimal functions. There, – finder and apps will run obviously lot slower – try to access your templates folder in APub.
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac