109 posts from: The SharePoint Customization Blog
Customizing Breadcrumbs in SharePoint 2010
(Indexed 2010-07-23):
For those of you that are struggling with breadcrumb customization in SharePoint 2010 (as I have), I would strongly advise on using the breadcrumb from nightandday.master – after several hours of trial and error this breadcrumb acts as expected.Happy Customizin’
Another SharePoint MVP Chat
(Indexed 2010-07-18):
Do you have questions about SharePoint?Want to learn more about the recently launched SharePoint 2010? By popular request, SharePoint MVPs from around the world are participating in a live chat event about SharePoint. These Q&A events are a great opportunity to tap into the vast knowledge of these industry professionals who [...]
SharePoint Nation Web Cast Creating Custom Actions within SharePoint
(Indexed 2010-07-02):
Join us on Wednesday, July 21st at 8PM EDTfor another SharePoint Nation Virtual User Group Meeting featuring Geoff Varosky. Details below:Creating Custom Actions within SharePointCustom Actions control features in SharePoint such as the Edit Control Block, the Site Actions menu, toolbars, and the links within the Site Settings page. Learn how to leverage Custom Actions [...]
SharePoint 2010 Resources
(Indexed 2010-06-30):
As I dive deep into the world of SharePoint 2010 Customization I will be sharing with you some of the resources/links I find along the way on a new page just created on the site:SharePoint 2010 Resources
SharePoint MVP Chat you wont want to miss!
(Indexed 2010-06-22):
Twitter hashtag: #spmvpchatFacebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=125885194117000SharePoint Team Blog post: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2010/06/17/live-c...(truncated)... Chats to Learn more about SharePoint – with 17 MVP Experts Do you have questions about SharePoint? Want to learn more about the recently launched SharePoint 2010? By popular request, SharePoint MVPs from around the world are participating in a live [...]
No more background woes with dialog boxes in SharePoint 2010
(Indexed 2010-05-17):
In 2007 dialog boxes often inherited backgrounds that you had not anticipated, or wanted. It seems 2010 has a much simpler fix to work around this.Adding the class: .s4-notdlg should force the background not to show in dialog windows.I noticed Randy and Heather both posted on the topic already so no need to get any [...]
For those of you asking about recordings of our virtual user group sessions, they are available.
(Indexed 2009-12-09):
We make our user group sessions available when possible via our website.http://www.sharepointnation.org
Free Themes for SharePoint 2003
(Indexed 2009-12-09):
For those that have been asking for the link to the 10 free themes for SharePoint 2003, they’re still available via Infotech.Download 10 free themes:http://www.infotechsolutions.com/products/sps/Pages/d...(truncated)...
Breadcrumb Issues in SharePoint 2007
(Indexed 2009-12-03):
If you do much SharePoint 2007 Customization, then it’s quite likely that two of the following things are true:1. You have visited Heather Solomon’s great SharePoint Customization Blog and used her Base Master Pages.2. You have run into a wall with the breadcrumbs.More specifically, after applying the base master page the breadcrumbs get a little [...]
Another Externally Facing SharePoint 2007 Website
(Indexed 2009-10-22):
This week we launched our latest website built on SharePoint 2007, just in time for the SharePoint 2010 madness in Vegas.Visit Infotech:http://www.infotechsolutions.com
If you are using SharePoint 2007 + Windows 7 and getting SLOW transfer rates within document libraries
(Indexed 2009-09-25):
If you are using windows 7 and moss 2007 you may find things get REALLY SLOW while moving files in document libraries. This rather obscure fix worked for me, maybe it will help you as well.I spent some time today doing some work on a site whereby I needed to add a large amount [...]
SharePoint Nation! User Group Meeting Tonight w/ Dev Panel
(Indexed 2009-08-18):
Join us on Tuesday, August 18th at 8pm EST as we welcome a developer panel featuring Ed Musters, Geoff Varosky, Paul Schaeflein, Paul Stork and Rebecca Isserman. These guys will be there to answer your questions as well as provide some of their own guidance on topics such as getting started with web part development [...]
SharePoint Nation! - Virtual User Group Meeting Tonight!
(Indexed 2009-07-21):
Join us Tonight, Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 8pm EST for another SharePoint Virtual User Group Meeting. In this meeting, Laura Rogers will demonstrate just how flexible and useful the Out-of-the-Box Web Parts are in MOSS. She will take a detailed look at the Filter, KPI, Excel Web Access, Outlook Web Access, Business Data Catalog, [...]
SharePoint Nation!: Presentation with Shane Young
(Indexed 2009-06-02):
Join us Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 8PM EST for our next virtual user group meeting for SharePoint Nation!Shane Young (www.sharepoint911.com) will join us for a very special presentation as we resume regularly scheduled monthly meetings.Session Overview:In this session Shane will walk you through common mistakes made during the installation process of SharePoint and give [...]
Join us for a FREE SharePoint event in Ottawa
(Indexed 2009-04-03):
Join us April 30, 2009 for a day of SharePoint information sharing and discovery. Presentations by multi-published author and SharePoint MVP Amanda Murphy (Intranet) and WCM expert Mike Maadarani (WCM). The event is completely free and taking place at 100 Queen Street, Ottawa Ontario (The Microsoft Office).8:30am 9:00am Breakfast and Registration9:00am - 10:15am Session [...]
SharePoint Nation! - Virtual User Group Meeting #2 - Records Management
(Indexed 2008-10-28):
Join us Tonight (Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 8PM EST) for another virtual user group meeting for SharePoint Nation!In this meeting, John Holliday (MOSS MVP) will speak to us on Records Management with respect to Document Retention. John is an excellent speaker and very knowledgeable expert on SharePoint, so be sure not to miss this [...]
SharePoint MVP for another year!
(Indexed 2008-10-01):
I just received word that I have been awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for SharePoint for the 2009 award cycle, that makes it 3 years running. Thanks to all the folks within the community, the other MVP’s, the SharePoint product team members, and other Microsoft employees whom collectively weigh in on all of [...]
SharePoint Nation! A taste of whats to come! One night only, Mr. Robert Bogue!
(Indexed 2008-09-16):
Join us Tonight (Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 8PM EST) for our first virtual user group meeting for SharePoint Nation!In this meeting, Robert Bogue (MOSS MVP) will speak to us on Governance. Robert is a definite expert in this area and will make this an event you will not want to miss!Session Information:Are you having [...]
We (Infotech) are hiring
(Indexed 2008-04-16):
Amanda Murphy and I both work at a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner company here in St. Johns, Newfoundland called Infotech. The company has existed since 1994 and has evolved from a small web development shop to a highly focused SharePoint / .NET application development firm. We also have other arms of our business that focus [...]
Community Kit for SharePoint, Enhanced Blog Edition!
(Indexed 2008-03-05):
I have watched for months as this project developed, many people have put countless hours into making it a success. Awesome job to the team involved.Official Release Announcement from SharePoint Team @ Microsoft:http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2008/03/0...(truncated)...
SharePoint Accessibility Anyone?
(Indexed 2007-11-28):
The much anticipated accessibility toolkit for SharePoint has arrived. This joint Microsoft/HiSoftware venture is targetting a much needed area of attention - accessibility.Download:http://aks.hisoftware.com/akslicense.html
An introduction to the Community Kit for SharePoint: Enhanced Blog Edition (CKS:EBE)
(Indexed 2007-10-26):
Vince has posted a great introduction to the enhanced blog edition. Those looking for something extra when it comes to SharePoint blogs should look no further than the Community Kit for SharePoint Enhanced Blog Edition.
Free SharePoint Training Today(SharePoint Pro Online-LIVE)
(Indexed 2007-10-17):
A friendly reminder to all those folks out there with questions about SharePoint 2007. Today is the day… there is a “FREE” conference where you get those questions answered. NoOverview:SharePoint Pro Online-LIVE!, a free one-day event, is the premier virtual conference for developers, administrators, managers, and end users of SharePoint products andtechnologies. SharePoint Pro Online-LIVE! [...]
Real World SharePoint 2007 - A book built from the real experiences of 16 SharePoint MVPs
(Indexed 2007-08-28):
Sure, I could have posted my post when the book was officially released a few days back but hey - I think this book deserves to be in the spotlight every week, for months to come.This is a true testament of SharePoint 2007, straight from the trenches as it’s been used in “Real World” solutions [...]
SharePoint Themes get a little easier with SharePoint Skinner
(Indexed 2007-08-26):
Something there is never enough of is good tools for developing and designing websites (SharePoint Sites Included). This tool while developed to make, making SharePoint Themes easier can be used for any website.SharePoint Skinner - take a look at the screenshots, and download here:http://www.elumenotion.com/Blog/default.aspx
Major SDK Updates for MOSS and WSS, get them while theyre HOT!
(Indexed 2007-08-22):
The Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 SDK contains conceptual overviews, How Do I? programming tasks, developer tools, code samples, references, and an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) starter kit to guide you in developing solutions based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.MOSS 2007 SDK 1.2. Includes Conceptual and Class Library Reference documentation, Web Services documentation, [...]
Beginning SharePoint 2007 - Our First Book Review, by Mike Walsh
(Indexed 2007-06-15):
I’m glad to say that our book, Beginning SharePoint 2007 is now available to the masses. Amanda and I are both eagerly awaiting reviews which is why we were pleased to see that Mike Walsh appears to be the first out of the gate to talk about it.Those of you who know Mike Walsh know [...]
Create more accessible SharePoint sites
(Indexed 2007-06-04):
By now it should come as no great shock that web standards, and accessibility are incredibly important to ‘any website’, yes this very much includes SharePoint sites. It’s not to see Microsoft and the SharePoint Team shining some light on the importance of the situation and equally impressive to see partners and vendors coming to [...]
Cameron Moll on Skinning SharePoint with Standards
(Indexed 2007-05-31):
A very well known CSS/Standards advocate, someone I’ve been following for quite a few years seems to be doing some SharePoint work, and blogging. Check out his recent article on Skinning SharePoint with Standards.Great to have people like Cameron on board pushing web standards in the SharePoint space!
TechED 2007
(Indexed 2007-05-28):
TechED 2007 is just around the corner, I know you will all be taking in the great SharePoint Breakouts, Chalk Talks and BOF’s, but save a little room for the IE Booth. There are some very interesting topics in the web standards space, and even more interesting speakers, including none other than Holly Holzschlag.Don’t forget [...]
Breaking the Silence
(Indexed 2007-05-22):
To all those whom have emailed or posted comments wondering where I’ve been, not to worry - I’m still right here plugging away. A small break from writing was in order after several (3) consecutive book projects (all SharePoint related). I’m just about ready to jump back in the saddle, and I’ve been monitoring the [...]
What SharePoint Posts do YOU want to see?
(Indexed 2007-04-15):
Well, after a fairly lengthy stint of intermittent blogging due to the book and an otherwise hectic schedule, I figured that as I start to brainstorm ideas for new things to post, I would start out by making up for my blogging absence and ask you guys, the readers what type of articles you would [...]
Sneak Peak of our Upcoming Book Beginning SharePoint 2007
(Indexed 2007-04-13):
As Amanda has pointed out over on her blog, small portions of the book will be released in article format over the next few months on the WROX site to give people a chance to check out a few of the concepts ahead of time. So if you go to the site now, you will [...]
Let the blogging begin, again.
(Indexed 2007-04-05):
Amanda and I have officially finished our book (Beginning SharePoint 2007) and it’s gone into production. Amanda and I have spent the last several months doing an absolute brain dump into this book and I hope people will enjoy it. It covers almost all of the basics of the product, focusing on how you can [...]
Hidden Gems
(Indexed 2007-03-26):
Completely off topic from SharePoint. This is the kind of thing that will make you stopand think before turning down your next potential business deal, or partnership.Johnny Cash and June Carter in their primehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1NDEdKkAaQ&mode=re...(truncated)...
Looking for developers, fluent in french for a community project.
(Indexed 2007-03-22):
If you are fluent in French and are interested in contributing to a SharePoint Community project (IE: Volunteer), send me an email. shane@graphicalwonder.com.Hint: It has to do with the SharePoint Community Kit, http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/sharepoint/cks/uge/default.aspx- so if you are involved with French User Groups this might be of particular interest.
Building Real World MOSS 2007 Applications
(Indexed 2007-03-07):
The 2nd part of the article I co-wrote as a guest entry on the ECM blog highlighting a project I worked on a couple of months back has been posted.This installment is more about the branding which of course was my responsibility in the whole thing.Part 2 of3of Building Real Work MOSS Apps on the [...]
Need to remove the PAGES from your publishing site URLs?
(Indexed 2007-02-27):
Thanks to Mark Harrison for pointing me to this new gem coming up in late march.The ‘RAPID for SharePoint’ Classification system will be available in a range of versions towards the end of March 2007. It enables SharePoint 2007 to meet current Public Sector compliance requirements by supporting a range of Taxonomies including IPSV.Also includes [...]
SharePoint Customization Tip: Redirect to a custom page after completing a list form
(Indexed 2007-02-24):
Note: This tip is really only useful if you have created custom buttons which point to the “NewForm.aspx” page of your list (aka: the create a new item part of your form). Example: Maybe you created a sign-up list and to get creative, you added a fancy button to your page which points to http://yoursite/Lists/Signup/NewForm.aspxSuch [...]
Building Real World Solutions with MOSS 2007
(Indexed 2007-02-17):
Slowly but surely, a few of the projects over the past few months which I’ve mentioned being involved with (and which have taken up alot of my blogging time)are starting to raise up from the sand. My first post today highlighted the Community Kit for SharePoint (UGE) which is now available.I also just received word [...]
Community Kit for SharePoint (User Group Edition)
(Indexed 2007-02-17):
As Lawrence points out over on the new SharePoint Community Portal, a project I’ve been heavily involved with over the past while has finally reached an RC1 milestone and we’re looking for critique.The Community Kit for SharePoint (User Group Edition) has been released to the wild as an RC1. What are you waiting for, go [...]
Having Trouble Importing a Custom Data View in SharePoint 2007?
(Indexed 2007-01-31):
The data-view web part is one of the more powerful tools in the SharePoint arsenal, allowing you to completely customize (and control) the data displayed by a basic list-view. I was rather taken aback when I discovered that in SharePoint 2007, I seemed to lose my customizations when I imported my customized web part [...]
Free WSS V3 Application Templates (20, of the Fab 40) now available
(Indexed 2007-01-30):
I awoke this morning with some good news from Lawrence Liu, 20 of the 40 Application Templates are now available for download. For those of you wondering what an application template is, it’s a site template which has been carefully planned out according to a common business practice. Not only do they save you time, [...]
Big day in SharePoint land
(Indexed 2007-01-23):
So much news so little time:The SharePoint Designer team are starting a blog.Watch for some exciting stuff there.ASP.NET AJAX goes RTM, and Daniel Larson responds with a SharePoint AJAX Toolkit.The MOSS 2007/WSS 3.0 RTM SDK’s have been revamped and released as well.
WSS 3.0 Master Pages and Content PlaceHolders: A Desktop Reference Companion
(Indexed 2007-01-22):
One of the most powerful tools for customizing SharePoint 2007 is master pages. One of the most common stumbling blocks is understanding the many content placeholders and what they’re used for.There have been several articles published detailing the placeholder which has been a huge help. For those that deal with SharePoint Customization on [...]
Enforcing Consistent Workspaces with Preferred Templates and Page Layouts
(Indexed 2007-01-19):
This is a topic I have not seen a lot of discussion on so perhaps it could fall under a “did you know” category.In Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, you can specify preferred templates, and page layouts. Basically what this means is you can tell your siteto allow only specific site templates, and page layouts, [...]
Internet Explorer Toolbar Beta 3 Released.
(Indexed 2007-01-14):
I stand by the fact that one the best tools available for SharePoint Customization is the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar. This tool has recently seen a new version released (BETA3).The IE Dev Toolbar let’s you do things like quickly view your pages in different resolutions, outline divs, images, or table elements. One of the more [...]
Take advantage of the Manage Content Tools
(Indexed 2007-01-12):
I just realized how little I’ve been utilizing the “Manage Site Content and Structure” tool available out of the box with MOSS 2007.While working on my most recent project I had templated a list w/ content types which I needed to roll out to a significant number of sub sites.Using the Manage Site and Content [...]
Enable Friendly Error Messages
(Indexed 2007-01-09):
A pet peeve of mine has long been the undescriptive errors SharePoint shovels out by default. You know, when you change a line of code and now your page renders only “An unspecified error has occured”. Pretty annoying right?Turns out you can turn these into descriptive error messages which will actually help you identify the [...]
SharePoint 2007 Customization Tricks, Create a Stylish Page Curl Using CSS
(Indexed 2006-12-19):
Creating a stylish page curl with CSS is pretty easy, you just need to create the curl and apply it as a background-image, position it properly and off you go.This is one example of how you can get creative with WSS v3 sites using only CSS.Here’s the code you’ll need to add to your style [...]
Another User Group Meeting Down
(Indexed 2006-12-18):
I just returned home from our monthly .NET user group meeting. The presentation of the evening was by Mark Simms on multi-threading.Earlier this month I managed to get my hands on some of those limited edition SharePoint Travel Tumblers which Lawrence and company produced.To extend our thanks, I decided to spread a little SharePoint Cheer [...]
Customizing the MOSS 2007 Drop Down Menu
(Indexed 2006-12-18):
While customizing theTopDrop Down Navigation Bar, you might notice some of the drop down items do not stretch all the way when you hover over them. You will get a “two tone” effect, not exactly desirable.Since I’ve run into this several times I figured I would share the CSS I’ve been editing to get around [...]
Add your company logo to all sites in a site collection
(Indexed 2006-12-08):
One common request from customers when it comes to SharePoint Customization is, How do I add my company logo to the site? This was common in V2, and it’s just as common with 2007.You might be quick to point out that in 2007 “Hey that’s easy, you can do it from the browser by [...]
Getting the most out of SharePoint Designer 2007
(Indexed 2006-12-07):
If you deal with SharePoint Customization, you’ll likely be using SharePoint Desginer 2007. This tutorial will help you get the most out of your workspace by creating a custom toolbar which will give you quick access to common tasks.Create a Custom ToolbarRight click in a blank area next to your toolbar and select Customize.Select the [...]
ASPMenu Source Code Released
(Indexed 2006-12-05):
Direct Link from the ECM and SharePoint Team Blogs:The AspMenu class that ships with WSS 3.0 (and by extension MOSS 2007) is nearly identical in behavior to ASP.NET 2.0s Menu class (as the name implies). AspMenu derives from Menu and adds tweaks to work around a few reasonably well known annoyances and provides improved highlighting [...]
Kickstart to editing styles in MOSS 2007
(Indexed 2006-12-01):
Before you begin:Download and install the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar. This is a must have tool for SharePoint Customization. The Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar (get it here FREE)You will also need your preferred text editor, if you don’t have one, Notepad will do just fine.Overview:Note: I wrote this using B2TR bits so there [...]
WSS v3 Master Page Selector Feature
(Indexed 2006-11-30):
Those involved with SharePoint 2007 have no doubt by now noticed that MOSS 2007 allows you to select a master page via the browser while standard WSS v3 installations do not.Not to worry though, Renaud (AKA: Stramit) has written an awesome feature which gives you the ability to change the master page in WSS v3. [...]
Capacity and Performance Planning (SharePoint 2007)
(Indexed 2006-11-22):
Joel and team(s) have released some much anticipated information on capacity and performance planning:Planning for Capacity Boundaries, Estimating Performance & Capacity Requirements, Additional Factors, and Tools Within these docs you’ll find data on servers, server topologies, system sizing, figuring out requests per second, understanding performance characteristics and guidance around features, such as folders vs. no [...]
SharePoint 2007 in the Enterprise
(Indexed 2006-11-06):
There has been muchdebate latelyover how much value SharePoint 2007 offers to the enterpriseout of the box. Many are quick to point out shortcomings, some warrented while others are open to debate.Sure, SharePoint 2007 cannot do everything you would like out of the box and there are very valid arguments for what consititutes a minimum [...]
Did you know a Blank Site created using STSADM is different than via the browser?
(Indexed 2006-10-31):
Ted Pattison pointed this out a few days ago and I’ve been meaning to mention it ever since as I was fairly suprised by the news.Try these two things…1) Go to the WSS Central Admin application and create a new Blank Site2) Run STSADM -o CreateSite -url http://MyServer/sites/Site2ownerlogin: your choiceowneremail: your choicesitetemplate: STS#1The one created [...]
SharePoint Designer 2007 problem connecting to a site which uses a managed path?
(Indexed 2006-10-17):
If you are using managed paths and having trouble connecting to a site using a managed pathin SharePoint Designer 2007 try the following steps:Check to see if the server you are connecting to is referenced in the Open Site Dialogue Box (ie: http://myserver)If so, delete this reference from the Open Site Dialogue Box and try [...]
Been bitten by the repeating icon bug in a custom SharePoint 2007 B2TR theme?
(Indexed 2006-10-15):
If you have been creating custom themes in B2TR, you have likely come across the reapeating icon bug which shows up behind the lists/libaries in the quick launch menu.This is a known (and very minor) issue in B2TR - The class which is causing this is table.ms-navitem. It’s a simple case of a repeating background.If [...]
Web 2.0 in the Enterprise
(Indexed 2006-10-04):
Arpan Shah from the Microsoft SharePoint team has a very interesting take on web 2.0 in the enterprise. I have to agree with most of what he says and I have for quite awhile said that I believe SharePoint is the absolute closest thing we have to a web 2.0 “platform”.In my opinion Web 2.0 [...]
Ive been awarded MVP for Windows SharePoint Services
(Indexed 2006-10-03):
I’m quite excited to announce that both Amanda and I are now MVP’s for SharePoint Products and Technologies. She was awarded the SharePoint Portal Server MVP while I was awarded the Windows SharePoint Services MVP.A big thanks to everyone that in any way influenced this decision and espeically to April, Sasha, Lawrence and the gang [...]
Amanda published on the Intranet Journal
(Indexed 2006-10-03):
If you have run into any confusion surrounding “site collections” in SharePoint 2007 (I know I have), then you’ll want to check out Amanda’s recent Intranet Journal publication where she explains site collections in the upcoming version of SharePoint Products and Technologies.http://www.intranetjournal.com/
Stop bloating my code!
(Indexed 2006-09-22):
While testing out some of the cool new featuers in SharePoint 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh, I noticed there is a lot of code-rewriting going on when you use the HTML editing features built into the new WCM content-editing control.For example:I wrote a simple inline style to add some padding to a DIV - I [...]
Upgrading to WSS v3 or MOSS 2007 (beta2 technical refresh) Step-by-Step
(Indexed 2006-09-14):
Now that the SharePoint 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh has been released to the masses, the first thing you need to do is read the install notes.Then you need to go check out Amanda’s posts which detail (with screenshots) the upgrade process, step by step for both WSS v3 and MOSS 2007 B2TR. Note: YOu [...]
SharePoint 2007 Features, FREE Appliation: Feature Explorer
(Indexed 2006-09-14):
If you are working with “Features” in SharePoint 2007, this free application will make your days much easier. Lloyd, one of the guys on our team wrote this for his own personal use but we decided to release it to the community as a free download.Please let us know if you find it useful [...]
The new face of SharePoint 2007, a first look at the new themes
(Indexed 2006-09-14):
The following themese come standard out-of-the-box. I figured I would save you the hassle of applying every single one while looking for your favorite.These should keep you occupied for awhile - I’ll have a v3 theme pack to release soon enough.BelltownBreezeCardinalCitrusClassicDefault ThemeGraniteJetLacquerLichenObsidianPetalPlasticReflectorSim...(truncated)...
Before installing the SharePoint 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh
(Indexed 2006-09-12):
First let’s cut to the chase. There are a few bumps in the road for B2TR in terms of a flawless double-click-and-go experience. The SharePoint Team needs to field test the Office Patching and B2TR is where it will be done.Sure it won’t be perfect but not to worry there will be plenty [...]
A consistent SharePoint 2007 experience even while browsing _layouts pages
(Indexed 2006-09-07):
Ok - so a perfect UX is simply not possible across the board when it comes to the _layouts pages in SharePoint 2007.That being said now we should start looking at ways to maintain a consistent experience while moving in and out of the _layouts directory and one of my favorites which should come as [...]
Site Migration using SharePoint Designer 2007
(Indexed 2006-09-07):
Today I decided to take a quick look at how the site migration story is evolving with WSS v3. I was pleased to notice a few key differences in SharePoint Designer 2007 (over FrontPage 2003 that is).First, you have the ability to keep site permissions and even retain author information about items which is [...]
SharePoint Designer 2007 (Registered Prefix Issue)
(Indexed 2006-09-05):
I actually emailed Ted Pattison a few dayx ago mentioning that in one of his demo’s he was able to drag a content control (column from a content type) on to a page without problem which confused me because when I drag one on I get a prefix which “isn’t” registered at the top of [...]
Getting set to deliver my first SharePoint Designer 2007 technical learning presentation
(Indexed 2006-09-05):
I am just about ready to deliver my first technical presentation for customizing 2007 technologies using SharePoint Designer 2007.It consists of just 12 slides so it’s 80% demo. It will cover a lot of goodies like:7 features that will make you love SharePoint Designer 2007 (Live walkthrough)Leveraging the power of Master PagesContent TypesCreating Page Layouts [...]
WSS v3 CSS Desktop Reference v1 (Coming Soon)
(Indexed 2006-09-04):
This is a little pet project I started to help those in in the CSS trenches of WSS v3 customization. Everyone involved with customization understands the pains of trying to figure out what classes apply to what elements.While this certainly cannot replace the awesome Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar, this is more of a [...]
Community Kit for SharePoint (Alpha)
(Indexed 2006-09-02):
As Lawrence points out, the alpha build of the Community Kit for SharePoint has been released. Everyone on the team is hoping to get some great feedback from the most important part of this kit - you, the community. Feel free to leave feedback and ideas.Amanda and I are both involved with this project so [...]
Putting Content Types to Work (Smart Navigation Menus)
(Indexed 2006-08-31):
Many moons ago in SharePoint v2 land we often found ourselves inventing some pretty clever solutions. The problem was they took quite awhile to bring up to production level.For example: Raise your hand if you remember the “Document Library Navigation” style used in v2, in case you’ve forgotten about this fan favorite of the [...]
SharePoint 2007, ** CAUTION ** Editing Application.Master (or any _layouts files)
(Indexed 2006-08-30):
This post is simply to avoid the invetiable. As time goes on more and more people will attempt edits of their application.master page as well as other pages within the _layouts directory.Before you do be make sure you fully understand the possibile consequences, some important things to realize are listed below:1) Microsoft does not support [...]
SharePoint 2007 Features
(Indexed 2006-08-30):
(disclaimer: This is in reference to Beta 2 non TR - This may change and for that matter this may not be 100% accurate).While the naming seems a little strange to say the least, the benefits of “features” are going to no doubt make life a little easier for IW’s, ITpro’s and Developers alike.What the [...]
Web Content Management (WCM) - The Image UI
(Indexed 2006-08-25):
For those of you creating publishing and internet facing sites, you are almost certain to use the WCM version of the image control. While this is much better than the web part version where you had to specify the path manually it is a little unintuative.In the event some of you stumble in the same [...]
SharePoint Designer 2007 (Tips!)
(Indexed 2006-08-24):
If you are keen on customizing MOSS 2007/WSS v3 then you’ll likely be getting aquainted with SharePoint Designer 2007.Some tips for using SharePoint Designer 2007Turn off unwanted visual aids by going to “View, Visual Aids - and unchecking the ones you don’t need, or just clicking “Show” to remove them all. This will clean up [...]
SharePoint Technologies, then and now
(Indexed 2006-08-23):
Sometimes you have to take a step back and digest everything that’s going on around you. Over the past few months Amanda and I have both been very actively involved with Office 2007 and in particular of course SharePoint 2007.Between the Rapid Deployment Program with Microsoft, Community Projects and just Personal Research I feel like [...]
WSS v3 Localization and Custom Resource Files (RESX) (Tip!)
(Indexed 2006-08-22):
Disclaimer: This is current as of Beta 2 (non TR).For those that have been brave enough to venture into WSS v3 localization using custom RESX files, you maybe having a littletrouble accessing them.If so try looking in this directory: (The port (80) I guess may change in some cases):localdriveInetpubwwwrootwssVirtualDirectories80App_Gl...(truncated)... out the resource files are copied [...]
My first MOSS 2007 Internet Facing Site
(Indexed 2006-08-16):
After a few bumps and bruises I managed to pull together my first fully customized MOSS 2007 Internet Presence site. Given that MOSS 2007 is still beta2 bits I am very impressed with what I’ve been able to accomplish already. Fact of the matter is the majority of my “hiccups” have been SharePoint Designer 2007 [...]
Using SharePoint Designer 2007 (TIP!)
(Indexed 2006-08-10):
Even the most seasoned designers and developers like to have a starting point when it comes to creating new pages. It doesn’t matter if it’s an ASPX web form, or a standar (x)html page, having a relatively empty starting point is the norm. For those of you that find yourselves often copying, pasting, or duplicating [...]
Customizing SharePoint 2007 Master Pages using SharePoint Designer 2007 (TIP!)
(Indexed 2006-08-09):
For those of you that are knee deep in master pages, content types, page layouts and the other goodies that come along with MOSS 2007/WSS v3 Master Page Customization here’s a little tip. Turn on the master pages toolbar to quickly identify and jump between content regions (placeholders). You can find it under View, Toolbars
SharePoint Designer 2007: Another Hidden Gem (Logging)
(Indexed 2006-07-20):
Today I’m venturing deep into the creation of custom page layouts built on content types. The layout is relatively easy so I decided to take a shot at creating CSS based layouts for my page(s).When attaching a custom style sheet, I noticed the option to “Attach a custom style sheet to “all” html files”. It [...]
MOSS 2007/WSS V3: Where are the chart web parts?
(Indexed 2006-07-19):
I had an email conversation yesterday about “charting” in MOSS 2007/WSS v3, more specifically where are they? With so much emphasis on BI you would expect to see a lot of charting capabilities.We all know how exec’s love their BI, KPI charts, so where are the web parts? Do we rely on the [...]
Customizing SharePoint Portal Server 2003
(Indexed 2006-07-18):
While browing posts yesterday I noticed an article on customizing SPS 2003In the article Luis talks about customizing the SPS.CSS style sheet located on the file system. I just wanted to note that editing default files is unsupported due to the possibility of service pack overwrites etc. As such, the team was kind enough to [...]
Adding a company logo to a WSS v3 site using CSS
(Indexed 2006-07-17):
I feel as though I must be missing something, actually, I really hope I’m missing something obvious.The problem: I create a WSS v3 web/site and now want to add my company logo. If I open the default.master to add this to the page I will unghost it. I see no other “easy [...]
Understanding customer needs and business value in WSS v3 customization
(Indexed 2006-07-16):
I wrote an article recently which questions the architecture of WSS v3 master pages, more specifically the shortcomings of WSS v3 customization when it comes to the application pages which reside in the _layouts folder. I was happy to see just how much discussion this has generated as this was my intention from the start.I [...]
Getting more out of Microsoft Office, advanced tips and tricks
(Indexed 2006-07-14):
Looking for ways to be more productive in your Microsoft Office environment? Microsoft has a site dedicated to delivering tips and tricks for Microsoft Office.What good would a Microsoft Office site be without Advanced Tips for Windows SharePoint Services? (level 200 web cast)
MOSS 2007 Customization: Content Types, Columns and Page Layouts Explained
(Indexed 2006-07-13):
When I started blogging a couple of years back, I made my entry with a very unorthodox way to create a WSS v2 website that looked like a real website. I promise I wont make you endure that length tutorial again.Staying true to my “designer” root, this article outlines some of the MOSS 2007 [...]
Printing the contents of a web part
(Indexed 2006-07-12):
While reading over some articles I noticed Serge point to an article about printing the contents of a web part. Not to take anything away from the solution, it’s great but I just wanted to chime in and remind people that the easiest and arguably best way to print the contents would be using a [...]
Ideas on editing the _layouts/global application pages?
(Indexed 2006-07-11):
I made a post recently thatdeals with a major shortcoming in WSS v3 customization, the fact that 1/2 the pages in a WSS v3 site, the “application pages such as viewlsts.aspx, create.aspx etc” are not editable at the site level because they and the master page they inherit from, application.master reside in the _layouts folder [...]
Updated Template IDs for SharePoint 2007
(Indexed 2006-07-08):
Dan Winter was kind enough to post a list of the TemplateID’s for SharePoint 2007 which I have listed below for your convenience.Here’s the list:ID- FOLDER (extra info) - Configurations0 - GLOBAL (SetupPath=global) - “Global template”1 - STS - “windows SharePoint Services Site”, “Team Site”, “Blank Site”, “Document Workspace”2 - MPS - “Basic Meeting Workspace”, [...]
Getting started with developing, customizing and administering MOSS 2007/WSS v3?
(Indexed 2006-07-07):
If you are just getting started with the 2007 wave, MOSS 2007, WSS v3 and your head is spinning, take a step back, then search good for on-demand webcasts, lectures and or blog-posts from Ted Pattison and Bill English. Thse guys have really been tapping into some great material for Developers and IT Pro’s.Ted Pattison [...]
Kickinit with SharePoint
(Indexed 2006-07-07):
Dangit Bil,Now I have to poke through the wordpress php nonsense (Maybe this is a good time to switch to community server) to find out how I can tap into $entry_dynamics to try and have an auto kickit button. Nice job by the way - I am a huge fan of aggregated/federated content.
Dont you hate when you delete a web/site are are kind of stuck?
(Indexed 2006-07-06):
Awhile back I posted that one of the annoyances I had with SharePoint was the fact that when you delete a site you are just kind of “stuck” there in limbo with no link to get out.Now I can’t condone editing any pages located in:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft Sharedweb server extensions12TEMPLATELAYOUTS such as “webdeleted.aspx”, but …If [...]
My beef with SharePoint Products and Technologies
(Indexed 2006-07-06):
Let me start by saying I’ve been designing websites professionally for more than a decade, I was around when DosFTP and CHMOD’ing were required, when Allaire owned the most popular editor (Homesite) and even when Microsoft was using and pushing the technology now known/marketed as AJAX (you know, when Netscape wasn’t able to support it? [...]
WSS v3 Site Customization
(Indexed 2006-07-05):
I am not sure if this is going to be changed in the final version of WSS v3, but I definately have to give a pitch for why it should be.First the issue:When you create a WSS v3 site it starts it’s life based on the default.master located in the global folder. When you connect [...]
SharePoint Designer 2007, Another Hidden Gem
(Indexed 2006-07-05):
When you edit a page in SharePoint Designer 2007 that will cause the “unghosting” effect you get a warning telling you so. As if that wasn’t good enough, the guys on the SPD team have also added a little icon next to any files that have been customized so that you can easily identify [...]
SharePoint Products and Technologies article on ActiveWin.com
(Indexed 2006-06-29):
ActiveWin.com sponsored me to go to Tech ED Boston as a technical writer this year. I had a chance to report back with several articles based on the events and things that really sparked my interest.My latest article has been posted, this one very focused on SharePoint Technologies, and the community surrounding it.Lawerence Liu from [...]
SharePoint Community Kit
(Indexed 2006-06-29):
Lawrence, and Bil have pointed out that CodePlex is officailly launched. One project that I am pleased to say Amanda and I will both be involved with is the SharePoint Community Kit.You will be able to track the progress from the Project Site on CodePlex. If you have ideas we are all ears, shoot [...]
The importance of planning in MOSS 2007/WSS v3
(Indexed 2006-06-28):
It’s absolutely critical that you understandthe anatomy of sites inMOSS 2007 (WCM) and WSS v3 in order toproperly plan your site content and architecture.I have read countless articles on the ASP.NET 2.0 master pages feature and I have noticed the common explanation is that “master pages should contain common shared elements such as a header, [...]
Designing in MOSS 2007/WSS 3.0 - The Pitch
(Indexed 2006-06-27):
Coming from a web “designer” / graphic designer background, I have myfair shareof beefswith SharePoint technologies as a webbased platform. I’ll have a fairly detailed post outlining some of that in the next day or so, in the interim Iwanted to share apositive experience I had today whilea colleague and I were mulling about under [...]
Customizing Master Pages using SharePoint Designer 2007 (Tip)
(Indexed 2006-06-22):
I just noticed this little tidbit and figured I would pass it along. When customizing sites in WSS v2 I made a habit of duplicating and renaming the default.aspx file for disaster recovery purposes.MOSS 2007 makes use of the ASP.NET 2.0 feature of “Master Pages” - basically a master page sets the stage for the [...]
SharePoint Designer 2007 - Another Hidden Gem
(Indexed 2006-06-22):
If you have spent any time writing style-sheets in SharePoint Designer 2007, you may have noticed the “Style Preview” window.While you edit your styles you get a real-time preview which actually works! Awesome! - Take a look at bottom right of the visual.
SharePoint Designer 2007 - Hidden Gems
(Indexed 2006-06-21):
One of the great things about SharePoint Designer 2007 is the much improved CSS support. When customizing SharePoint sites, there is now a much cleaner interfacce for dealing with multiple stylesheets.One common scenario might be that you want to customize a variations based WCM (publishing) site. Below lists a couple of quick steps [...]