Microsoft Sharepoint Products and Technologies Resource Kit eBook

Chapter 16: Windows SharePoint Services Site Administration 407
SharePoint Services includes predefined views called site templates. Alternatively,
you will be able to customize a site and then save a site template based on that new
design for use on other sites. A site template includes all the pages, information, and
styles needed to create a site, including any list templates used in the site. Another
kind of template, called a list template, includes all the pages, information, and styles
needed to create a single list.
The first time you access the newly created site, you will have the opportunity
to select a template from a page that shows all templates available on the server and
site collection. This set is filtered based on the site language and the site definition
ID that your site is based upon. As mentioned earlier, these templates can be customized
for the site. (See Figure 16-2.)
Note Each template maintains its identify via site definition ID. For example,
a site based on the Meeting Workspace template has a different site
definition ID than a site based on the Team Site template. As an example, if
you create a Meeting Announcements custom list template from the
Announcements list in a site based on a Meeting Workspace template, that
template is not available from within a site based on the Team Site template.
F16XR02
Figure 16-2 Template selection
Templates are also known as site definitions. Later we will explore how you
can create your own customized templates or site definitions. For now, we’ll focus
on the site definitions that are available on the server by default.