Professional SharePoint® 2007 Web Content Management Development: Building Publishing Sites with Office SharePoint Server 2007

Chapter 7. Master Pages and Page Layouts

One of the biggest improvements to Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 from the previous version of SharePoint is the adoption and utilization of ASP.NET 2.0 master pages. In previous versions of SharePoint, the look and feel customization of a site involved editing numerous files — depending upon the level of customization, that could involve hundreds of files! Thankfully, SharePoint's adoption of master pages dramatically reduces the number of files involved in customizing or branding a SharePoint site.

In addition to master pages, Microsoft had to come up with an easy way for content owners to choose among different page types and renderings without developer involvement. In effect, the content owner needed the capability to pick a template and fill in the content using a familiar Web interface. To achieve this, Publishing sites leverage page layouts, which act as templates. Developers and designers create page layouts that define where the editable regions of a page are placed, as well as the overall rendering of the page. Content owners then choose from the available page layouts when creating new pages.

This chapter covers the relationship of master pages and page layouts within Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Publishing sites. It also takes a look at a new capability in WSS 3.0 that enables developers to easily add or remove components to and from pre-defined areas within SharePoint sites.