You have a site design and your trusty copy of Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, but now what? In this session, we cover SharePoint branding concepts and benefits and show step-by-step how to create a custom master page using SharePoint Designer.

With buzzwords like master pages, themes, page layouts, and CSS, the world of SharePoint branding can quickly become confusing and overwhelming. Instead you need a clear idea of what is involved with SharePoint branding so you can make decisions about what technologies your site needs to utilize and what skills your team needs to learn. In this session, we show a composite view of SharePoint branding components and their interworking relationships. We look at the differences between master pages, themes, content pages, and page layouts, and cover the basic starting points for kicking off your SharePoint branding effort.

You have a site design and your trusty copy of SharePoint Designer, but now what? In this session, we cover SharePoint branding concepts and benefits and show step by step how to create a custom master page using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer.

SharePoint branding can be flexible, fun, and frustrating all at once. During this session, we do a deep dive into the details of branding and look at how to handle CSS, multiple designs, navigation styling and manipulating content placeholders. We also address branding other SharePoint elements such as application screens, My Sites, and Blogs.

With the release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007, building and deploying a robust content-centric site has become quick and efficient. And, with each site deployment comes the need to alter the site look and feel. In this session we review components of the user interface and their interworking relationships that ultimately create the rendered page. For the majority of the session, we delve into how to brand a site and customize the user interface through use of master pages, CSS, and page layouts. In addition, we touch on interface customization of site navigation and branding site administrator screens. By the end of this session, we will have a site that is completely branded and easily stands apart from the out-of-the-box look and feel of SharePoint.

Both Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 extensively use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in all visual elements of the SharePoint user interface. In this session we will identify the multiple files where styles are stored, how styles should be updated, and where new styles should be placed. We will also cover the general rules of engagement for CSS and give developers a great leg up to understanding CSS and how to utilize it for their sites. Finally, we will cover some commonly used styles in a SharePoint site and demonstrate quick and easy changes to the styles that can drastically alter the look and feel of a site.

With the latest release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007, taxonomy is still key to building a well organized and effective site. In this session we will look at the core components of a site that need to be addressed before development begins. Throughout the session we will clear up some of the confusions around what organizational features are available and how to best utilize them in MOSS 2007. We will address content types, page layouts, navigation, site collections and how to best incorporate Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 sites into your planned taxonomy.

Once you have built and deployed your SharePoint site, you have won half the battle. Now you need to show everyone in your organization how to use SharePoint. In this session we will review practices and techniques for teaching your Information Workers the ins and outs of SharePoint. We will cover helpful tools for building demos and learning guides and discuss ways to create a Help and Resource site for your end users. We will finish up the session talking about tips and tricks for running an effective Help Desk.

It can often be a daunting task to determine how to customize SharePoint. At this meeting we will take a look at the various customization methods, categorize each one into easy to understand customization types, and look at some examples of what each method can accomplish. By the end of the meeting, you will have a clearer understanding of what is best for your SharePoint installation.

Case Study of a Tri-State area company who needed one look and feel, but many versions of that look and feel for each company division. In this session I explained how I created a single master page and changed colors and images for each sub site.