Creating and Using List Templates - Where did it go?

One of the easy ways to generate lists and libraries is by using Templates.  There are several available out-of-the-box, but you can also create your own.  This is particularly useful when you've spent a great deal of time creating a library that has several custom columns, uses multiple content types and/or has calculated fields.

To use an existing template, just navigate to Site Actions -> Create (or by viewing all site content and selecting Create) and you will see a list of available templates.



But what if you want to create your own custom template?  Well, this is also fairly simple.  In the library or list settings, you will see - under Permissions and Management - the option to "Save document library (or list) as template".

The problem:  A colleague did exactly this - created a custom template - but when he attempted to use the template, it did not appear as one of the available options.  It was, however, stored in the top-level List templates gallery.  So, what was the problem?

He had started his original custom list with one of the "Fab 40" templates.  Specifically, it was the Absence Request and Vacation Schedule Management template.  We determined this based on the Feature ID that is displayed for each template in the top-level gallery:



Why is this important?  For many custom solutions (templates, applications, etc.) site collection features and/or site features must be enabled before you can use them.  For the Absence Request and Vacation Schedule Management template, two site features  - Absence Type and Absences - must be enabled. 

The solution:  Once we had enabled the site features necessary to use the template, the template appeared in the list of available choices.



By the way, we found a list of Feature IDs and their corresponding names here.  Kudos to Robert Bogue for putting this together.