Hi Steve,
1 - My understanding is that if you want to exclude some file types from a directory, you cannot use a wild card to add all files and then remove some. You have to break down each file type and what to do for each one.
2 - Also as I understand, the wild card on the "exclude" refers to only the files added in the include - You are creating an exception for what you included.
3 - The packages folder seem to me to be a temporary holding location for files to be zipped up. That is why it keeps excluding the folder.
In your case, try these:
< installinclude Include="**\images\*.png" exclude="packages\**" / >
< installinclude Include="**\images\*.svg" exclude="images\MyMenu\Templates\**;packages\**;" / >
but make sure you don't have this anymore (it will include all):
< installinclude include="**\images\**" exclude="packages\**">< /installinclude>
Cheers,
Aderson