A GUIDE TO SHAREPOINT 2007 CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS Heather Solomon, WSS MVP

SharePoint Customization Options  What is “customization”?  Branding, look and feel, images, colors  Functionality, features, navigation  Lists, libraries, content  SharePoint has provided several ways to customize the user interface  A method can be selected based on site requirements, target audience, timelines and available resource skill set  Options are the mostly the same for MOSS 2007 and WSS v3, implementation of the options differ

SharePoint Customization Options  Options can be broken down into one of two categories:  Options that create customization  Options that package up and deploy customization  Ultimately, there is no “right way” to customize a site, there are just different ways to do it.

Customization Options  Master Pages (used in conjunction with Page Layouts)  Custom Site Definitions  Custom Site Templates  Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)  Extensible Style Sheet Language (XSL)  Themes  JavaScript

Customization Options  Master Pages (used in conjunction with Page Layouts)  Package and deploy customization  Custom Site Definitions  Defines customization  Custom Site Templates  Package and deploy customization  Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)  Defines customization  Extensible Style Sheet Language (XSL)  Defines customization  Themes  Package and deploy customization  JavaScript  Defines customization

Master Pages  Master Pages are an ASP.NET 2.0 feature that provide a way to centrally control the layout and design of a web page  SharePoint site collections can utilize multiple Master Pages  A Master Page can alter the layout, branding and physical content organization on a web page  A Master Page does not include additional functionality, but can reference a JavaScript file  SharePoint utilizes Page Layouts (content pages) to display the content  Both Master Pages and Page Layouts are stored in the content database  Create custom Master Pages based off an existing Master Page or from scratch

Master Pages  Suggested uses:  Change the branding and look and feel of any site  Benefits:  Easy to create, edit, delete and manage  Does not require access to the web server, all changes can be done through the site interface or SharePoint Designer  Allows for drastic alterations of the default SharePoint look and feel  Drawbacks  Requires a web savvy resource to design and create  Application of one Master Page will not affect all site pages  In summary, Master Pages are a solid and great way to update the look and feel of any SharePoint site

Custom Site Definitions  All sites are based off a Site Definition  Site Definitions are stored on the web server in the SiteTemplates folder  Custom Site Definitions can be created and customized to fit needs. Creating a custom Site Definition is fairly simple:  Copy a Site Definition  Edit an XML file on the web server  Reset IIS  Create new site  Edits to Site Definitions appear across entire SharePoint farm

Custom Site Definitions  Suggested uses:  Incorporate a lot of custom functionality  Create a “clean slate” definition to start all sites from  Create a custom “site template” to be used over and over  Benefits  Very thorough and complete way to implement customizations  Available for site creation from anywhere in the environment  Drawbacks  Can be labor intensive  Once created, a site can’t alter what site definition it is based on  Editing Site Definitions after they have been created and used for sites is discouraged  In summary, creating a custom Site Definition is a soup to nuts approach for handling site customizations

Custom Site Templates  Site Templates tracks navigation, web part, list, library and content changes  Creating a Site Template takes a snapshot of the site and stores a copy in the content database  Site Templates are used to create new sites  Site Templates can be used for creating Role Based Templates  Stored in the content database, only exist as a concrete file when saved locally as a STP file

Custom Site Templates  Suggested uses:  Role Based Templates  Quickly duplicate changes made in one site into a new site  Benefits  Fast to create  Can be created by site managers; does not require administrator access  Complete management through the user interface  Drawbacks  Can’t be updated once created  Handled individually in the site template gallery  In summary, custom Site Templates are a quick and efficient vehicle to spread basic content and list customizations made to a SharePoint site

Site Template Sample

CSS and XSL  SharePoint heavily utilizes styles for content and page element display  Styles can be overridden for a low overhead solution for updating the look and feel of a site  Styles can be accessed and edited by using SharePoint Designer  Styles are stored on both the web server and the content database, in multiple.CSS and.XSL files  XSL is used to modify the display of XML data, most notably present in the Content Query Web Part and the Summary Links web part

CSS and XSL  Suggested uses:  (CSS) Brand a site quickly by changing out default colors for company or project colors  (CSS) Use in Master Pages, Site Definitions and Themes for customizations  (CSS) Override default SharePoint styles to customize look and feel of select elements  (CSS) Create multiple versions of one design scheme  (XSL) Use to customize display of Content Query Web Part (CQWP) data  Benefits  (CSS) Quick way to change out colors and images of the existing layout  (CSS) Can specify different CSS files for different sites  (XSL) Extensible way to customize content in the CQWP

CSS and XSL  Drawbacks  (CSS) Limited to working with the existing styles in regards to some of the default SharePoint content  (XSL) Requires a resource with XML/XSL skills  In summary, nearly any situation or other customization method could and would benefit from customizing the styles. It is a very efficient way to change the SharePoint design from the default look to a branded and custom look.

CSS Samples

XSL Samples

Themes  Custom design that can be saved and applied to WSS sites  Consists of design and color changes that are applied to a site after the site is created  Affects all existing and new pages in a site  Has to be individually applied to every site  Themes are stored on the web server and consist of CSS and images  Does not store changes to content  Create themes in SharePoint Designer

Themes  Suggested uses:  Brand several sites differently while using one base  Quickly update the look and feel of a site  Benefits  Quick way to create multiple designs based on the same layout  Extend customization functionality of Master Pages and Site Definitions  Available to any WSS site in the environment  Drawbacks  Has to be applied to each site individually  Doesn’t allow for list, library, web part attribute or content changes  Sometimes cumbersome to create  In summary, themes are a good way to apply various image and color changes to a single or multiple web sites.

Theme Samples

So How Do I Select a Method?  What is the product(s) you are using?  What is skill sets do you have available? Do you have a budget for design?  What do you really need to update?  How many sites do you need to customize?  Do you need to integrate a lot of custom functionality and code?  Does your design change often?

So How Do I Select a Method?  What is the product(s) you are using?  Themes are WSS only  What skill sets do you have available? Do you have a budget for design?  Some options require heavy coding and design  What do you really need to update?  Many options can accomplish what you need without altering site layout  How many sites do you need to customize?  One site, can do nearly any option; many sites, look at streamlined approaches for ease of maintenance  Do you need to integrate a lot of custom functionality and code?  Then you may need to look into a custom site definition  Does your design change often?  If so, select a method that centrally stores design changes

Heather Solomon A Guide to SharePoint 2007 Customization Options