That is pretty much the options or manually apply it via powershell etc
You are using the SharePoint 2010, you can think about the sandbox solutions using event handler named WebProvisioned
.
Deploying Branding Solutions for SharePoint 2010 Sites using Sandboxed Solutions
Most of the objects in a site are included and supported by the template. There are a number of objects and features not supported however.
INCLUDED IN USER SOLUTION WSP
- Lists
- Libraries
- External Lists
- Data source connections
- List views and data views
- Custom forms
- Workflows
- Content Types
- Custom Actions
- Navigation
- Site pages
- Master pages
- Modules
- WebTemplates
NOT INCLUDED IN USER SOLUTION WSP
- Customized permissions
- Running workflow instances
- List item version history
- Workflow tasks associated with running workflows
- People/group field values
- Taxonomy field values
- Publishing pages and publishing sites
- My Sites
more details: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/save-a-sharepoint-site-as-a-template-HA101782501.aspx#_Toc258332696