Parameter names, labels, and values
This page is for template builders: the people who build the templates that others produce adaptations from. Every editable field in a template is a parameter, and each parameter has more than one facet. It has a label that people read, a name that the template relies on internally, and one or more values that fill the field. These are easy to confuse, and some you can change freely later while others are fixed once the parameter exists. This page explains what a parameter’s name, label, and values each are, how parameters behave in the Extension for After Effects and in Template Builder, and how to name parameters well so you avoid rework.
The facets of a parameter
A parameter is an editable field in a template, such as a headline, a price, or a background image. When someone produces an adaptation, they fill in a form, and each parameter is one field in that form.
A parameter has three facets:
Name is the stable internal identifier the template uses to track the parameter. It is fixed when the parameter is first created, and the template’s logic is tied to it rather than to the label. Because the name is separate from the label, you can reword a label without breaking the template.
Label is the human-readable text shown against the field in the form. The label is what your colleagues read when they produce an adaptation, so it should describe clearly what belongs in the field. You can change a label at any time without affecting anything else.
Values are the content that fills the field for a given adaptation. For a fixed-choice parameter, the values are the options someone can select; for an open field, the value is whatever they enter.
How you set these facets depends on which tool you build the template in.
Parameters in the Extension for After Effects
When you build a template in the Extension for After Effects, you name each field through its label as you work in After Effects. When you upload the project to the platform, the platform assigns the parameter its stable name. From then on, you can edit the label, but the name stays as it was first created.
To change a parameter’s name, you have to delete the original parameter, along with all the logic tied to it in the project, and create a new one in its place. Because this means rebuilding that logic, settle a parameter’s purpose before you rely on it, and treat only the label as freely editable afterwards.
Parameters in Template Builder
In Template Builder, you set a parameter’s name directly, and the name and the label are the same. Changing the name therefore also changes the text shown in the form.
The values are the options a person can select in a fixed-choice field, or the text they enter in an open field. This is a simpler model than the Extension for After Effects, because there is no separate name to keep track of.
Naming parameters well
Choose labels that tell the person producing an adaptation exactly what to enter, such as Headline, Product price, or Background image.
Clear labels make the form easy to complete correctly, and you can refine them later as wording needs change.
Plan a parameter’s name and its set of values with more care, because these are harder to change once the template is in use. Avoid special characters in parameter names, which can cause problems in some tools; keep names to plain letters, numbers, and spaces. Naming and special characters lists the specific naming constraints.