BrightWork Template Design Sync enables you to make design changes to a template and pull those changes into sites that are bound to the template on a site-by-site basis.
Note: Sites are automatically bound to the template used to create them. Once a site is bound to a template, it can pull the changes from the template into the site via Template Design Sync. Use the Determine Template Usage feature to find out which sites are bound to the template.
The site to template binding can be removed and a site can be manually bound to another template through template binding configuration.
A Site Sync Log list is created every time a sync is run. The log contains information about important changes that were made and includes any errors or warning messages that were generated by the sync.
Site changes can include adding new items such as lists and list columns and removing certain unmatched items in the destination site.
Unmatched items are items found in the destination site that were not found in the template. This can occur for two reasons:
Some items are automatically synced and some are optional. Due to certain SharePoint design restrictions and other practical reasons, not all changes to the template are synced.
Note: The BrightWork Template Design Sync is a very powerful feature that can cause significant changes in the destination site, including irretrievable loss of data.
If you are unsure of the effects the design sync will have on the destination site, we suggest you first create a copy of it, run the design sync against the copy and examine the copy to ensure there are no undesired changes.
See About BrightWork and SharePoint Security for information about the permissions required to sync a site with a template.
Design Sync operates one site at a time. Contact BrightWork Support for information on how to sync multiple sites simultaneously with the use of a PowerShell script.
The sections below outline the options available when synchronizing with a template.
Note: The site must be bound to a template for you to continue. If the site is not bound to a template, you will see a message informing you of this. Click the link in the message to configure the site template binding settings. See Configure Template Binding for more information.
Every time you run a Design Sync a Site Sync Log is written to a list in the destination site. The log details the changes made and includes any warning or error messages.
By default, all changes are written to the list, but you can choose to exclude certain kinds of changes by unselecting them from the list:
Note: Site features that depend on hidden lists and libraries are not fully synced - see the Items Not Synced section below for more information.
Note: Site columns that were created from the Base Columns group or site columns that are sealed will not be removed by the design sync.
You can also optionally choose to do a straight replace on the following navigation items:
Note: Links to subsites will be removed if this option is selected.
Links under the Recent heading are not included in Design Sync; however, if the Recent heading exists in the template, it is copied.
Rename Project Home Link rules are followed if the option is selected for the current Project Area.
You can remove the following unmatched site level items:
You can apply the following template design settings:
Select Apply Home Page design to replace the home page in the destination site with the one in the template.
Note: Only updates to the default.aspx home page or a home page that resides in the Site Pages library will be synced. This means that if you make a page in the BrightWork page library the home page, and subsequently update it, those changes will not be synced.
With list and library level changes, the following items are synced automatically:
You can choose to delete the following unmatched list and library items:
Note: Unmatched lists and libraries are not permanently deleted - they are moved to the site Recycle Bin.
Note: This does not include unmatched list or library views that are being used in list view web parts.
You can also select Nintex Forms options which will be visible if Nintex Forms are present in the template or the destination site:
Note: When adding a new list with a Nintex Form to a project via Template Design Sync, select both the 'Add new Nintex Forms' and 'Synchronize Nintex Forms' options in order to copy all functionality for the new list.
Select BrightWork Pages library options:
Select the Site Assets library options, if the library exists:
Note: Common content in Site Assets libraries is not synced. Common content is defined as files of the same name and type in both the template and the site. This means that if you make changes to a file in a template, these changes will not be synced to the file in the site.
Select Site Pages library options, if the library exists:
The following lists the Metric content that is synced:
Column | Sync | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|
Title | Yes | ||
Description | Yes | ||
Metric ID | No | Treated like a deletion if changed | |
Active (Y/N) | Yes | ||
Category | Yes | ||
Metric Number Value | No | Copied only when adding | |
Apply Metric Value to | No | N/A | |
Metric Data Source (all details) | Yes | ||
Metric Calculation (all details) | Yes | ||
Include in Metric Recalculation Timer Job | Yes | ||
Metric Value Format (all details) | Yes | ||
Show indicator | Yes | ||
Compare to | Yes | ||
Fixed Number | No | Copied only when adding | |
Another Metric | Yes | ||
Which is better? | Yes | ||
Comparison is a number Warning Level | Yes | ||
Comparison is a number Danger Level | Yes | ||
Comparison is a Percentage Warning Level | Yes | ||
Comparison is a Percentage Danger Level | Yes | ||
Indicator Icon (path) | Yes | ||
Warning Indicator Icon (path) | Yes | ||
Indicator Icon (path) | Yes |
With Project Request Manager template changes, the following Configure Process items are automatically synced:
Note: Promoted Link list titles in source templates and target sites are compared to establish if there is a match between the two, and then the titles of items within the list are compared to determine if any item matches are present. If more than one item with the same title is found, the Promoted Links for that list will not be synced and a message will be written to the sync log.
BrightWork provides lists with additional capabilities. Some of these configurations you may want to optionally sync from the template:
SharePoint 2010 and Nintex List workflows can be synced depending on the options selected:
The following table illustrates which workflow types are supported and which are not supported:
Template Design Sync | |||
Workflow Type | NewWorkflows | UpdatedWorkflows | DeletedWorkflows |
SharePoint 2010 List Workflow | |||
Nintex List Workflow | |||
SharePoint 2013 List Workflows | |||
Site and Reusable Workflows | |||
The workflow design sync deep dive article contains detail on the scope of this feature.
The following items are always excluded from the design sync:
Note: Common content is defined as files of the same name and type in both the template and the site. This means that if you make changes to a file in a template, these changes will not be synced to the file in the site.
Issue
After adding a new list with a Nintex Form to a project via Template Design Sync, a web part maintenance page displays after clicking on a list item.
Root Cause
Template Design Sync was done with a template that contains a new list with a Nintex Form, and the sync option 'Synchronize Nintex Forms' was not selected in addition to the option 'Add new Nintex Forms'.
Resolution
Perform another Template Design Sync with the sync option 'Synchronize Nintex Forms' selected.