Hello,
When I'm cloning a site by powershell script, is there a way also to copy all forms of the lists/document libraries without reload one by one from Plumsail Forms client?
Thank you.
Dear @stefano.mazzi,
For this purpose, we recommend using our Visual Studio provisioning NuGet package and API - Plumsail Forms Provisioning API for SharePoint — SharePoint forms
I have run in to a need for something similar. Hundreds of sites to be provisioned, multiple lists, and your 3 default forms for each need to be converted to the Plumsail version we created on a template site.
I don't know much about visual studio and nuget and console apps.
Is there still no way to clone forms via PnPPowershell? I managed to export the files from site pages and imported them in to another site's pages. I only there was one more setting or pnp powershell I could run to assoicate them.
I didn't understand what the output of the console app would be, and if I would need to export an app for every list and every form(s), or how would I execute it on a mass scale. Any other blogs or conversations that can help guide me.
Dear @pbehler,
Other options might work, but we cannot guarantee success, as many things need to be changed when provisioning forms.
To see a working example, you can check out this article here - Plumsail Forms Provisioning example for SharePoint — Plumsail SharePoint Forms Documentation
Of course, this can be adjusted to work in whatever way you need it to, even adding some basic interface to the provisioning app.
We'll be happy to help if you have any questions, and if you want us to help write the code for you, contact us directly at support@plumsail.com with your requirements and we'll see what can be done and how much time this will take.
Thanks, the example you linked to is something I looked at and created the extra questions I had. A co-worker that understands Visual Studio code is going to attempt the steps to see how it works. The first thing he mentioned was that the screenshots are of an older Visual Studio, so he wasn't sure if these would still work.
My comment is that the article/instructions end with "After saving the file, run the app." and I don't understand if this means I would need to run this from VS everytime? Or can the app be used with powershell and parameters for the site and list variables. Or can this code be configured for SPFx and activated via the site collection features. If the document or video included the last visual step or real-world scenario, it would help users like me that have needs to automate the form provisioning. Still thanks for the original instructions because it's good to know there is at least one supported method.
Dear @pbehler,
The example is very simple, it doesn't take user input, all the values are hard coded. This can be changed with the right approach, but it's more of a template.
Again, thanks for the information including technical document. I managed to design a method that allowed me to clone the form to new sites that are provisioned using the PnPTemplate engine. It's not pretty but it works. I also managed to figure a method to perform mass updates to the cloned forms if we ever need to make changes to the original.
Our scenario involves over 7,000 Site Collections, each one containing about 30 lists/libraries and each of those need custom plumsail View/Edit/New forms. Provisioning these sites is performed via repeated PnPPowershell script with swapped out site collection urls. If any part of the process needed manual changes per site would be considered not an option.
It all because we had a 3rd party form design on these sites in SP2013 and are finally getting around to migrating them to the cloud and your form software is better than the other stuff we had.
Dear @pbehler,
That sounds wonderful! If you have the time, we can showcase your work as an example for future users on our site here - Success stories from Sharepoint Forms users
Just drop us a message to support@plumsail.com or my personal work email at n.kurguzov@plumsail.com, and we can make it visible to everyone.
Of course, from our side we'll be able to do a code-review, see if we can offer any improvements to the code or the Forms product itself based on the case, I think this could potentially be really useful to many users.
Sure, If I have time.. Due to my scenario using PnP Templates and some manual adjustments to the XML code of the template, it's not for everyone. However I might be able to find another simpler method or at least provide something to explain how I managed it and you can run with it. Afterall you have access to the devs that can code review and determine if something was overkill ![]()
Peter, did you ever get to a viable solution on this challenge:
a) Where you could use PowerShell, or
b) Had to write some C# code, or
c) Did not find a viable solution
Our Use Case is we deploy sites on a regular basis and each site has some 400+ forms. The deployment is entirely done through PowerShell.
Thanks, Vincent.
Dear @vhancock,
I am currently working on a video about our Provisioning API for SharePoint Forms, we’ll release it shortly! It’s possible to use our NuGet package and C# in Visual Studio to update forms, form sets, anything else that you might need!
If you need help, please, let us know!
I’d be interested in the video of Nikita’s method. The method I have is complex and specific to our scenario. In summary;
- I have a site template that uses the PnP Provisioning Engine and it’s .pnp (or .xml) script file to create a site with all of the lists and libraries I need. PnP Provisioning Engine was used because it’s the only method I found to automatically include list items, folders and files at the time of provisioning and create in a specific order and ID number.
- Content Types, I forgot if this part is relevant or not but we used them for our scenario. The PnP Provisioning script can also create content types and at this time I was able to code in to reference the New/Edit/View forms based on URL. So I manually created URL string that would use the Plumsail redirect aspx file and the location of the form needed.
- I also had to update the PnP Provisioning script to include the Plumsail App so that’s available.
- Lastly, as part of the folders and files to include during the template I added the SitePages\Plumsail folder and all of it’s contents. I believe the *.designer.json files aren’t needed but that means if you open Plumsail designer on the new site, it will start with a blank form. I do remember you need all of the subfolders for each list and most of the files in the Plumsail root folder because that is where the css and jscript code lives.
- Oh and the site scripting needs to be enabled on the site collection before the template is applied so that the aspx pages can be uploaded.
Our site templates have around 12 forms and 42 lists and about 200 preloaded files and items, but 1000’s of sites with very low activity. 400+ forms in a single site collection sounds very time consuming also.
Awesome, I am looking forward to it ![]()
Dear @StepanS , @pbehler , @vhancock , @stefano.mazzi ,
Video has been published, please, check it out - Provision custom SharePoint Forms automatically with Visual Studio
Nikita, thank you for putting the video together.
Greatly appreciated, Vincent.