SharePoint V3 STP's Containing SharePoint Designer Workflows

I finished creating a SharePoint V3 site that contains five custom list web parts and a total of ten SharePoint Designer workflows (each list has two workflows). I was anxious to find out what happens if I create a site template (.STP) from the site and then create a new site from that .STP file. I wanted to see what would happen to the workflow. I wanted to answer these questions:

"What happens when you create an STP from a SharePoint V3 site that has SharePoint Designer workflow?"
"How do I migrate workflows from one Web Application to another?"

Here is what I did:

• Saved Site as a Template (Site Actions > Site Settings > Save Site as Template)
• Created Site from Template (Site Actions > Create > Sites and Workspaces > Select Template)

Here is what I observed on the Site:

• All five custom list web parts were available
• The custom list columns were intact
• The default custom list view "all items" was intact
• The custom list current views showing on the site were only showing the title column (must do Site Actions > Edit Page > Edit Web Part > Modify Shared Web Part > Selected View [View Name] > OK and then the current view of web part is updated properly on the page)
• After performing an action that would initiate a workflow, the workflow status became “Failed on Start (Retrying)”

Here is what I observed in SharePoint Designer:

• The workflow definitions were intact (.ASPX, .XOML, .XOML.RULES, .XOML.WFCONFIG.XML)
• I could open the workflows (File, Open Workflow)
• The Conditions and Actions were intact
• When I clicked “Check Workflow”, I got the message “The workflow contains no errors.”
• When I clicked “Finish”, I didn't get any errors

So, I went back to the site and to the custom list that had “Failed on Start (Retrying)” message. I tried a second time to initiate the workflow. This time I watched the status go from “In Progress” to “Completed.” The workflow is one that produces an ID number on a list item and the ID number was present upon completion of workflow, so I know this workflow was working.

One by one I opened each workflow in SharePoint Designer and clicked “Finish.” Then I tested all ten workflows and they worked fine.

In summary, if you create a site template (.STP) from an existing site that contains SharePoint Designer workflows, then after you create a new site from that .STP file, you should expect the following clean up tasks:

• Refresh the current view of all web parts that have workflow: Site > Site Actions > Edit Page > Edit Web Part > Modify Shared Web Part > Selected View [All Items] > OK
• Refresh the workflows in SharePoint Designer: SharePoint Designer > File > Open Workflow > Finish