Two Different Views of the Home Page

There are two different views of the home page: the Shared View and the Personal View. Figure 4.5 shows the two options available when you click the Modify Shared Page drop-down menu. By default, the Shared View will be displayed when you visit the site, but by selecting the Personal View option (if you have rights to do so), you will see a personalized view.

Figure 4.5. Shared View and Personal View options.

Therefore, users with sufficient rights can actually customize the way the Web Parts on the page are displayed to suit their needs! A general recommendation is to use this power sparingly because the Site Administrators probably have put significant time and energy into the way the site looks and how information is displayed, and you may find yourself missing out on important information if you make too many changes. For example, if you close the Announcements Web Part for your Personal View, you may miss some important information.

NOTE

As well as being able to choose between the Personal and Shared views on the home page, you can choose different views from within the Web Part itself. The topic of the different views available within the Web Part is covered more in Lesson 11, "Modifying and Creating Views in Libraries and Lists."