I was wondering what most people do when setting up web templates.
Do they create/customize it in sharepoint and then export the template and open it up in visual studio. Or do they create a template from scratch (new sharepoint project in visual studio).
I find it annoying when a template is imported into visual studio because a lot of additional items are created e.g. ContentTypes, ListInstances, Property Bags etc
I was wondering what the professional approach to this is?
It depends on the situation and needs , if the template you are trying to create is simple then it is advisable to create is from scratch, but if it is complex then you should import it from the share point.
In My opinion its better to have it imported because it will maintain the structure as well as it is faster to implement
Hope this helps