Customizing a SharePoint Site's Visual Design

One of the common questions we get from clients is "how do I apply a custom design to my SharePoint site?"  While SharePoint's interface is relatively clean, it has the ubiquitous "SharePoint Look."  Most clients want to make their sites match their brand, palette and navigational style.  However, it's not always easy to figure out the various elements that need to change.

To that end, here's a short list of options for changing SharePoint's look into something more complimentary to your brand:

1. Custom SharePoint Theme
   A Theme, in SharePoint terms, is like a fresh coat of paint over the existing SharePoint interface.  A Theme is driven exclusively by a series of CSS files located on the file system (in the "12 Hive").  The best custom themes simply override styles that can be found in the various CSS files that accompany the SharePoint software, like CORE.CSS.  The advantage to a custom Theme is that it takes very little to create some dramatically different interface styles; since so much of SharePoint's interface is CSS drive (to its credit), you can do quite a lot by simply changing the theme.  The easiest way to create your own theme is to copy an existing one (located in X:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\template\themes where X is your SharePoint installation drive).  Once you've copied the directory, renamed it, updated the included CSS and added your images, just modify the THEMES.INF to point to your new custom theme.  If you'd like detailed instructions, take a look at this MSDN article.
   
   
   Figure 1 - List of Themes included with SharePoint
   
2. Custom Master Page(s)
   In the .NET v2.0 timeframe, Microsoft introduced a concept called a "master page."  A Master Page, in SharePoint vernacular, represents all of the common elements of pages that share that Master Page.  Using an overloaded term, "template" might best describe at least part of the concept.  While Master Pages don't represent that entirety of the visual design, they establish the major elements and then determine where variable elements of a page can be placed.  By using "container objects," called placeholders (another overloaded term), Master Pages can establish the interface framework without interfering in a specific implementation.  Using various Master Pages with the same Page Layout (more on that shortly), you can produce vastly different looking sites.  In fact, SharePoint (MOSS) comes pre-loaded with several master page examples (mostly with names including "band" in them).   If you currently have a publishing enabled MOSS site (collaboration portal, News site or Publishing portal are the standard ones that enable this feature by default), you can change your master page in Site Settings.  There you'll have the option of choosing between various pre-installed Master Pages for both the Site Master Page and the System Master page.  In addition, you can create your own custom Master Page to introduce a radically different look.   If you are using WSS or don't have the publishing feature enabled, you can still use different Master Pages.  However, you'll either have to write a small utility to change the Master Page or you can download an open source extension to SharePoint from CodePlex to assist you in changing your master page (among other visual design elements).  Microsoft published a short article on customizing master pages on their MSDN site.  Remember though, you can have many Master Pages defined in your SharePoint site collection, but you can only use one Master Page per SharePoint site (unlike a traditional ASP.NET application).
   
   Figure 2 - Option in Site Settings for changing Master Page
   
3. Creating Custom Page Layouts
   Page Layouts, like Master Pages, were released as a part of the .NET v2.0 framework.  They are used in conjunction with Master Pages to create the overall visual design of a SharePoint site.  Page Layouts define what content will be placed into placeholders defined by the Master Page.  SharePoint ships with a number of different layouts.  By default, selectable Page Layouts are only available when using a publishing enabled site; you can choose a specific Page Layout for other SharePoint-types.  However, if you are using a publishing-enabled site, you can further refine your SharePoint site's look by leveraging customized Page Layouts.  Just keep in mind that Master Pages and Page Layouts are pretty tied together; if you create a Page Layout that uses placeholders from a customized Master Page, that Page Layout may not be "compatible" with out-of-the-box layouts.  For more information on creating Page Layouts, see this MS Office article.

In many cases, organizations will need to leverage more than one of these techniques to create the look they desire.    The specific technique will largely depend on how different you want your SharePoint site to look.

Once you've completed your changes, the best way to "install" the new, customized look, is through a SharePoint Feature.  A feature can provision all of the files involved in the customizations and programmatically enable them on one or more sites within the site collection.  The advantage to this approach is that by activating or deactivating the feature, the customized look can be enabled or disabled without vastly affecting the function of the site; this approach is also the way Microsoft recommends making changes to your SharePoint site.

Now, if all of this is too much to take in, or if you just need some help, Consejo has recently created a new SharePoint Branding Fast Track offering.  This offering is meant to help organizations quickly develop a customized the look and feel for their SharePoint site.   In a short 11 business days, we create a semi-custom visual design for your site, leveraging our pre-build master pages, page layouts and themes.  For more information or to discuss your needs, contact our sales group.

Insignia Bluetooth Headset - One Year Later

It's been nearly a year since I acquired my Bluetooth headset.  In that time, the headphones have served me well.  Unfortunately, on a recent trip, the headphone finally succumbed to the abuse they've endured; the plastic that connects the two ear phones snapped -- likely twisted a bit too far in my laptop case.  However, over the course of the year, I learned a few things I thought others would find useful:

1. The connection to my laptop required two profiles: one for the headset functionality (mono) and one for the headphones (stereo).   This was very much true in Windows XP, but a little different in Vista.
2. I had to disable the headset services in Vista to get the stereo headphone functionality to operate consistently.  On my Dell, this was done by opening the BlueTooth service in the Control Panel (or from the System Tray).  I selected the Insignia device and picked Properties.  In the Properties dialog, there's a services tab that showed what BlueTooth services were available from the device.  On my computer, the services listed were: audio sink, headset and remote control.  The audio sink is the service required for stereo headphone operation and the remote control is required for controlling Windows Media Player through the controls on the headphones.  Headset functionality provides mono sound and microphone services (for things like Skype or gaming).  By enabling and disabling the services I needed, I could get the functionality I wanted consistently.  A few people have e-mailed or comments about trouble they had hearing sound or getting the microphone to work.  From my experience, having the right services selected was key to getting everything working.  
3. Based on the service in the Bluetooth profile you've selected, up to two audio devices would be displayed in the sound setup in Vista - either stereo headphones or a mono headset.  The headset device was also tied to a recording device - the microphone.  I would select one or the other device as the "default device" to enable use of a specific function.
4. I would have to occasionally connect my headphones to my computer, select the service in the Bluetooth configuration and then select the right device in the sound properties to get everything work.  In addition, I would sometimes have to cycle the power on the headphones in the event that the right connection didn't get established immediately.  I found that if I had all services enabled on the headphones, the mono headset service took priority over the stereo mode.  Although I could listen to music, it was not the best experience.

In all, I am and was very happy with the headphones.  In fact, I recently returned to Best Buy to get a replacement set.  However, I was a bit distracted by a pair of Samsung Bluetooth headphones (don't remember the model), which looked a little nicer and with a similar battery runtimes.  I tried them out for a few days and although they seemed to "get" automatic switching between profiles (the device figured out that I wanted to listen to music vs. using Skype), had better ear cups and were generally a bit nicer, they were $10 more expensive and required you to charge the headphones using a dedicated AC adapter, which I though was kind of silly.  In addition, I didn't have the best experience using them with my mobile phone (oddly also a Samsung), so I returned them.

At this point, I'm not sure sure if I'll simply get a replacement set of Insignia headphones or find another brand.  That said, I would still recommend the Insignia set if you're looking for a decent quality, wireless headphone.

Gilbane Boston 2008 and SharePoint

As I finish up my presentations at the Gilbane Boston conference, I am still struck by the number of questions surrounding SharePoint.  During my "SharePoint in the Enterprise" talk, a number of attendees asked about whether SharePoint could be a stand along ECM solution.  Others were concerned about integration with 3rd party products -- specifically how SharePoint could co-exist with other technologies. Still others were interested in how to test applications built on top of SharePoint.

These are all excellent questions.  During my presentation, I covered a good many of them.  However, if you're still struggling to understand where SharePoint would fit or what functionality it provides in the box, I'd recommend picking up a copy of the SharePoint Report 2009 from CMS Watch.  The 242 page report covers virtually every aspect of SharePoint and gives pointed advice on everything from development on the platform, what's in and out of the box and, in this latest release, reviews of more than 20 add-on products that supplement SharePoint's functionality.

I'll admit I'm a bit biased -- I was the lead analyst on the report.  However, for the price, there's little chance you could hire a consultant to provide the same insight.  If, however, you're also hoping to get input from a consultant, Consejo has recently developed an offering which includes a copy of the report, in addition to a specific assessment of how SharePoint might fit in your environment. 

To learn more about our new SharePoint Assessment offering, please e-mail sales@consejoinc.com.

SharePoint Report 2009 Released

Consejo and CMS Watch have just completed an update to the SharePoint Report called the SharePoint Report 2009.  If you're in considering SharePoint for your organization, buying the report will save you both time and money.  For far less than it would cost to hire a consultant to deliver the same information, you are given pointed advice about what SharePoint does and does not do, as well as best practice information.  The latest report also includes reviews of more than 20 add-on products as well.

I would encourage you to download the sample content to see for yourself.  Also, if you have feedback, we'd love to hear it.  You can e-mail editor@cmswatch.com. 

SharePoint at the JBoye Conference in Denmark

As the JBoye 2008 conference in Aarhus, Denmark wraps up the final day, I can't help but be amazed at the popularity of SharePoint in both in the U.S. and abroad.  With a great deal of Consejo's work located in the U.S., it's easy to get caught up locally and forget the more global community.

During the conference, there was one consistent theme from the largely European-based audience: most European customers are struggling with the same or similar challenges as their U.S.-based counterparts.  Here are a few of the challenges I heard during my presentations:

• With very large installations (e.g. tens of thousands of employees), there are some significant challenges in SharePoint deployment.  The example I heard from an Austrailian (living in the Netherlands) was they had so many employees, they had to deploy multiple SharePoint farms just to enable My Sites for everyone.  As a result, surfacing alerts to users tended to be problematic, since alerts don't travel between SharePoint farms if you're not careful about your Shared Services configuration.
• Variations work generally well for presenting multiple language versions of a primary language site.  For example, presenting a Spanish version of an English site.  However, if you have two Spanish sites -- one for Mexico and one for Spain as an example -- SharePoint does not allow you to leverage the Spanish site to help "seed" the Mexican site.  Both the Spanish and Mexican sites can only be sourced from the English site.  This situation leads to one of two options -- spend more in translation OR copy and paste content from the ES-ES site to the ES-MX site manually.
• On the topic of languages, SharePoint will allow you to store content in any language in any site.  This is fantastic for sharing language specific content.  Unfortunately, the interface (administrative menus and functions) can only be displayed in one language.  This means that if your affiliate in France sets up a SharePoint site with the French language pack, everyone visiting that site will see the French administrative options and functions.  There's no capability for displaying English menus to the British or Spanish menus to the Spaniards.  While most companies I spoke with generally use English as their official company language (creating an English standard for all interfaces), that approach is limiting where English isn't pervasive -- like in Russia or France -- and where the native language isn't commonly spoken beyond the locale.
• SharePoint search facilities continues to be the target of both deserved and undeserved criticism.  Many attendees lamented about the lack of wild-card search support, the inability to submit boolean queries and the inability to "tune" results.  While results tuning is a weakness compared with other enterprise engines, wild-card and boolean support is the result of interface limitations and not limitations of the engine.  In fact, most add-on search vendors simply take advantage of build-in engine capabilities that the Microsoft-supplied search interface fails to surface.

Despite the various complaints, SharePoint is generally very popular.  Companies like Alfa Laval, ExxonMobil and British Telecom had representatives all sharing their experiences with SharePoint.  The attendee from Alfa Laval presented her experiences in developing a public web site using SharePoint  -- across 60 countries an 25 languages.  Despite the challenges she faced during the implementation, she was very positive about both the product and their implementer.

In the end, there was one common thread throughout the conference: users need better information and guidance on the best practices for SharePoint implementation.  This includes not only technology help, but general governance assistance.  In fact, one presenter suggested that the viral growth challenges of SharePoint were largely due to a lack of discipline in many large organizations.   As I and my co-authors point our in the SharePoint Report 2008, published by CMS Watch, there are number of factors to both successful and failed implementations.  However, good governance practices represent a key success factor for any organization.

If you would like to learn more about SharePoint or are looking for guidance on best practices, there are two upcoming conferences that I would recommend:

1. IIR's Enterprise-3 Conference in Las Vegas, 10 to 12 November
2. Gilbane Boston 2008 in Boston, 2 to 4 December

I'll be presenting SharePoint 1/2 day workshops at both conferences in addition to a regular session at the Gilbane conference.  I look forward to seeing you there!

IT and Business Alignment Forum

UPDATE: Changed Discount Code

International Institute of Research (IIR) recently created a new, combined conference that brings together the best of business and IT strategy (Enterprise Architectures Conference, Business Process Management Conference and Enterprise Web, Portals & Collaborative Technologies Conference).  The new IT and Business Alignment Forum will be held 10 to 13 November at the Red Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

As a multi-year speaker at the Enterprise Web, Portals and Collaborative Technologies conference, I have had the opportunity to interact with many off the attendees and see, first hand, the value that content has provided.   From social networking in the enterprise, to best practices in portal development, to how to create a real adoption plan for web 2.0 technologies in the enterprise -- the conference has both depth and breadth.  With the addition of content and speakers from the other conferences, the Alignment Forum promises to really bridge the gap between the disciplines and enable better and more productive discussions around creating real solutions in the enterprise.

This year I'll be leading a pre-conference seminar on making SharePoint Work in the Enterprise.  I'll be covering topics like:

• SharePoint overview
• SharePoint's strengths and weaknesses
• How to integrate SharePoint with other enterprise systems
• Performance and Scalability
• Overall governance (specific to SharePoint)

If you're interested in attending, you can find more information on the conference web site.  You can also get a discounted registration for the conference by using the following promotion code: SPKRITBIZSS

I look forward to seeing you there!

Rookie mistakes to avoid during the SharePoint implementation process

Despite what may seem like a virtual explosion of SharePoint in the enterprise, it has been around since 2001. However, because of the various architectural changes in the recent version, SharePoint's popularity has taken off. The challenge now is to ensure that it is implemented properly in your environment.

Read the full article here...