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About Customizing a Microsoft® SharePoint® Site
SharePoint sites share much of the same underlying functionality, and most can be customized using the same techniques. So whether you have a basic site
or a highly customized one, you can use the tools and methods described here to create the site you want. This guide assumes you already have a SharePoint
site created. (A Team Site is used in this guide for illustration purposes.)
This guide will show you how to:
Create a unique look for your
site with the Image Web Part.
Display other content on your
site including shared documents,
partner names, alerts, RSS feeds,
and more to aid collaboration with
others.
Customize Announcements
on your site to create a better
experience for your readers.
Display an Office document
on your site to immediately
share information with users.
Customize your Quick Launch
menu to make navigation clearer
and easier to use.
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Create a Unique Look for Your Site
Help your site stand out from others by having a strong image on the Home
page. For example, see the “Contoso” banner used on page 1 of this guide.
A SharePoint Image Web Part was used to apply that image. You can also
change the look of your site by using a SharePoint theme. SharePoint
themes combine color schemes and design touches to give sites a cohesive
look and feel.
Note Though bold colors can be striking, they can also make text hard to
read. If you use a SharePoint theme to change the look of your site, always
keep your audience in mind.
To Add a Banner or Picture to Your Site
1
Go to a Picture Library (click Documents and Lists at the top of your
site to see all your Picture Libraries), and then click Add Picture.
2
3
Browse to the picture, click Open, and then click Save and Close.
4
5
After the picture has been uploaded, right-click the picture icon (view
the picture in Details mode), and then click Copy Shortcut. This
gives you the image URL.
From your Home page, click
Modify Shared Page, point to
Add Web Parts, and then click
Browse. (If you do not see the
Modify Shared Page link, click
Modify My Page, and then
click Shared View.)
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In the Image Web Part,
click open the tool pane.
7
In the tool pane, enter the
image URL you copied in
step 3. You can also enter a
network path to an image.
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Click OK.
Notes
• You can also use the tool pane to adjust picture alignment, appearance,
and layout. To open the tool pane, click
Modify Shared Page>Modify Shared Web Parts>Image Web Part.
• Never use a copyrighted image in your SharePoint site without permission
from the copyright holder.
To Change the Look and Feel of Your Site with a Theme
1
Click Site Settings.
2
Under Customization, click Apply theme to site.
With the name of your site
highlighted, find the Image
Web Part in the Web Part
List and drag it onto a column
of your site.
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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3
Select a theme from the list, and then click Apply.
1
From your Home page, click Modified Shared Page, point to Add
Web Parts, and then click Browse. (If you do not see the Modify
Shared Page link, click Modify My Page, and then click Shared View.)
2
Go to your site gallery and drag a Web Part onto a column of your page.
Note Drag it onto a boxed area, or it won’t be applied.
Do this with as many Web Parts as desired. When you are done, close
the Web Parts pane.
This image shows the Compass theme applied to the demonstration site.
Compare this to the default look featured on page 1 of this guide.
3
Click Modify Shared Page, and then click Design this Page. In this
view, you can arrange the Web Parts on your site by dragging them back
and forth, and above or below one another.
4
When you have finished, click Modify Shared Page, and then click
Design this Page to exit the design view.
Display Other Content on Your Site
Use Web Parts to customize your site. Web Parts are pre-built Web modules
that add functionality to your SharePoint site.
Customize Announcements on Your Site
There are Web Parts for almost every kind of content and with a little
creativity, you can use existing Web Parts for almost any new content need.
In the table below are some examples of existing Web Parts:
By default, SharePoint sites include an Announcements Web Part on the
Home page. With this Web Part, you can post news and updates to your site.
By becoming familiar with this tool, you can customize how news and
updates are displayed. Take a look at the News section on page 1 of this
guide to see how the Announcements Web Part was customized for the
demonstration site.
To Display This Content
Use This Web Part
Messages to site users
Announcements
A list of site users
Members
An Office 2003 document or a Web page
Page Viewer Web Part
A list of high priority tasks for site users
Tasks
Self-updating information from an external
source, such as a news feed
RSS Viewer Web Part (in
the Virtual Server Gallery)
1
Click Announcements in the title bar of the Web Part.
2
Click Modify settings and columns.
3
Under Views, click All Items (the default view).
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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4
On the Edit View page, under Columns, use the Display check
boxes to determine which columns will appear in the Announcements
Web Part. Use the Position from left boxes to determine their order
of appearance.
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Click OK at the bottom of the tool pane.
Note In addition to creating different ways to view Announcement content,
you can create different ways to collect and store this content. For more
information, see Get Started with Web Parts, Lists, and Views.
Display an Office Document on Your Site
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In the remaining sections of the Edit View page, you can:
• Sort items to appear in a different order.
• Filter content to prevent some items from appearing.
• Group columns.
• Display Totals if you are using columns with numbers.
• Apply a Style to the Announcement content. (See the shaded
style—and the changed title—in the picture on the first page
of this Guide.)
• Set a limit on how many items will display.
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When you are done, click OK, and then click Home.
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Click the arrow at the end of the Announcements title bar, and then
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In the Selected View box, select All Items. Click OK in the warning
You can display any Office document or Web page by using the Page
Viewer Web Part. Displaying a document in this way makes it simple to
share information. See the Completed Projects YTD spreadsheet on page 1
of this guide for an example of how such a document looks.
Note In order to ensure access to the document by all visitors, you must
store it on your SharePoint site. For best viewing, it should be saved as a
Web page before uploading it to the site. (File>Save as Web Page.)
1
Go to a Document Library (click Documents and Lists at the top of
your site to see all your Document Libraries), and then click Upload
Document.
2
Browse to the document, click Open, and then click Save and Close.
After the document has been uploaded, right-click the document icon
(view the file in All Documents view), and then click Copy Shortcut.
This gives you the document URL.
3
From your Home page, click Modified Shared Page, point to Add
Web Parts, and then click Browse. (If you do not see the Modify
Shared Page link, click Modify My Page, and then click Shared View.)
4
With the name of your site highlighted, find the Page Viewer Web
Part in the Web Part List and drag it onto a column of your site.
click Modify Shared Web Part.
box.
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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5
In the Page Viewer
Web Part, click open
the tool pane.
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In the tool pane, click Web Page.
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Under Link, paste the document URL you copied in step 2. To test the
location, click Test Link, and then Click OK.
Customize Your Quick Launch Menu
The Quick Launch menu is the list of site links found on the left side of your
Home page. It is created automatically and updates automatically to reflect
changes on the site. You can customize this menu in Microsoft FrontPage®.
Look at the customized Quick Launch menu in the picture on page 1 of this
guide. The following procedure explains how to use FrontPage to change a
standard Quick Launch menu into the one on the demo site.
1
Open your site. On the Edit menu, click Edit with Microsoft Office
FrontPage.
If you do not see this option, go
to your Internet Explorer toolbar,
click the arrow on the Edit icon,
and then click Edit with
Microsoft Office FrontPage.
2
Select the category name Documents
and then type Main Pages in its place.
(You can change this later.)
3
Point to the area beneath the new category name. When the pointer
becomes a
, double-click to open the Link Bar Properties dialog box.
Click Create New. In the Create New Link Bar dialog box, type Main
Pages.
Important
• When FrontPage is used to customize the Quick Launch menu, all
standard SharePoint connections to the menu are broken. Once you use
FrontPage for this, all subsequent changes must be made in FrontPage.
• Only use FrontPage to make these changes. Do NOT use Word as your
SharePoint HTML editor. Using Word may cause irreparable damage to
the site.
You can add, remove, and reposition links within Link Bar Properties.
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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4
In the Link Bar Properties dialog box, click Add Link to open the
Add to Link Bar dialog box. In the Text to display box, enter the
name of your link. In the Address box, type the URL of the link, and
then click OK. Repeat this process for each link you want to add to
the new category name. When you are done, click OK.
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To see your changes in
FrontPage, click Preview near
the bottom of the FrontPage
window. When you are
satisfied, save your FrontPage
work, and then refresh your
site page in Internet Explorer.
Tips
5
•
To insert a horizontal line, Insert>Horizontal Line.
•
Create special styles for your links by selecting the Style tab in the Link
Bar Properties dialog box.
Position your pointer over the words
Quick Launch. When the pointer
changes to crosshairs, click to select the
Quick Launch graphic. Press Delete.
With the graphic removed, the menu
becomes narrower and more room
becomes available in your main window.
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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