SharePoint: General

SharePoint 2010 Blog is now live!

Heather Solomon — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:32:05 GMT

I am blogging about SharPoint 2010 in a new site: blog.sharepointexperience.com. Come check it out!

SharePoint 2010 CSS Chart is now live

Heather Solomon — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:13:36 GMT

I have posted a new CSS chart for SharePoint 2010. It has all of the same features as the 2007 chart, and then some. :) Check it out at http://spexp.me/csschart

Thanks everyone for your support!

Brand it baby! Buy tickets by Wednesday for my next branding class...

Heather Solomon — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:27:58 GMT

Themes? Master pages? CSS? Page layouts? Content customization? All covered next week in my SharePoint Branding Bootcamp in Anaheim, CA. You will get a lot of one on one time with me to work on your plans, designs and issues with your SharePoint sites. Check out more info in this post, or online at: http://www.sharepointbootcamp.com/sharepoint_branding_bootcamp.htm

Thanks!

Learn how to brand SharePoint

Heather Solomon — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:23:52 GMT

In two weeks I am headed to sunny Anaheim California to teach my SharePoint Branding Bootcamp. There are still seats available and I would love to have you join me for a week (April 27 - May 1st) learning how to effectively brand the SharePoint interface.

A lot of my materials have been updated to include the latest tips and tricks I have discovered. This class covers more than just where SharePoint CSS files are or how to create a theme, we delve into master pages, WCM page layouts, customizing the content display and how to brand all the various components of SharePoint that are not otherwise caught by a master page change. We also go outside technical aspects and discuss how to start your branding process and gotchas for SharePoint design.

This class is for designers, developers, business managers with technical skills and anyone who needs to understand how to change the SharePoint interface. We use SharePoint Designer (SPD) to complete all tasks so you will additionally get a lot of time and experience with SPD.

Also in Anaheim will be Dustin Miller teaching the Original SharePoint Bootcamp and Matt Passannante teaching the SharePoint Administration Bootcamp. You will have access to both of these great guys to ask random SharePoint questions or just about anything in general. :-) We have a great time together, and hey we are staying inside of Disneyland!

To learn more about our classes, check out the web site: http://www.sharepointbootcamp.com/

Controlling Single Web Parts with CSS Article Posted

Heather Solomon — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:19:01 GMT

I often get questions about how can a particular web part be branded separately from all the rest or be branded by type. For example you want every Contacts list to have a green header bar instead of a tan header bar. Or perhaps you want a column of web parts on a page to look different than the main area that contains other web parts.

The latter I have always had a solution for, the former I figured out something today. As with everything that I focus on, these are "no custom development" / "no .NET code" solutions. You can usually build whatever customization you need with custom code. If you would like to just rely on CSS however, here you go....

Controlling Single Web Parts with CSS

SharePoint Online - a solution for SharePoint hosting for small businesses

Heather Solomon — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:55:12 GMT

I recently got a question from James in Australia about the challenges small institutions face with using and deploying SharePoint. I know a lot of people are in this position where they want to use SharePoint but don't have the resources to support hosting it internally. You can check out Microsoft Online Services, they offer SharePoint hosting via SharePoint Online. http://www.microsoft.com/online/sharepoint-online.mspx

Hope this helps, thanks James!

Random Design Bits for SharePoint OTW....

Heather Solomon — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:01:55 GMT

I often sit and stare at the computer screen wondering what on earth I should blog about. I guess I work with SharePoint branding too much on a daily basis to have particular items stand out to me that say "Hey, blog me!". In an effort to get out helpful bits, I am turning to my blog comments. I unfortunately don't have time to address all the great comments people send me, but I have saved them all. I am going to start picking questions at random to answer here on my blog in hopes of helping out a few people here and there.

Thanks for all of your ongoing support. I can't express my gratitude for all the wonderful things people send me and say to me. You guys are the best... Heather

New SharePoint Training Available

Heather Solomon — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:16:34 GMT

At SharePoint Experts we are expanding our training offerings! I am excited about the new sessions we are hosting, the unique learning environment we are creating, and the innovative classes we are in the process of authoring. Starting the week of February 9th, we are hosting five Three Hour Tours highlighting popular SharePoint topics such as...

The Data View Web Part: Deep Dive! - Find out more
February 9, 2009, 1:00 PM - 4:00PM CST

SharePoint Features: What's the Big Deal? - Find out more
February 10, 2009, 1:00 PM - 4:00PM CST

InfoPath and SharePoint: A Primer - Find out more
February 12, 2009, 1:00 PM - 4:00PM CST

SharePoint Planning: The Business Comes First - Find out more
February 13, 2009 - 1:00 PM - 4:00PM CST

And then my personal favorite (gee, wonder why ;-)...

Brand It!: SharePoint Branding, from Start to Finish - Find out more
February 11, 2009, 1:00 PM - 4:00PM CST

During this session, Heather Solomon will show you how to brand your SharePoint sites, from start to finish. Combining master pages, page layouts, CSS and content types, you'll see how to take a design comp and basic taxonomy information and apply it to a MOSS 2007 site.
•    Critically examine design wireframes to determine if there are any SharePoint "gotchas"
•    Create custom master pages from a base master page definition
•    Create a custom theme
•    Design CSS variations so that your web site's departments/sections can have their own color scheme
•    Use publishing workflow features to avoid publishing unfinished pages, and allow non-designers to create new content on your sites

In this 3-hour session I cover key branding concepts and brand a site from start to finish. It is a whirlwind of branding activity that is a both great intro to or refresher for how to brand a SharePoint publishing site.

Also, be sure to sign up for our mailing list. We will soon be announcing new classes exclusively taught online, and I am cooking up a class that you won't find at any other SharePoint training house. :-)

Cheers everyone!

My Site Profile Picture Not Showing in Custom Master Page

Heather Solomon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:56:32 GMT

I made an update to my Base Master Page today that moved the PlaceHolderLeftNavBarTop content placeholder from the hidden ASP Panel at the bottom of the file to an appropriate place in the left navigation area.

The content page (\12\Templates\SiteTemplates\SPSMSITE\default.aspx) that controls the profile/public page of My Sites adds the profile picture of the user to the left navigation bar via the PlaceHolderLeftNavBarTop content control. To show this profile picture in your custom mater page, you need to include this content placeholder in your code.

To Breadcrumb or not to Breadcrumb?

Heather Solomon — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:02:51 GMT

User Interface Engineering has posted an article about breadcrumbs, and why they feel that breadcrumbs are a design cop-out. It is a good read, especially for people using SharePoint for external facing sites.

» Design Cop-out #2: Breadcrumbs

Personally, I only utilize page breadcrumbs when working with administering lists and settings. The breadcrumb provides a quick way back to list screens and other setting screens where otherwise no navigation is provided. For that purpose I think they can be useful. The article brings up some valid points on whether or not to use breadcrumbs at all.