Chapter 24. Exploring SharePoint Site Management Features

IN THIS CHAPTER

Importing and exporting SharePoint sites

Using SharePoint backup and restore features

Implementing contributor settings

Most SharePoint-related administrative tasks are best performed with SharePoint administration tools, such as the SharePoint Central Administration Web site and the stsadm.exe command-line tool. But SharePoint Designer also offers some capabilities in this area that allow SharePoint site designers to quickly perform some basic administrative work, such as backing up sites, saving sites as templates, etc., without having to involve the SharePoint site administrators.

The user interface for SharePoint Designer features that relate to SharePoint site administration, such as import, export, Web packaging, etc., is essentially the same as in the case of non-SharePoint sites. However, some of the menu options that are disabled when working with non-SharePoint sites are enabled and available for use. The process that you follow in SharePoint Designer to import and export content or back up and restore SharePoint sites is mostly similar to non-SharePoint sites. However, there are important considerations to make while using these features with SharePoint sites.

This chapter discusses what you need to keep in mind while using the SharePoint Designer site management features on SharePoint sites. I take you through the import and export, back up and restore, and saving Web sites as templates features. I also talk about how you can save Web parts you modify in SharePoint Designer by exporting them. Later in this chapter, I familiarize you with the concept of Contributor Settings and how it applies to SharePoint Designer when working with SharePoint sites.

It's important to note that while SharePoint Designer offers a set of export and backup features for SharePoint sites, the most recommended means to administer your SharePoint sites is to use the SharePoint administration tools. SharePoint Designer features can be used as a short-term means of quickly backing up or exporting your SharePoint Web sites in a less formal manner.

Also, the SharePoint Designer publishing feature isn't completely applicable to SharePoint Web content. If you publish a SharePoint Web site to a non-SharePoint destination location, SharePoint content, such as lists and document libraries, doesn't work. You have to either export the sites and then import them at the destination location or use the backup and restore features.