Sitefinity ASP.NET CMS can be downloaded as an executable installer or a blank project ZIP file. The executable version of Sitefinity comes with a web-based Project Manager as well as 8 design templates. The ZIP file, on the other hand, includes only a bare-bones Sitefinity web site.
Because of the permissions required by the Project Manager, the executable version of Sitefinity can be tricky to get running on consumer-versions of Windows (XP, Vista, 7). To avoid these permission issues I often use the Blank Project ZIP file to start a new Sitefinity project. The Sitefinity Blank Project can be opened in Visual Studio and development can begin immediately.
The problem is that the Blank Project is missing the design templates that come with the executable installer version of Sitefinity. Thankfully there is a work-around to this that allows Sitefinity design templates to be used with the Blank Project.
Watch the original video on Telerik.tv.
Getting the Design Templates
The Sitefinity Design Templates are included in the executable installer. The easiest way to get these templates is to download & run the installer.
Run the installer and click through the install steps.
Finding the Design Templates
By default, Sitefinity will install to C:\Program Files\telerik\Sitefinity3.x
The templates can be found at C:\Program Files\telerik\Sitefinity3.x\ProjectManager\Templates
Each of these template directories has a project.zip file. This zip file contains the files associated with the template.
Applying the Templates to a Blank Project
Download the Blank Project zip file from the Sitefinity downloads section. Unzip the contents of this zip file to a directory of your choosing. Then, copy the contents of the template’s project.zip file to the Blank Project’s folder.
Some Blank Project files will be overwritten by the template files. If prompted to overwrite files, click Yes.
Configuring the Blank Project to use the Template
Open the Blank Project in Visual Studio and open the ~/web.config file.
Find the <cms> section and add a siteTemplate property that refers to the chosen template.
<cms defaultProvider="Sitefinity" pageExtension=".aspx" disabled="true" pageEditorUIMode="Overlay" siteTemplate="Company-Emerald">
...
</cms>
The siteTemplate name must match the template’s directory name in the steps above.
Start the Web Site / Launch the Project Startup
Right-click the root of the Blank Project Sitefinity web site and click View in Browser. Sitefinity’s Project Startup will load in a web browser. Click through the steps to configure Sitefinity.
The final step will present an opportunity to import data from the template.
Click I’m done to complete the setup. This new web site will now be using the chosen template.
Update: I just learned that this topic & technique was already covered by Jörg Lang:
Setting up a Sitefinity site using a predefined template without using the project manager
