SharePoint Online Modern Sites

[laceyk]

Can anyone shed some light on this for me please? In classic sites you can save the site as a template, upload it to Solutions, Activate it and have it available for standards users to choose when creating sub sites.

In SharePoint Online Modern Sites this is no longer how it is done. I have read up on all the PowerShell commands and have successfully saved a template and applied it to a sub site by running the commands. However a standard user is not going to do this each time or even have the ability's to do this. 

I have found the 'Apply a Site Template' option and under My Organization. I have watched several you tube tutorials but all seem to just be applying a layout, theme etc. I have yet to find any which bring in existing Document Libraries, Lists. 

Has anyone successfully used this process? 

[#2]

@laceyk 

First of you don't want to be using subsites in modern SharePoint. That's the thing of the past

Instead, you should use hub sites and associate related sites to them. For instance, you can create a hub site for Engineering and connect all the engineering department sites to it.

This way, you can benefit from shared navigation and branding across the hub site and its associated sites. You can also use site templates to apply predefined configurations such as Lists, libraries which are defined in the template, look and feel, fields, etc.

Hub sites are more flexible and adaptable than subsites, as they allow you to change the relationships between sites without breaking the URLs or permissions. Hub sites are also easier to manage and govern than subsites, as they have their own site collections and features.

Create:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/declarative-customization/site-design-overview

Apply:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/apply-and-customize-sharepoint-site-templates-39382463-0e...

[#3]

@laceyk It is possible to create your own custom SharePoint site templates using site scripts and site designs (now called as site templates).

Follow below detailed steps: Get started creating site templates and site scripts 

Also, I will suggest you to look at the site template JSON schema first to check what things/actions are supported by site templates currently. There might be a chance that some functionalities you want may not be supported by site scripts: Site template JSON schema 

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[#4]

Hi, thank you for responding. Your comment about subsites being a thing of the past has just completely shocked me. I have never read that anywhere. Do you have any particular articles about the best way to set those up?

[#5]

@laceyk Check this Microsoft official documentation about SharePoint information architecture:

1. Introduction to SharePoint information architecture - Guiding principle: the world is flat 

Also, check these documentations related to SharePoint hub sites:

1. Planning your SharePoint hub sites 
2. What is a SharePoint hub site? 

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Please click Mark as Best Response & Like if my post helped you to solve your issue. This will help others to find the correct solution easily. It also closes the item. If the post was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Like.

For SharePoint/Power Platform blogs, visit: Ganesh Sanap Blogs

[#6]

Thank you for pointing us in the direction of the documentation. Saves me sifting through so much.
But I am still not seeing documentation for SharePoint Modern about Library templates associated sites can use from the Hub Site.
I need a Library template I can select that has all the pre-set 'Advanced Settings', content types, views.
Instead of creating and re-configuring new Libraries each time. So much room for error. The point of a Template is to reduce room for error. To standardise everything. My company has a collection of Libraries across Sites with varied settings. Users are all confused.

We have been able to write a script to generate a site with pre-set Site Pages and Libraries. BUT in the new site (created from the template script), when I create a NEW Library, I need to re-config everything.

[#7]

@Lucy_Loo You can use PowerShell script or PnP Provisioning site template for creating a document library inside site with predefined columns, settings, etc. after site creation.

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