Create site template from site which had publishing enabled

Question

I have an issue regarding publishing site. Basically I've had a publishing website created as a template, with multiple pages in pages list, each page has different webparts.

Then I disabled publishing to save the template.

The template is saved, but then when create a site using this site template, the publishing pages are there but they are empty (webparts are missing) and I cannot reactivate the publishing feature back ...

So is there a way to solve this?

Any idea how can i save a site as template which had a publishing enabled, espacially propagating those pages with the webparts and reactiating the publishing feature.

Answer 1

The Publishing feature does not support the Save Site as Template option. It is necessary to create site definition templates for site collections on which Publishing feature is to be activated. SharePoint Publishing feature does not support "Save Site as Template" option

So, In other words their are tons of issue even if you create a site template from publishing site.

You can try the below blog, he mentioned couple of method to save as template for publishing site. http://spdrummerboy.blogspot.com/2012/01/3-ways-to-save-sharepoint-2010.html

I think backup/restore or import/export is the best option.