Why do I get an error when I delete some content placeholders?
In my last post I listed all of the default content placeholders and talked about how there are some content placeholders that are empty but we can't just take them out because when we do the page doesn't render properly and you get an error.
The reason why you get an error is because the content placeholder you remove is probably being used by some other page in that site since SharePoint master pages contain references to elements that is shared across multiple pages and when that page tries to place its own custom content in that placeholder it creates an error since there is no place to show the content.
For example the "PlaceHolderPageImage" is empty on the default.master page but the FormsAllItems.aspx uses that content placeholder to place the image (icon) for that page.
Why would you then take out a content placeholder from a master page if it throws an error?
This mostly is needed because you need to create a custom master page and you start from scratch because the default.master master page is not what you want.
The recommended approach when creating a new custom master page is to copy the default master page and start from there so you don't lose any of the required content placeholders when creating your own master page. But what if you don't like that master page and you want to start from scratch?
You can either manually create all of the content place holders I've listed in my earlier post or read below.
The answer = "Minimal Master Page"
The folks at Microsoft has created a great master page that is called the minimal master page as the name states is it's the minimal code you need to start a master page. So if you want to start from scratch and want a clean master page that has no styles attached to it this is by far the best way to do it.
Here is the Code for a Minimal Master Page
<%– Identifies this page as a .master page written in C# and registers tag prefixes, namespaces, assemblies, and controls. –%>
<%@ Master language="C#" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="SPSWC" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="SharePoint" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="WebPartPages" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="PublishingWebControls" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="PublishingNavigation" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.Navigation" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="wssuc" TagName="Welcome" src="~/_controltemplates/Welcome.ascx" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="wssuc" TagName="DesignModeConsole" src="~/_controltemplates/DesignModeConsole.ascx" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="PublishingVariations" TagName="VariationsLabelMenu" src="~/_controltemplates/VariationsLabelMenu.ascx" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="PublishingConsole" TagName="Console" src="~/_controltemplates/PublishingConsole.ascx" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="PublishingSiteAction" TagName="SiteActionMenu" src="~/_controltemplates/PublishingActionMenu.ascx" %>
<%– Uses the Microsoft Office namespace and schema. –%>
<html>
<WebPartPages:SPWebPartManager runat="server"/>
<SharePoint:RobotsMetaTag runat="server"/>
<%– The head section includes a content placeholder for the page title and links to CSS and JavaScript files that run on the server. –%>
<head runat="server">
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder runat="server" id="head">
<title>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderPageTitle" runat="server" />
</title>
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
<Sharepoint:CssLink runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderAdditionalPageHead" runat="server" />
</head>
<%– When loading the body of the .master page, MOSS 2007 also loads the SpBodyOnLoadWrapper class. This class handles .js calls for the master page. –%>
<body onload="BLOCKED SCRIPT_spBodyOnLoadWrapper();">
<%– The SPWebPartManager manages all of the Web part controls, functionality, and events that occur on a Web page. –%>
<form runat="server" onsubmit="return _spFormOnSubmitWrapper();">
<wssuc:Welcome id="explitLogout" runat="server"/>
<PublishingSiteAction:SiteActionMenu runat="server"/>
<PublishingWebControls:AuthoringContainer id="authoringcontrols" runat="server">
<PublishingConsole:Console runat="server" />
</PublishingWebControls:AuthoringContainer>
<%– The PlaceHolderMain content placeholder defines where the page content should go for all the content from the page layout. The page layout can overwrite any content placeholder from the master page. Example: The PlaceHolderLeftNavBar can overwrite the left navigation bar. –%>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderMain" runat="server" />
<asp:Panel visible="false" runat="server">
<%– These ContentPlaceHolders are only necessary to ensure all out of the box MOSS 2007 pages render with this master page. If the system master page is set to any default master page, the only content placeholders required are those that are overridden by your page layouts. –%>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderSearchArea" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderTitleBreadcrumb" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderPageTitleInTitleArea" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderLeftNavBar" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolderPageImage" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolderBodyLeftBorder" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolderNavSpacer" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolderTitleLeftBorder" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolderTitleAreaSeparator" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolderMiniConsole" runat="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderCalendarNavigator" runat ="server" />
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderLeftActions" runat ="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderPageDescription" runat ="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderBodyAreaClass" runat ="server"/>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderTitleAreaClass" runat ="server"/>
</asp:Panel>
</form>
</body>
</html>
To create a minimal master page
-
Open SharePoint Designer.
-
On the File menu, click New, point to SharePoint Content, and click the Page tab.
-
Double-click Master Page to create a new master page.
-
Click Design to show the master page in design view. The master page covers the header and left margin areas, and several content placeholders are visible.
-
Click Code to show the master page in code view.
-
Copy and paste the code above into the master page.
To learn more about the minimal master place please visit
How to: Create a Minimal Master Page
coskunc