How do I create relative links for use in a sharepoint site template

Question

We are creating a site template that among other things has a Document library with MANY sub folders and a Link list that contains shortcut links to the depths of the DocLib. While making the Site template we are checking the box to 'Include Content.' We are using Sharepoint 2010. No MOSS.

Our problem: Once we make a site from the template, the shortcut links don't work. While the first part of the link URL is rewritten, there is a portion of the original site name still buried in the URL.

My Question: Is there a way to create a relative links to content inside of the site, so that the the site name isn't included? or is there a variable I can use to represent th current site? or do I have to programmatically 'fix-up' the links after it's created? or some other better option?

Answer 1

I think you may have come across one of the many limitations of using templates. I don't know of any way to change this behavior when using templates.

However, you mentioned programming. If you are deploying customizations, you might look into site definitions or feature stapling with code to populate the list.

On the no code side, you might have some options if there is some flexibiility in execution of the site. If you really need the sub folders and the template method, you might look at replacing the link list with a page. If the page content is a list of links, they will be relative. If your structure is flexible, another option is to remove the sub folders. You could add a field for category that you can group by instead. Or, you could create seperate document libraries instead of using folders.