SharePoint 2010 Web
Templates
What are They and How to Conquer Them
Ryan McIntyre, MCITP, MCPD
Director, Portals & Collaboration Practice
Templates are Good for…Nothing?
• Usability
– Site Creators
– Window Shoppers
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Promote Functionality
Reporting
Administration
Uhh…Sounds like Governance!
Template Family
Site
Definitions
Web
Templates
Site
Templates
Site Definitions
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Farm Solution
Requires file system (no O365)
Can’t change ONET after sites provisioned
Feature Stapling
Site Templates
• Publishing sites not supported
• SC scoped (unless VS modified)
• Environment Locked
DEMO SITE TEMPLATES
Web Templates
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Publishing supported
Farm or SC scope
Feature based (no files on file system)
Can’t use variations
No Feature Stapling, but can define in
ONET
• No unique WebTemplateId*
Import Site Template
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Import what you need
Change project Deployment Configuration
Change Feature Default Activation behavior
Change Deployment Conflict Resolution
Visibility
SiteFeatures
DEMO SITE TEMPLATE IMPORT
Clean Web Template
• Blank SharePoint 2010 Project
• Two Features: Deployment (WebTemplate) & Default (site
objects)
• Object Folders (Lists, Modules, etc.)
• PropertyBag module: WebTemplate Id
• WebTemplate Element
– Elements.xml
– ONET.xml
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Copy from 14\Templates\SiteTemplates\*
Change deployment type to ElementFile
Remove DocumentTemplates
Remove all configurations EXCEPT -1 & 0
Remove Modules
Remove ListInstances
Associate Default Feature
• Pre/Post Deployment Actions
DEMO WEB TEMPLATE
CREATION
Add Content
• Publishing Pages / Images
– Include file in Module and update properties in elements.xml
• Wiki Pages
– Use elements.xml to add file by referring to existing page template,
updating properties as needed (WikiField)
• List Items
– Elements file for ListInstance
– Feature Receiver
• Sub Sites
– Feature Receiver
Resources
• Vesa Juvonen > SharePoint 2010 and Web Templates:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vesku/archive/2010/10/14/sharep
oint-2010-and-web-templates.aspx
• Mirjam van Olst > Site Definitions vs. Web Templates:
http://sharepointchick.com/archive/0001/01/01/sitedefinitions-vs.-webtemplates.aspx
• MSDN > WebTemplates and Site Definitions:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms434313.aspx
Ryan McIntyre
ryan.mcintyre@neudesic.com
http://blog.randomdust.com
@ryanmcintyre
303-520-6337