How to Create SharePoint 2016 Design Package using Design Manager?

How to create a design package in SharePoint 2016?

The design package is a .wsp file that can be created through the Design Manager in SharePoint 2013, or SharePoint 2016 and contains branding assets that are stored in Design Manager. With the packaging feature of the Design Manager, we can package all our branding artifacts into a Re-deployable package (wsp) without using Visual Studio.

Refer this article to create a custom master page using SharePoint 2016 design manager: How to Create a Custom Master Page Using Design Manager in SharePoint 2016 – Step by Step

Here are the steps to create and apply a design package:

  1. Create a design package using Design Manager in SharePoint 2016
  2. Export design package WSP file from the source site collection
  3. Import & Apply the design package to the target site

Step 1: Create a design package in SharePoint 2013/2016

Creating the design package is quite simple.

  1. Go to Site Settings >> Design Manager 
  2. Click on the “Create Design Package” link from the design manager left navigation
    sharepoint 2013 create a design package
  3. The design manager gives the name and version number for you automatically – You can rename it if required. Optionally, you can include the Site Collection search configuration in the package. Click on the “Create” button to create the WSP package.
    create a design package in sharepoint 2016
  4. Wait for a while it generates the WSP package with all branding artifacts, including MasterPages, Page Layouts, Display Templates, CSS Style Sheets, JavaScript files, images, etc. Once the package creation is completed, you’ll get the link to download the wsp file. This generates a WSP file that will live in the Solutions Gallery.
  5. Export design package: Click on the “Your Package is ready. Click here to download” link to download the wsp.
    sharepoint 2013 design package download

The design package will be stored inside the solution gallery of the site collection, which can be found here: https://site-collection-url/_catalogs/solutions

Step 3: SharePoint 2013 import design package (WSP)

Once the design package is ready, it can be imported to any site through the “Import design package” option in Site Settings. We can port it anywhere and apply the new design through this package. Here are the steps to apply the design package to the target site.

Make sure the destination site collection is a publishing site or have publishing feature enabled!
  1. Navigate to the site settings of the target site. Click on “Import Design Package” link under the “Look and Feel” section.
    upload design package sharepoint 2013
  2. Click on the “Browse” button and select the WSP file generated from the previous step. Click on the “Import” button once.
    sharepoint 2013 import design package powershell
  3. Wait for a while till it gives the message “import of package “your package name” succeeded”.
    sharepoint online import design package

That’s all. This activates the sandbox solution automatically, and your new design should be live now!

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - Information Technology Expert with Two-decades of hands-on experience, specializing in SharePoint, PowerShell, Microsoft 365, and related products. He has held various positions including SharePoint Architect, Administrator, Developer and consultant, has helped many organizations to implement and optimize SharePoint solutions. Known for his deep technical expertise, He's passionate about sharing the knowledge and insights to help others, through the real-world articles!

One thought on “How to Create SharePoint 2016 Design Package using Design Manager?

  • How do you import the deign package in PowerShell on-premises? I am in the SP Management shell and IMPORT-SPDesignPackage is NOT a valid cmdlet. (yes, I made sure I had add-pssnapin “Microsoft.sharepoint.powershell”)

    Reply

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