Professional Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2007

18.3. Templates and Packages

Generally speaking, backup and restore are used for disaster recovery scenarios. There are other, more effective ways to move and re-use designs from one environment to another. Templates allow you to save your customizations — and even initial data — into a single file. Solution Packages provide an installation mechanism for virtually any kind of server-side SharePoint module.

18.3.1. List and Library Templates

The easiest way to get a design from one environment into another is to incorporate it into a SharePoint Template. Templates allow you to easily save most lists, libraries, and sites in SharePoint Template Package (.STP) files.

18.3.1.1. Saving a List Template

Although SharePoint has several built-in list and library types, very often you will customize a list. You may add fields, views, and default content that you want to re-use in other sites. To save a list as a template:

1. Navigate to a view of the list that contains the list toolbar.

2. Choose Settings List Settings.

3. In the Permissions and Management section of the header, select Save List As Template.

4. Enter appropriate descriptive text in the form (see Figure 18-13).

   Figure 18-13. Figure 18-13

   

5. If you want to save only the schema of the list (fields, views, and so on), leave the Include Content ...