Interesting question just came up from a client: when creating multiple sites from a template, are there any disadvantage to using the "Copy Site" feature via the "Manage Content and Structure" tool? (As opposed to using Site Templates).
Historically, we would use Site Templates/Solutions (that technically couldn't have the Publishing Feature activated) to create them. Then after the site was created, you had to manually activate the publishing feature and configure the page (which can be a pain).
The only disadvantages I can think of are:
- You need to have the Publishing feature enabled / paid version (not a disadvantage for us)
- You don't get prompted to break permissions and configure Site Groups
- You need higher permissions to use the Manage Content and Structure tool