SharePoint V3: Technique for Creating Branded Site Template

The process of creating a custom master page and CSS file to brand a site is often necessary. When creating a portal with multiple site collections, I like to template the branded site first and then create subsequent site collections using the template.

I start by creating the first web application and site collection. Next, I create the custom master page and CSS file. I upload the necessary images and logos to the publishingimages or sitecollectionimages directories of the site collection.

Once I have the site collection looking the way I want, then I use stsadm to backup the site collection. Then, I create a new web application and restore the sts backup. Now I don't have to brand the second site collection manually.