Tracy van der Schyff

#Office365Challenge – Saving Sites as Templates in SharePoint. In SharePoint we have the ability to save a site (including apps and content) as templates. This is a great feature when building team sites for departments / divisions that should have the same functionality. This saves BUCKET LOADS of time and should be utilized where possible.

First step will be to build the site you want to use, add all the relevant apps, metadata and views.
Once this is done – navigate to the Home page of your site, go to Settings (1), Site Settings (2), Save Site as Template (3):

Note: If the “Save as Template” is not available on your site settings, it could be influenced by Publishing / Community Site Features enabled and even Scripting abilities. Below is a work around for this (but not advisable, if the Save as Template is not displayed, it could build a template with errors as the features are not compatible):

Add the following behind your site URL: /_layouts/15/savetmpl.aspx
For example: https://name.sharepoint.com/TeamSite/SPS/_layouts/15/savetmpl.aspx

The dialogue box will open for Save as Site Template – complete the details (1) and remember to mark “Include Content” (2) if necessary.

You’ll receive a confirmation if it was successfully saved. If you’re only using this as a temporary template, save the solution gallery link so you can delete the template after you’ve used it.

Now if you go to Site Contents > Add a sub site > you will notice the template available under Custom

There you go – saved you LOTS of time I hope!

Overview of my challenge: As an absolute lover of all things Microsoft, I’ve decided to undertake the challenge, of writing a blog every single day, for the next 365 days. Crazy, I know. And I’ll try my best, but if I cannot find something good to say about Office 365 and the Tools it includes for 365 days, I’m changing my profession. So let’s write this epic tale of “Around the Office in 365 Days”. My ode to Microsoft Office 365.

Keep in mind that these tips and tricks do not only apply to Office 365 – but where applicable, to the overall Microsoft Office Suite and SharePoint.