Can I save the site I’ve made for use elsewhere?

SharePoint allows users to save sites as templates.  This permits sites to be modified, then saved for use as “starter” sites elsewhere.  This includes use within the current Site Collection as well as others.

The steps for saving a site as a template are:

1.  Within the site, go to the “User Menu” and choose the “Site Settings” option.

2.  In the Site Settings page, look for the “Site Actions” section.

3.  Click on the “Save site as a template” option.

4.  In the resulting page, complete the fields:

•      File name: This is a required field.  Enter a name for the template.  When the template is ultimately downloaded, it will have this file name, followed by a .WSP file extension.

•      Template Name: This field is required.  Enter the title for the site template.  This is the name of the item the user will see when building a new site.

•      Template Descriptions: An optional field, provide a description for the template.  It is useful to include the reason why someone would select the template to build a new site and its creation date.

•      Include Content: Enable this field!  This field controls whether the template includes the pages and list information of the current site.  If this field is left blank, the Widgets will not be included when new sites are built from this template.

5.  Click on the OK button to save the site as a template.

When the site is saved, it is saved as a template within the web application or site collection.  The Solutions Gallery, accessible from the Site Settings page, has the templates that have been saved.  The templates can be downloaded and moved to another location.

Please note: these steps are brief and don’t provide the possible issues that can arise when trying to save a site as a template or use that template elsewhere.  These challenges can include difficulties with permissions when changing site collections, missing features, file size limitations, and other difficulties.  If there are any questions or problems when going through the site template process, please feel free to reach out to the CorasWorks Support team at Support@CorasWorks.net.