Cannot Create a Site using CSOM in the Sharepoint /sites folder

Question

I am trying to create sharepoint site using CSOM in the sites folder, so that I end up with https://XXXXXXXXXX.sharepoint.com/sites/MyShineyNewSite

I am using the following code

ClientContext ctx = getSharepointConnection("https://XXXXXXXXXX.sharepoint.com")
WebCreationInformation wi = new WebCreationInformation();
wi.Url = "MyShineyNewSite";
wi.Title ="Test Shiney Site";
Web newWeb = ctx.Web.Webs.Add(wi);
ctx.Load(newWeb);
ctx.ExecuteQuery();

When I use the values above, the code runs & I get a valid looking site at https://XXXXXXXXXX.sharepoint.com/MyShineyNewSite, but I don't want it there. I want it under the 'sites' folder

When I try to include 'sites' as part of the ctx definition(IE "https://XXXXXXXXXX.sharepoint.com/sites"), the getSharePointConnection** function errors with a 404 not found
When I try to include 'sites' as part of the wi.Url parameter, (IE "/sites/MyShineyNewSite") , the execute query fails with 'The 'parameters.Url' argument is invalid'

How do I get this to create the site in the correct location ?

**getSharePointConnection is peudocode function to make this code more readable on screen. It covers authenticating to SharePoint in CSOM and returning a loaded and executed Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContextobject

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

The code you have creates a new SharePoint site as a subsite of the current website. The URL for the subsite is {parent site URL}/{subsite URL}. So, using the code you have above, the URL for the subsite will be https://xxxxxxxxxx.sharepoint.com/MyShineyNewSite. This URL structure is inherent to SharePoint and cannot be changed.

You can use different code to create a new SharePoint site as the root of a new site collection. By default, the URL of the root site of a site collection is {tenant root site URL}/sites/{site collection root site URL}. In your case that could be https://xxxxxxxxxx.sharepoint.com/sites/MyShineyNewSite. Again, this URL structure is inherent to SharePoint and cannot be changed.

This blog post covers how to create a site collection in SharePoint Online using the Client Object Model:

How To Create/Provision Site Collection Programmatically Using Client Side Object Model (CSOM) PNP In SharePoint Office 365

Answer 2

Hi Rob , Many thanks for the quick response. The blog post shows the use of a tenant and sitecreationproperties classes. The sample suggests that its in Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.TenantAdministration , but I cant see that in Nuget . The documentation still refers to that namespace. Do you know if these have been moved ?

Thanks again, Regards Richard

Answer 3

Thank you,

Answer 4

Hi @Rob Windsor

I have managed to use the logic in the blog post to create the site in the right location, but there are a couple of problems with it. It creates the site more slowly than the WebCreationInformation method, and it initially denies me permission , even though I am siteCreationProperties.Owner.

The first method I tried ran through more quickly , and granted me access from the get-go. Is there any way to make that site be created under the /sites folder or to move it there from the root?

Thanks again

Regards Richard

Answer 5

Hi @Rob Windsor ,
Thanks again. So does this mean that https://XXXXXXXXXX.sharepoint.com/sites/ is already a site collection, as that is where our sites are ?

In which case , is there a way to navigate to it in CSOM to that so that I can use the WebCreationInformation approach to create the sub site there?

Thanks again