WorkPoint 365 Master Site Synchronization

1. Introduction

Master sites enable super users to setup web parts and lists, and act as a template for other entity sites in the same business module.

Master site synchronization takes the changes to a master site and synchronizes them to other entity sites.

Note that WorkPoint does not support synchronization of individual files larger than 10 MBs in size.

Also note that Master Site Synchronization is also able to affect Buffer Sites. You can read more about buffer sites in this article.

2. Configuring The WorkPoint Master Site Settings

The Master Site settings are located in the WorkPoint Administration.

Click on the Home button on the solution.
Then click the cog to access the WorkPoint Administration.

3. Opening The Master Site Settings For A Business Module

Choose a business module and click on the "..." button next to it.
Click on "Master Sites".

4. Editing The Master Site Settings

Note that p.t. 1 through 9 in the following image are only relevant, and indeed are only shown, if the business module being configured is utilizing the One entity per site collection architecture.

Set this tick to enable the Master Site feature for this business module.
Enter the server relative URL to the Master Site.
Enable or disable the use of Master Site Collection Templates. If enabled, a new template for the Master Site Collection is created whenever a change is made to the Master Site Collection.
Click the "Delete template" to delete the current Master site collection template, if one exists. If Master site collection templates are enabled in p.t. 3, a new template is automatically created after the deletion of the current template. The template is used when creating new entities based on the Master site collection. WorkPoint 365 automatically detects most changes to master sites based on a change log. Sometimes, however, the change log does not catch all changes. In case you make changes to your master site, but do not see the changes reflected on sites being synchronized, click the "Delete Template" button to force a refresh of the Master Site template. This should resolve this issue.
Enable or disable the synchronization of site columns from the Master site collection onto new site collections.
Enable or disable the synchronization of content types from the Master site collection onto new site collections.
Enable or disable the synchronization of language resources for fields, content types, and terms from the Master site collection onto new site collections.
Enable or disable the synchronization of site collection term sets from the Master site collection onto new site collections.
Enable or disable the synchronization of Spfx packages from the Master site collection onto new site collections.
Set this option to synchronize all lists and their items to entity sites. (including content types, fields, list items and list settings) Please note that items only are inserted on entity sites and can not be deleted via the Master Site feature.
Set this option to synchronize the master site's field resources/localization to other sites. IMPORTANT: This is very resource intensive, and should be used only when strictly necessary.
Set this option to overwrite all views that exist on entity sites' lists with the views configured on the Master Site and its sub-lists.
Set this option to synchronize web parts from the master site to the entity sites. Please note that the web parts must be exportable and that List View Web Parts and App parts aren't supported. Click here to configure a web part to be exportable.
Set this to synchronize features from the master site onto other sites.
Set this to synchronize Quick Launch Navigation from the master site onto other sites.
Set this to synchronize Nintex Workflows from the master site onto other sites.
Set this to synchronize the Team Settings from the master site to other entities.
Set this to remove any Team tabs not on the master site's Team from the synchronized entity's Team.
Click on "Save" to continue.

5. Synchronizing Sites With The Master Site

In the WorkPoint Administration click on the "..." button of a business module.
Click on "Master Sites Synchronization".

This opens the Master Site Synchronization page for the given business module.

5.1. Synchronizing A Single Site

Note that settings in the "Master Site Collection" section in the following image are only relevant and only shown if the business module being configured is utilizing the One entity per site collection architecture.

Enter the ID of the entity site you want to synchronize. Note that you can always find the ID of an entity in its site URL. (in this example: 2 = /sites/project2). Alternatively, you can add the entity ID as a business module list column and have that column show in some view. This will also make the entity ID visible.
Select whether to run the synchronization now or set up a schedule for when to run it. If you select to schedule the running of the synchronization, you can select a date and time for the synchronization to run.
Make appropriate choices as to which aspects of the master site should be synchronized onto the site in question.
Make appropriate choices as to which lists to synchronize from the master site onto the site in question. These items can be expanded and further specified as shown in the following image:

Note that the selection of replicable aspects of the lists are the same for all the available lists.

Click "Synchronize item id #".

In some cases, only specific areas or lists need to be synchronized from the master site. In this case, one should only select the relevant aspects to synchronize, as master site synchronization can be a relatively heavy task for the system, and may take a while, depending on the amount of sites and aspects to synchronize.

Note that Master Site Synchronization does not support replication of folders containing the "+" symbol in it's name.

5.2. Synchronizing All Sites In A Business Module

Note that settings in the "Master Site Collection" section in the following image are only relevant and only shown if the business module being configured is utilizing the One entity per site collection architecture.

Leave the internal id-field empty.
Select whether to run the synchronization now or set up a schedule for when to run it. If you select to schedule the running of the synchronization, you can select a date and time for the synchronization to run.
Make appropriate choices as to which aspects of the master site to synchronize onto all business module sites.
Make appropriate choices as to which lists to synchronize from the master site onto all business module sites.
Click "Synchronize all".

In some cases, only specific areas or lists need to be synchronized from the master site. In this case, one should only select the relevant aspects to synchronize, as master site synchronization can be a relatively heavy task for the system, and may take a while, depending on the amount of sites and aspects to synchronize.

Note that Master Site Synchronization does not support replication of folders containing the "+" symbol in it's name.

5.3. Synchronizing sites from a specific entity and onwards

Note that settings in the "Master Site Collection" section in the following image are only relevant and only shown if the business module being configured is utilizing the One entity per site collection architecture.

Through master site synchronization, it is also possible to select a business module entity and synchronize from the master site onto that entity site, and onwards to other entity sites after that one.

An example could be a Project Manager wanting to update the sites of ongoing projects, but does not wish to disturb the already closed projects in his projects list. He can then select the ID of the first entity that he wants to synchronize, and select to synchronize that one and the following ones.

To do this, follow these steps:

Input the internal entity ID of the first entity which site should be synchronized from the master site.
Select whether to run the synchronization now or set up a schedule for when to run it. If you select to schedule the running of the synchronization, you can select a date and time for the synchronization to run.
Make appropriate choices as to which aspects of the master site should be synchronized onto the other sites.
Make appropriate choices as to which lists should be synchronized from the master site onto the other sites. Note that these headers can be expanded to reveal several sub-selections.
Click the "Synchronize from item id #"-button.

All entity sites from entity ID 953 and onwards will be synchronized from the master site. This is a good way to reduce the work load of the operation, as the system does not need to synchronize sites of projects that have already been closed.

Note that Master Site Synchronization does not support replication of folders containing the "+" symbol in it's name.

5.4. Synchronizing the Teams site of the Master site to all entities

As WorkPoint integrates with Microsoft Teams, the Team sites can be synchronized from the Team site of Master Sites in WorkPoint to underlying Entities' Team sites. The relevant settings for this operation is shown in the image below:

The Replicate Teams checker can be set ON to synchronize the Master Site's Team settings to the other sites on the business module.
The Remove Additional team Tabs checker can be set ON if other Team tabs exist on other sites that differ from those of the Master Site's Team site. These existing tabs will then be removed.
Click "Synchronize all" to start the synchronization.

IMPORTANT!

Please note that deleting a channel in Microsoft Teams moves the channel to a sort of Recycle Bin. One issue with this is that the channel name is still in use at this point, until the channel is cleared from the Recycle Bin - something which is done automatically by Teams after a certain amount of days from deletion.

This means that you cannot create a new channel with the same name as a channel in the Recycle Bin.

By extension, this means that if a channel is to be synchronized from a Master Site to an Entity's Team, it cannot use the same name as a channel in the Recycle Bin, as this will result in an error.

Please also be aware that settings on tenant level overrule settings made in the Teams interface. This means that if in the Teams Administration Center "Guest Access" is disallowed, settings for guests in Teams will be overruled.

5.4.1. Master site Teams synchronization White List

WorkPoint supports synchronizing various aspects of Microsoft Teams with the Business Module master entities. There may, however, also be certain aspects within Microsoft Teams which are not yet supported by WorkPoint Master Site Synchronization.

The purpose of this white list is to provide information about which aspects of Microsoft Teams are supported by WorkPoint Master Site Synchronization - "supported" meaning that these a tested and verified to work with Master site synchronization.

5.4.1.1 Tabs and Apps

The following apps and tabs are verified to work with WorkPoint Synchronization:

All WorkPoint developed tabs (e.g. ListView, Relations, Tasks, etc.)
SharePoint Document Library
YouTube

5.4.1.2. Channels

The following aspects of Channels in Microsoft Teams are verified to work with WorkPoint Master Site Synchronization:

Creation and updating of Master site channels

5.4.1.3. Team Settings

The following Team settings are synchronizable from the Master Site:

Member permissions
Guest permissions
@mentions
Team code
Fun stuff

Please also be aware that settings on tenant level overrule settings made in the Teams interface. This means that if in the Teams Administration Center "Guest Access" is disallowed, settings for Guest permissions in Teams will be overruled.

If there are any aspects of Teams which you believe should be supported by WorkPoint 365 Master Site Synchronization, please contact WorkPoint support at support@workpoint.dk, and relay your suggestion. Thank you!

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Configuring The WorkPoint Master Site Settings

3. Opening The Master Site Settings For A Business Module

4. Editing The Master Site Settings