Template Overview

Episodes in the Microsoft 365 Templates Series

  1. Template Overview
  2. Content Types and Document Templates
  3. Page Templates
  4. Site and List Templates
  5. Teams Templates

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In this Ask Sympraxis session we explore the vast landscape of templates within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Discover how templates serve as essential building blocks for evolving sites over time. A template in the conventional sense may be thought of as a guide. In Microsoft 365, we consider a template something aimed to deliver repeatability, consistency, and encapsulating institutional knowledge.

Content types as templates

Content types serve as templates for business objects like invoices, contracts, orders, etc. Although Microsoft provides base content types, you can create your own to suit your organizational needs. Building those in the Content Type Hub or SharePoint admin center allows you to reuse them across your tenant.

Document templates

Document templates are most often associated with the Office suite products - Word, Excel, etc. These can be linked to content types, ensuring consistent document generation in libraries. However, be sure to listen to the potential complications discussed because of changes in the platform.

Page templates and automation

Page templates are specific to a site collection. There is no official application programming interface (API) to automate creating pages in SharePoint. However, you can leverage tools like PnPPowerShell, M365 CLI, PnPFramework, PnPjs, or third-party solutions such as Orchestry and ShareGate for automation.

List templates

List templates typically serve two main purposes. First, is to quickly start common functions. The second is to provide consistency. You can create the same list, the same way, to be used across multiple sites. However, there are complications when it comes to the lists generated with Microsoft’s templates as they do not create content types. You can create your own organizational list templates by generating JSON and PowerShell to instantiate it.

Site Templates

When creating a SharePoint site, you first determine between a team site or communication site. From there, a list of different site templates is provided, which we recommend using as building blocks for your organizational needs.

Admin automation

For those seeking efficiency, all template-related tasks can be automated using PowerShell, offering administrators powerful tools for managing templates at scale.

If you have additional questions about templates, join our January 10th Ask Sympraxis session and we dive deeper into content types and document templates. Stay tuned for more insightful discussions and practical tips in the new year!

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