Transfering a layout from one site to an other

[spok2012]

Hi out there,

let me please get your opinion about a task aiming to transfer the layout of one Joomla 2.5 installation to an other.

I have a Joomla 1.5 installation up and running since years (installation a - production site); a try to migrate with jupgrade to Joomla 2.5 works well (let me call this installation b - development site).

For this reason the most time consuming task after migration will be the configuration of the template and the layout of the site - i. e., which menu in what menu position and so on. This configuration task is done on "installation b", while "installation a" is still running as a production site.

When configuration of "installation b" is ready, the production site "installation a" will have changed regarding its content - more pages will be added.

To keep the downtime for the real migration short I therefore think about doing a further migration from the production site (lets call it installation c) and then transfer the layout from installation b to installation c.

For this I had a look at the database to see, where this layout information may be stored. To my opinion this should be (j25 means Joomla 25 table):

j25_menu
j25_menu_types
j25_modules
j25_modules_menu
j25_template_styles

Does anybody has an opinion about this idea? Ever tried to do this? Would that process work? Did I catch all neccessary tables?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards from Germany