Recipe8.13.Forcing Users to Use a Specific OWA Theme

Recipe 8.13. Forcing Users to Use a Specific OWA Theme

Problem

You want to restrict your users to a specific theme or set of themes in Outlook Web Access.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Log on to the Exchange Server computer.

2. Open Regedit and navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeWeb\OWA\Themes.

3. Create a new value named DefaultTheme. Its value should be the theme ID of the default theme you want displayed for your users. The ID value must be a number that corresponds to an existing theme directory (as discussed in Recipe 8.12); if you haven't created any of your own themes, you can use one of the themes that ship with OWA by entering the number between 0 through 4.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each Exchange front- and back-end server; for the default change to be effective, you must apply it to all servers in the organization.

Alternatively, you can use the OWA Web Administration tool:

1. Download and install the Outlook Web Access Web-based Administration tool from:

   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4bbe7065-a04e-43ca-8220-859212411e10&displaylang=en

2. Navigate to the virtual directory created by the Administration tool. This directory can be accessed at https://machinename/OWAAdmin, where machinename is the machine where OWAAdmin has been installed.

3. Scroll down to the Customization section and click Apply a default theme to this server.

4. Select the theme you want users to see when they use Outlook Web Access. If you choose a theme, the OWA Options section that allows users to pick their theme will be hidden from all of your users.

5. To reverse this setting and allow your users to choose their theme again, choose Let Users Choose.

6. Repeat steps 3-5 for each OWA server in your organization.

Discussion

Whether you create custom themes or just wish to specify one of OWA's default themes, you can choose to restrict users' ability to change the theme they see. Once this change is applied, users will no longer be able to see the Appearance section in the OWA Options page. This is an all-or-nothing customization; you can't both set a default and still allow users to change it.

See Also

Recipe 8.12 for creating your own themes, Recipe 8.11 for using the OWA Web Administration tool, and the Customizing Microsoft Outlook Web Access white paper:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6532E454-073E-4974-A800-1490A7CB358F&displaylang=en