I created a Visual Studio 2005 solution template that has served my
organization well using one vbscript. I have not seen a reference to anyone
else doing it this way, but it works so well and is so easy to maintain that
I decided to post it here.

The solution has multiple projects, project references, two starter webs
(intranet, and internet), dynamically generated namespaces, and a
documentation folder.

To update the template, I simply update a master solution.  The projects in
the master solution have namespaces like MyCompany.TemplateDefault.BLL,
MyCompany.TemplateDefault.DAL, etc.  After I update the master solution, I
delete all the dlls and pdb files, then copy the files to a network share.

The vbscript, which is on the same network share, asks the developer for a
solution name.  Assuming the developer enters "NewApp", the script creates
the folder wwwroot/NewApp on the developer's workstation, copies all the
solution files under that, goes through all the files and replaces
"TemplateDefault" with "NewApp", and creates the webs in IIS.

The developer ends up with a fully functioning solution with the namespace
pattern of MyCompany.NewApp.<layer name>.

If anyone knows of any downsides to this approach, I'd be curious to hear
them.  
After using this template for over a year, I have found it to be reliable
and very easy to maintain.  I have not modified the vbscript once, so each
update simply involves updating the master solution, then copying files to a
share.  The solution also upgrades to Visual Studio 2008 format with no
issues.

~ da Heathen
HeathenWorld.com