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Is it possible to change a Page to branch?

Is it possible to change the Template of a page to Branch Template? When I try in Sitecore 7.0 UI it gives a error message stating to "Select a Template".

Is there any other way to change an Item's Template to be a Branch Template?

Solution

  • You cannot just substitute a template of an item with a branch template. You might be probably confused by mutual term template they both use and the fact the both exist undet /sitecore/templates node, however they are absolutely different in their internals.

    Branch templates are just template sub-nodes that are being copied in instantiation. You may still use tokens and they would apply for every single item in a branch. But each of the items from a branch would still origin from certain individual template.

    enter image description here

    Thus, you cannot just do Configure --> Change on an item and then select a branch template instead of ordinary template, that's why Branches node is highlighted with grey color and even if you try to select any - sitecore will tell you "please select a template".

    enter image description here

    What you can do is just to re-create your item from branch template and (assuming) previous item now becomes a part of your branch - you may simply manually copy all the presentation details. However an ID of that item would differ with an ID of initial item (unless you manually replace original item into a branch instantiated)

    I previously wrote an article on how to copy presentation detail manually between items, it will help you with your case:

    http://blog.martinmiles.net/post/copying-presentation-details-manually