What Is A Community Template?

A community template is comprised of a set of services (channels) and the visual layout. However, the layout is not always dictated by the community template as in the case with wiki community template where the layout is dictated by the wiki itself. Community templates define (in the role display profile document) the type of services available for the community, the default settings for each service, and the containers that bind the services.

Physically, a community template is a properties file, and image, plus one or more display profile documents. There are display profile documents, one per community role (such as OWNER, VISITOR, MEMBER). Each role template defines services and the layout associated with the particular role (see Managing Membership for more information on these roles). The content of the role template is represented in a display profile document. In essence, a community template contains the logic for handling different roles (one display profile document per role) and depending on the one or more roles, you get a different set of services and a different layout. There are also display profile documents to customize the content when communities are marked for deletion (deleted.xml) or disabled (disable.xml).

Communities are created from a community template. The system may have any number of community templates. In the Enterprise Sample, end users choose a community template when they create a community.