Introduction

The Jint site engine is a mechanism that allows you to quickly and simply duplicate SharePoint site collections from templates. We will use "sites" rather than "site collection" throughout this guide.

The site engine features two separate spaces dedicated to the two possible actions:

• Create and extract a model
• Apply a model to a site

Technical prerequisites

To be able to use the site engine, you need to meet the following prerequisites:

• The site engine needs rights to function. You grant these rights through the Azure Jint Site Engine application. You can find more information in the Mozzaik365 requirements and installation guide
• The user must have access to the site engine in the Jint configurator. Access is granted by the Jint global administrator in the user management menu.
• The user must be an administrator of the site they wish to extract as a site template
• The user must be an administrator of the site on which they wish to apply a site template
  
  
  

What is a template?

The site template is a copy of most of the elements that make up a SharePoint site. The template includes:

• Libraries, their settings, and their contents. This includes:
  • Pages
  • Documents
  • Events
  • Lists
• Library settings
  • Library columns
  • Permissions
• Library content. Your documents and pages will therefore be copied identically into the target site.
• List content : For example, it will duplicate the pages' taxonomy data
• Site specific taxonomy
• Site specific search settings
• SharePoint group authorization
• Appearance elements: logo, header

Creating a template

The engine offers you the opportunity to create your site templates to apply. A template is created from the extraction of an existing site on your SharePoint.

Here are the steps to create your template:

• Create a SharePoint site using the same site type (team or communication site) and default language as your intended target site.
• Customize this site to set up your template
• Check that you are an administrator of the site, if not, ask your SharePoint administrator for this role
• Access the Site engine in the configurator
• Select "Create a template"
• Provide a name for the template, the URL of the site to be extracted, and the SharePoint site category as team site or communication site and click on "Apply"

Template creation form

The extraction request is recorded and displayed as "In progress". It will be processed by our site engine after potentially being put on hold in case of high demand. The extraction can last up to 30 minutes.

When the model extraction is finalized, it appears in the list of available templates in the "apply a template" section.

An error message is displayed if the extraction could not be completed. Due to the large volume of data, a connection problem may generate an error, we invite you to restart the extraction several times in case of a generic error. For troubleshooting, consult our Site Engine best practices guide.

⚠️ Attention: The site type (communication site or team site) used to create the template must be the same as the target site type.

Example: If your template site is a communication site, then your target site must also be a communication site. The same applies if it is a team site.

To check this:

1. Click on the gear icon at the top right of your page while on the site

2. Select Site information

3. If the field Privacy settings is displayed (see below), this means it is a team site. If it is not displayed, then it is a communication site.

Apply a template

Once you have created your templates, you will be able to apply them to your sites.

Here are the steps to apply your template to a site:

• Copy the URL of the target SharePoint site.
  
  • The site type and default language must match the template for it to be applied
• Check that you are an administrator of the site, if not, ask your SharePoint administrator for this role
• Access the Site engine in the configurator
• Choose the template to apply
• Provide the URL of the target SharePoint site and click on "Apply"

You can follow the progress of the template application in the site engine history.

Limitations of the Site Engine

The site engine has limitations due to the complexity of SharePoint sites. A number of points need to be considered:

• The template and the sites to which you apply this template must have the same default language
• The site engine is not designed to handle large volumes of data. It allows copying templates containing pages, structured libraries and a few documents, but you will not be able to duplicate an existing site and all its content. The HTTP 429 error indicates that the site engine could not handle the load.
• An error message is displayed if a process could not be completed. Due to the large volume of data, a connection problem may generate an error, we invite you to restart the process several times in case of a generic error.

For advanced guidance and recommendations, see our Site Engine best practices article.