Organization of This Book

We organized the content of the book into the following chapters.

Chapter 1: Custom Templates

Site templates and list templates are something that end users can work with. They are a great way to empower end users. Sometimes little things can be done to make the SharePoint experience go a long way. This chapter demonstrates the ins and outs of working with site templates and list templates.

Chapter 2: Site Definitions

Site definitions are not the most intuitive thing. In fact, site definitions are quite different from traditional ASPX applications. Chapter 2 explains the use and development of site definitions, while navigating around their more common pitfalls. In this chapter, you'll work with several configuration files. You'll get down to the technical details to make SharePoint a more pliable application.

Chapter 3: Site Definitions: Exploring List Definitions

If it weren't for lists, there wouldn't be much of a SharePoint product at all. Lists are one of those great features found in SharePoint that empower users to create what they need. Even though list definitions are part of site definitions, there is so much to know about lists that it warrants a dedicated chapter. This chapter exposes you to every detail of creating a list definition.

Chapter 4: Customizing and Implementing Property Types in Windows SharePoint Services

Lists are great things. They enable users to create a table of information fairly quickly and present it to other users in a manner that is readily consumable. Of course, there are a couple shortcomings. The first is a lack of a custom property type. The second and most common shortcoming is the need to integrate with other systems. The inability to pull in key information from another system or even another WSS site can be a showstopper. This chapter shows you how to create custom propertiesbe it for retrieving information stored in another system or for other special functionality.

Chapter 5: Global Customizations

We close the book with a chapter that applies to SharePoint holistically. Customizing themes and help are explained thoroughly. Other common customizations, such as email alerts, and system notifications, such as the site collection retention warning, are also covered. Document libraries are quite powerful as they are, but there is always room for improvement. Detailed information is provided to make documents display and behave differently based on their extensions.

appendix: Custom_JS.ASPX

The appendix includes a complete listing of the CUSTOM_JS.ASPX file that is discussed in Chapter 4.