Create New Template
This page is used to create a new SharePoint provisioning template, or to edit or copy an existing one. A template defines one or more site templates, each of which provisions either a SharePoint site or a Microsoft Team, along with the document libraries and permissions to apply. Templates can later be deployed to your tenants to provision sites in a consistent way. The page opens in one of three modes depending on how you reach it: Create a new template, Edit an existing template in place, or Copy an existing template into a new one. When copying, the name is pre-filled with a "(Copy)" suffix and saving creates a separate template rather than overwriting the original.
Template Settings
These settings apply to the template as a whole.
Template Name
The name for the template. Required.
Create groups if they do not exist
When enabled, any groups referenced by the template's permissions that do not already exist in the target tenant are created as security groups during deployment.
Skip if exists
When enabled, if a site or team with the same name already exists in the target tenant it is left untouched, and no libraries or permissions are applied to it.
Site Templates
The Site Templates section is a card canvas where you define each site the template should provision. Add a site using one of the two buttons on the Add New Site Template card, SharePoint or Teams, which sets that entry's site type. There is no limit on the number of site templates, and any card can be removed from its options ("...") menu.
Each site template has:
A name, entered in the card header, which becomes the name of the provisioned site or team.
A site type, either a SharePoint site or a Microsoft Team.
A mandatory site-level permission object. Every site template must have at least one root-level permission grant. Until it does, the card is outlined in red and the Save button stays disabled.
One or more document libraries, described below.
Further per-card options are reached from each card's options ("...") menu and are described in the following sections.
Site type
Each site template provisions either a SharePoint site or a Microsoft Team. You choose the type when you add the card, and can change it afterwards with Change Site Type on the card's menu. The card's icon reflects the chosen type. When a template-wide override is active, the per-card type is locked (see below).
Overriding the site type for all sites
The Site Templates section has its own actions ("...") menu containing Override site types…. This opens a dialog where you can turn on Override site type for all sites and choose a single Site type. While the override is on, every site in the template deploys as that one type, ignoring each card's own site type, and the per-card Change Site Type option is disabled until you clear the override. A caption in the section header indicates when the override is active.
Site language
For a site template that deploys as a SharePoint site, Site Language on the card menu sets the language used when the site is created. Leave it on Tenant default to follow each target tenant's SharePoint root site language at deployment, or choose a specific language from the list. This option is not shown for Microsoft Team site templates.
Create as
For a SharePoint site, Create as on the card menu chooses the kind of site: a Team site, which is a collaboration workspace, or a Communication site, which is for publishing such as an intranet or news. This applies only when the card deploys as a SharePoint site and is ignored for Microsoft Teams.
Document Libraries
Within each site template card, select Add Library to add a document library. Each library has a name. From a library's options ("...") menu you can configure unique permissions for that library; a lock icon marks any library that carries its own permissions. A library with no unique permissions inherits the permissions of its site template.
The Add Column and Manage Metadata options in the library menu are placeholders and are not yet available; columns and metadata can be added to the deployed libraries later.
Permissions
Permissions are configured as permission objects at two levels: on a site template (site-level, mandatory) and on individual libraries (optional). Both use the same editor, and each entry pairs a group with a permission level.
Group Display Name
The display name of the group to grant access to. Required.
Permission Level
The level of access to grant the group. Required.
Groups are referenced by display name only. During deployment the name is matched against each target tenant, so the same template can be deployed anywhere without editing. Enable Create groups if they do not exist in Template Settings to have any missing groups created automatically.
The available permission levels are SharePoint's built-in levels:
Read
View pages and items, and download documents.
Contribute
View, add, update, and delete items.
Edit
Contribute access plus the ability to manage lists.
Design
Edit access plus the ability to approve and customise.
Full Control
Full administrative control.
Quick Stats
A Quick Stats panel beside the builder shows live counts as you build the template.
Total Site Templates
The total number of site templates in the template.
SharePoint Templates
How many site templates will deploy as SharePoint sites.
Teams Templates
How many site templates will deploy as Microsoft Teams.
Libraries Defined
The total number of document libraries across all site templates.
Permission Grants
The total number of permission grants across all sites and libraries.
The SharePoint and Teams counts respect the site-type override, so they always reflect what will actually be deployed.
Saving
Select Save Template to store the template. Save only becomes available once the template is valid: a template name is set and every site template has a name, at least one root-level permission, and a name for every library. When something is missing, an information icon next to the Save button lists exactly what needs fixing. Saving a new template or a copy creates a new template, while saving an edit updates the existing template in place. You are then returned to the SharePoint Templates list.
Feature Requests/Ideas
We value your feedback and ideas. Please raise any feature requests on GitHub.
Last updated
Was this helpful?