Yes, another thing I thought would be complicated and be surprised of its simplicity
just open the XML of the the current template and add the positions you want

<positions>
<position>hornav</position>
<position>breadcrumbs</position>
<position>banner</position>
<position>left</position>
<position>right</position>
<position>top</position>
<position>search</position>
<position>topsl</position>
<position>user1</position>
<position>user2</position>
<position>user3</position>
<position>user4</position>
<position>user5</position>
<position>user6</position>
<position>user7</position>
<position>user8</position>
<position>user9</position>
<position>footer</position>
<position>syndicate</position>
<position>debug</position>
</positions>