We’ve seen the following error several time on several different servers while trying to save a copy of a SharePoint Site Template (.stp file) from the Site Template Gallery:
The XML page cannot be displayed
Cannot view XML input using style sheet. Please correct the error and then click the refresh button, or try again later.
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An invalid character was found in text content. Error processing resource 'http://SERVER_URL/_catalogs/wt/SITE_TEMPLATE...
MSCF
No amount of refreshing will help and since the Site Template was created by SharePoint using “Save site as template”, there isn’t a quick way to correct the error. Besides, the error message isn’t very helpful since it doesn’t include a line number to help diagnose the problem.
If you are like most people using SharePoint you are likely using Internet Explorer when interacting with SharePoint. Internet Explorer may be the most feature friendly browser for SharePoint, but other browsers also work. In this case, it is Firefox to the rescue.
Load up Firefox, point it to the Site Template Gallery and click the Site Template link that throws the error above to download a copy as a .stp file.
And, just to prove that the .stp file was fine, we uploaded the file to a different server and created a site with no problem. Of course the site template could not be saved out from that server either without the help of Firefox.