Chapter 5

Introduction to Web Parts

Web parts are an interesting addition to SharePoint. They were meant to be a convenient way to display things on the home page of SharePoint sites. They were so handy that now they can be added to most pages of the site. Somewhat like sidebar gadgets, web parts are independent little applications that pull and display information from anywhere data might be available, such as the content database, file shares, or web pages. They are resizable, movable, and self-contained. Numerous companies have been built on customizing SharePoint web parts into all kinds of useful things, probably well beyond the expectations of the original SharePoint developers.

Most web parts have a number of features in common. They have ...

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