Getting Started
Key concepts in 5 minutes
The vocabulary you'll need for the rest of these docs — design-time, runtime, and how Templates and Playbooks each map to words you already use.
If you only read one page before getting started with Gleo, make it this one.
Understanding the difference between a Playbook Template and a Playbook will make the rest of the platform much easier to learn.
Playbook Templates and Playbooks
These two concepts sit at the centre of Gleo.
Playbook Template
The reusable design. It defines the phases, sessions, agendas, and pre-work that make up a process. Templates live in Playbook Studio and can be published, versioned, and shared.
Playbook
A live engagement created from a template. It has participants, dates, sessions, activity, and progress. This is where work gets delivered.
You design templates and run playbooks.
Templates do not have participants, calendars, or activity. Playbooks do.
Quick rule: if it has participants, dates, and live activity, it's a Playbook. If it lives in Studio and has a Publish button, it's a Playbook Template.
The template structure
Every Playbook Template follows the same hierarchy:
Playbook Template
The complete design. This is the item you publish, version, and share.
Phase
A group of related sessions, such as Discovery, Planning, or Delivery.
Session Template
The blueprint for a single session, including its agenda, pre-work, and facilitator guidance.
Activity
An item within a session agenda, such as a discussion, exercise, review, or decision point.
Step
The smallest unit of guidance within an activity.
Pre-work, agenda items, and session settings all belong to the Session Template.
What happens when you create a Playbook?
When you create a Playbook from a published template, Gleo creates a live copy of that structure.
v3"] CREATE{{Create}} PB[Playbook] SESS[Sessions] PT --> CREATE CREATE --> PB PB --> SESS
The important detail is that the Playbook stays linked to the version it was created from.
If you publish a new version of the template tomorrow, existing Playbooks continue using the version they started with.
This prevents changes to a template from unexpectedly affecting work already in progress.
Three session concepts
These three terms appear throughout the platform:
| Term | What it is | When it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-work | Tasks participants complete before a session | Before |
| Agenda | The plan for the session | During |
| Goal | The outcome the session is intended to achieve | Throughout |
Every session has a single goal. The goal acts as the anchor for the agenda, activities, and discussions that follow.
Versioning
There are two simple rules:
- Every time you publish a Playbook Template, Gleo creates a new version.
- Every Playbook is tied to the version it was created from.
If a running Playbook doesn't reflect a recent template change, this is usually the reason.
For more detail, see Drafts vs Publishing.
Themes
Themes control colours, fonts, and logos across participant-facing experiences.
Theme settings follow this priority order:
Session → Session Template → Playbook Template → Playbook → Company default
The first available setting in the chain is used.
See Theme priority chain for full details.
Template or Playbook?
If you're unsure which you're looking at:
Publish button or Marketplace listing? You're looking at a Playbook Template.
Tasks, Team, or Questions tabs? You're looking at a Playbook.
That's the core vocabulary used throughout Gleo.