| Microsoft SharePoint Designer
started out on FrontPage technology, but is used in creating and
customizing SharePoint sites. You can build
some pretty complex no-code solutions such as Data Views (displays
database results), reports, and workflow tracking quickly and easily by
using menus, task panes, and templates. It has
an Office product like interface
so you'll be able to pick it up very easily. |
We are also going to give you some
links to resources at the bottom of the page.
You can now download it now for free!
One really cool addition is the task panes which allows you access to
the task you are working on. This is great for me when I need to be
focused on one task.
You will like the
easy to use what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) interface for
creating and customizing sites and pages. |
|
You can take
advantage of ASP.NET as well as XHTML code and CSS to build SharePoint
sites that meet your needs for browser compatibility.
SharePoint Designer Tutorial: Working with SharePoint Websites: Get started with SharePoint Designer to put together a business site with SharePoint
Customization Using SharePoint Designer 2007
• Overview
• Editing look and feel
– Master pages
– Content pages
– Customized vs. not customized
• Data Views
– Data Source Library
– Formatting in Data Form web parts
– Web part connections
• Configuring workflows
Overview
• In many cases SharePoint Designer (formerly FrontPage) can be a
substitute for a server side programmer.
• It allows the user to
– Edit the look and fill of SharePoint sites
– Edit master pages in SharePoint sites
– Pull data from multiple sources
– Sort and filter the data
– Format the data using a WYSIWYG editor
– Configure workflows
Master and Content Pages
• Master Page is a page that servers as a template for content pages and
has extension .master. Each site has a master page gallery for master
page storage (example: http://<server>/_catalogs/masterpage/).
• Content Page is a page that uses a master page to provide a template
and has extension . aspx. Contet pages can be stored anywhere on the
site.
Master and Content Pages Illustration
• By using a master page, designers can factor common elements of
contents page into a master page template.
Customized vs. Not Customized
• Not a customized page - SharePoint retrieves the page from site
definition (Master Template) that is stored on the web server.
• Customized - SharePoint saves and retrieves the page from the content
database instead of the site definition. Thus, subsequent changes made
to the side definition will not be reflected on that page.
• Revert to template page – means revert to uncustomized page
Data Source Catalog
• Data Source Library organizes all data sources selected by the user
for building sites
– SQL databases
– Web services
– SharePoint lists (on any site)
– XML files
– Business Data Catalog
Data Form Web Part
• Data View is a representation of data from a data source
• Designers can format data in data views using:
– Sorting
– Filtering
– Applying styles
– Conditional formatting
• Designers can connect data views using web part connections
Workflow from Designer Perspective
• Designers can configure new workflows beyond the ones that are already
available.
• Designers select activities (from predefined set) for the workflow and
specify conditions for when activities execute and when activities end.
• A finished workflow is a set of activities connected together.
Designer vs. Developer
• Designer cannot do everything that is available to developers through
Visual Studio 2005.
• SharePoint Designer 2007 does not provide:
– InfoPath form integration
– Creation of custom activities
– Workflow modification
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