A hidden gem within SharePoint is the ability to upload a list template to a SharePoint site. Once this list lives within SharePoint, it can be replicated via the Microsoft Teams “Lists” functionality. The purpose of this blog post is to demonstrate how to upload a SharePoint List XML Template to a SharePoint site.
The following technologies will be used:
- SharePoint
- SharePoint List XML File
- PowerShell PnP Module
SharePoint List Template
Below is an image of a Project Phase list using Project Management Institute best practices.
Here is the XML format for this list. Save it as “template.xml”.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<pnp:Provisioning xmlns:pnp="http://schemas.dev.office.com/PnP/2020/02/ProvisioningSchema">
<pnp:Preferences Generator="OfficeDevPnP.Core, Version=3.19.2003.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=5e633289e95c321a" />
<pnp:Templates ID="CONTAINER-TEMPLATE-BC56B32FD93543FF86B70EA0E197CCEE">
<pnp:ProvisioningTemplate ID="TEMPLATE-BC56B32FD93543FF86B70EA0E197CCEE" Version="1" BaseSiteTemplate="GROUP#0" Scope="RootSite">
<pnp:SiteFields>
<Field ID="{3A8EE3F8-166B-4394-B3E2-E98DCF86A847}" Name="A2ODMountCount" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="A2ODMountCount" Hidden="TRUE" Group="_Hidden" ReadOnly="TRUE" Type="Lookup" List="Docs" ShowField="A2ODMountCount" DisplayName="A2OD Mount Count" FromBaseType="TRUE" DisplaceOnUpgrade="TRUE" FieldRef="ID" JoinColName="DoclibRowId" JoinRowOrdinal="0" JoinType="INNER" />
</pnp:SiteFields>
<pnp:Lists>
<pnp:ListInstance Title="Project Phase List" Description="" DocumentTemplate="" OnQuickLaunch="true" TemplateType="100" Url="Lists/Project Phase List" MinorVersionLimit="0" MaxVersionLimit="0" DraftVersionVisibility="0" TemplateFeatureID="00bfea71-de22-43b2-a848-c05709900100" EnableFolderCreation="false" DefaultDisplayFormUrl="{site}/Lists/Project Phase List/DispForm.aspx" DefaultEditFormUrl="{site}/Lists/Project Phase List/EditForm.aspx" DefaultNewFormUrl="{site}/Lists/Project Phase List/NewForm.aspx" ImageUrl="/_layouts/15/images/itgen.png?rev=47" IrmExpire="false" IrmReject="false" IsApplicationList="false" ValidationFormula="" ValidationMessage="">
<pnp:ContentTypeBindings>
<pnp:ContentTypeBinding ContentTypeID="0x01" Default="true" />
<pnp:ContentTypeBinding ContentTypeID="0x0120" />
</pnp:ContentTypeBindings>
<pnp:Views>
<View Name="{4E9459AF-AAF2-4C4D-8C27-B56BFBF10F4A}" DefaultView="TRUE" MobileView="TRUE" MobileDefaultView="TRUE" Type="HTML" DisplayName="All Items" Url="{site}/Lists/Project Phase List/AllItems.aspx" Level="1" BaseViewID="1" ContentTypeID="0x" ImageUrl="/_layouts/15/images/generic.png?rev=47">
<Query>
<OrderBy>
<FieldRef Name="ID" />
</OrderBy>
</Query>
<ViewFields>
<FieldRef Name="LinkTitle" />
<FieldRef Name="Description" />
<FieldRef Name="Status" />
<FieldRef Name="PredictedStartDate" />
<FieldRef Name="ActualStartDate" />
<FieldRef Name="PredictedEndDate" />
<FieldRef Name="ActualEndDate" />
<FieldRef Name="AssignedTo" />
</ViewFields>
<RowLimit Paged="TRUE">30</RowLimit>
<JSLink>clienttemplates.js</JSLink>
<CustomFormatter />
</View>
</pnp:Views>
<pnp:Fields>
<Field AppendOnly="FALSE" DisplayName="Description" Format="Dropdown" IsolateStyles="FALSE" Name="Description" RichText="FALSE" RichTextMode="Compatible" Title="Description" Type="Note" ID="{4fe7eda7-2264-4359-b37b-1a38ca7f88c9}" SourceID="{{listid:Project Phase List}}" StaticName="Description" ColName="ntext2" RowOrdinal="0" />
<Field CustomFormatter="{"elmType":"div","style":{"flex-wrap":"wrap","display":"flex"},"children":[{"elmType":"div","style":{"box-sizing":"border-box","padding":"4px 8px 5px 8px","display":"flex","border-radius":"16px","height":"24px","align-items":"center","white-space":"nowrap","overflow":"hidden","margin":"4px 4px 4px 4px"},"attributes":{"class":{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","Blocked"]},"sp-css-backgroundColor-errorBackground50",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","In Progress"]},"sp-css-backgroundColor-warningBackground50",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","Complete"]},"sp-css-backgroundColor-successBackground50",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField",""]},"","sp-field-borderAllRegular sp-field-borderAllSolid sp-css-borderColor-neutralSecondary"]}]}]}]}},"children":[{"elmType":"span","style":{"line-height":"16px","height":"14px"},"attributes":{"iconName":{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","Blocked"]},"",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","In Progress"]},"",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","Complete"]},"",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField",""]},"",""]}]}]}]}}},{"elmType":"span","style":{"overflow":"hidden","text-overflow":"ellipsis","padding":"0 3px"},"txtContent":"@currentField","attributes":{"class":{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","Blocked"]},"",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","In Progress"]},"",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField","Complete"]},"",{"operator":":","operands":[{"operator":"==","operands":["@currentField",""]},"",""]}]}]}]}}}]}],"templateId":"BgColorChoicePill"}" DisplayName="Status" FillInChoice="FALSE" Format="Dropdown" Name="Status" Title="Status" Type="Choice" ID="{2aeb4978-2a95-4a93-bf71-5b64b0d4a57b}" SourceID="{{listid:Project Phase List}}" StaticName="Status" ColName="nvarchar4" RowOrdinal="0">
<CHOICES>
<CHOICE>Blocked</CHOICE>
<CHOICE>In Progress</CHOICE>
<CHOICE>Complete</CHOICE>
</CHOICES>
<Default>Blocked</Default>
</Field>
<Field DisplayName="Predicted Start Date" FriendlyDisplayFormat="Relative" Format="DateOnly" Name="PredictedStartDate" Title="Predicted Start Date" Type="DateTime" ID="{09b7083f-8ee2-449f-b575-568260012f59}" SourceID="{{listid:Project Phase List}}" StaticName="PredictedStartDate" ColName="datetime1" RowOrdinal="0" />
<Field DisplayName="Actual Start Date" FriendlyDisplayFormat="Relative" Format="DateOnly" Name="ActualStartDate" Title="Actual Start Date" Type="DateTime" ID="{375a1edb-0f58-42ed-906e-0f1627272486}" SourceID="{{listid:Project Phase List}}" StaticName="ActualStartDate" ColName="datetime2" RowOrdinal="0" />
<Field DisplayName="Predicted End Date" FriendlyDisplayFormat="Relative" Format="DateOnly" Name="PredictedEndDate" Title="Predicted End Date" Type="DateTime" ID="{85dd6df6-498e-4bbc-ab51-cd6c8b1ffce2}" SourceID="{{listid:Project Phase List}}" StaticName="PredictedEndDate" ColName="datetime3" RowOrdinal="0" />
<Field DisplayName="Actual End Date" FriendlyDisplayFormat="Relative" Format="DateOnly" Name="ActualEndDate" Title="Actual End Date" Type="DateTime" ID="{a8121385-1197-43b8-b3f0-bbf1e013d9b3}" SourceID="{{listid:Project Phase List}}" StaticName="ActualEndDate" ColName="datetime4" RowOrdinal="0" />
<Field DisplayName="Assigned To" Format="Dropdown" List="UserInfo" Mult="TRUE" Name="AssignedTo" Title="Assigned To" Type="UserMulti" UserSelectionMode="0" UserSelectionScope="0" ID="{de102982-fc9a-4eee-a465-d203397e2f04}" SourceID="{{listid:Project Phase List}}" StaticName="AssignedTo" ColName="int1" RowOrdinal="0" />
</pnp:Fields>
<pnp:Webhooks>
<pnp:Webhook ServerNotificationUrl="https://southcentralus1.pushnp.svc.ms/notifications?token=1f93f348-2718-4619-b394-f593e4cbb62d" ExpiresInDays="1" />
</pnp:Webhooks>
</pnp:ListInstance>
</pnp:Lists>
</pnp:ProvisioningTemplate>
</pnp:Templates>
</pnp:Provisioning>
Uploading a SharePoint List
The next steps are to run a PnP PowerShell script to upload the SharePoint list to the SharePoint site. Be sure to ensure the following steps are complete:
- This script will only work if you have admin-level rights to the SharePoint tenant.
- The “template.xml” file should be in the same folder from which this PowerShell script is ran.
$VarSharePointURL = "https://tenant.sharepoint.com/"
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $VarSharePointURL -UseWebLogin
Apply-PnPProvisioningTemplate -Path .\template.xml
Run the PowerShell script and the list will upload to the SharePoint site:
Contact Kiefer Consulting to learn more about Microsoft Lists and how to leverage SharePoint to manage projects. We look forward to talking to you.