update: I now use the excellent 'Duplicator' plugin that is completely gratis courtesy of Life In The Grid - find it in the WordPress plugin directory:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/duplicator/

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If you are creating a lot of blogs that are identical in their configuration (plugins, theme, settings) you can save a lot of time by creating a master blog that can be replicated with ease if you have cpanel hosting.

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