Package a Solution

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You can create customized solutions and distribute them to other Microsoft Office Live Small Business account owners using the solution packaging feature. With this feature, you can combine Business Applications and Web Site components from an Office Live Small Business account into a single Office Live Small Business solution file (.olp).

Scenarios for Using the Solution Packaging Feature

There are many scenarios that provide compelling reasons to use the solution packaging feature.

Combine Web pages and business applications

By packaging a solution, you create business applications and Web site pages that work together to address a complete scenario for your customers. For example, you can combine the following into a single solution file:

  • Web pages containing a List Publisher module that displays a rotating restaurant menu

  • A business application for managing the menu.

For more information about List Publisher modules, see Publish a List on a Web Site.

Share Web page templates

The solution packaging feature can also be used to share page templates that you create on your Web site. You can design Web page templates with custom headers, footers, and navigation, and then package them and provide them to others.

For more information about Web page templates, see Save a Web page as a template using the advanced design features.

What You Can Package

A packaged Office Live Small Business solution is made up of components. The following types of components can be included in a solution file:

  • Business applications

  • Web page templates

  • Web pages

  • Documents

  • Site designs

  • Images

  • Web sites

Components contained in Contact Manager cannot be included in a solution file.

Procedures

Package your solution

  1. Build a solution using the components in a single Office Live Small Business account.

  2. There are two entry points to the solution packaging feature. You can choose either entry point.

    From Business applications:

    1. On the Office Live Small Business Home page, at the top, click More, and then click Business Applications.

    2. On the Business Applications Home page, to the right of the Business Applications title, click Settings.

    3. Under Develop and Customize, click Package as a solution (.olp).

    Or from Web Site:

    1. On the Office Live Small Business Home page, at the top, click Web Site.

    2. In Page Manager, click Design Site, and then click Package solution.

  3. In the Name box, type a name for your solution.

  4. In the Description box, type a brief description for your solution.

  5. Click Advanced options if you want to associate a Language, Version, Developer Web site, or Developer e-mail address with the solution. You can create different versions of the solution file to support different languages.

  6. Under Components, click Add component.

  7. If the next component to be added to the solution is part of the Business Applications component of Office Live Small Business:

    1. In the Feature drop-down list, select Business Applications.

    2. In the Application Name drop-down list, select the name of the business application that contains the component.

    3. If you want to include the content of this component in your solution file, select Include content.

    Note   To include workflows in the solution file, you must select Include content.

    Otherwise, if the next component is a portion of your Web site:

    1. In the Feature drop-down list, select Web site.

    2. In the Component Type drop-down list, select the type of component within your Web site that you want to package. For example, if you want to add one of the pages from your Web site, select Pages.

    3. Under Name, select the check box next to the component or components to be added. Click Add.

    4. When you have added the components you want from this list, click Close.

  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until all of the components needed for your solution are listed under Components.

  9. Click Package solution.

  10. In the File Download dialog box, click Save.

  11. In the Save As dialog box, select the location for the solution file to be downloaded. Click Save.

  12. In the Download Complete dialog box, click Close.

See Also

Tasks

Create a Custom Business Application

Add a Solution to an Office Live Small Business Account

Other Resources

Workflows in Office Live Small Business