Essential SharePoint 2007, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3. Creating Sites

SharePoint sites organize and control access to information. You create a new site when access needs are unique or when the purpose of the site is unique. For example:

• Create sites for each department in your organization so department members can add and edit documents, but others can't (unique access).

• Create a general Helpdesk site where employees can ask questions of any department (unique purpose).

In Chapter 1, I showed you how to create a simple document control site for a Legal department. In this chapter, I'll tell you how to organize your sites, control access, customize their appearance, and create custom site templates.

Choosing a Location and Template

Sites are organized hierarchically within SharePoint sort of like the folders in a conventional filesystem, only instead of drives, folders, and subfolders, SharePoint uses web applications, site collections, and subsites:

Web application

A web site that has been extended using the SharePoint administration tools. Each web application has a unique address—usually a subdomain of your organization's web address such as http://intranet.something.com.

Site collection

A group of sites that all exist under a top-level site. Web applications usually have several top-level sites: one at the root and others under the /sites and /personal paths.

Subsite

A site beneath the top-level site in a site collection.

Figure 3-1 illustrates a typical configuration with public, internal, and partner web applications.

Figure 3-1. How ...