How to Move Customized Workflow Between Sites

If you have been using SharePoint Designer 2007 to develop customized workflow, you may already know the official documentations told us we could not re-deploy it to another site. If you are working in a development environment, it would be pretty hard to recreate the same workflow with lots If loops and conditions.

So, what can you do? I will show you how to move your workflow from site to site or, server to server.

After you complete workflow development and testing and ready to move, go to the list setting pages and save this list as a template.

In the save page, remember to save it with contents. Yes, workflow is part of the contents and can be saved into the template file.

Move the template to the site or sever you like to use. Create the list from the template to the new site.

If your design includes other lists to save history or interact with this new list, remember to create them to the same new site.

Once you are ready with all the creation, open the site with SharePoint Designer. Open the workflow and check the list name is shown correctly or you only see the GUID number.

This extra step is especially important when you create the new list with a different name. Make changes to the list name and update the workflow.

Now you should be able to use the workflow now.

Enjoy it.