PeterMorath

It's been a while since I last blogged – with the work I am doing at the moment I haven't had time!

I have been given the task of creating new site definitions complete with branding and functionality. I'm still waiting to go on my SharePoint Designer course but having played with my virtual environment for the past month I have picked up quite a bit

So far I have created a new site definition based on STS unde SiteTemplates, I have managed to create new preview images and got a new tab to appear on the New SharePoint Site page. I was quite pleased with myself when it all worked. Then I applied a custom master page to the new site definition by changing ONET.XML in my new site definition's XML directory. Following that I started playing around adding new Web Part Zones and seeing how everything linked together. ONET.XML defines the initial content that is displayed in the default.aspx page of your new site.

I've also modified custom.master so that additional options are available in the top right hand corner navigation bar. So far it all works

What's next? Well, I need to create site definitions for wikis, blogs etc all by the end of next week!

One thing I haven't worked out how to do is apply my own custom css file – I had problems when I tried to apply an alternate css file through the SharePoint Site Settings pages. There has to be a better way of applying your own CSS file so that it is applied after CORE.CSS, maybe someone will work it out.

One little quirk I did notice was that if I created a site using my new site definition and custom master page and then tried to edit the site in SharePoint Designer, the custom.master file that appeared in the mastercatalogs directory was different to my site definition's custom.master file – wierd! I'll have to come back to that one.

I am documenting everything I am doing, including the quirks, and I'll post the document here in a future blog once I have made sure it all works ok.

It's been handy having the virtual environment to work with. I keep a backup of the VHD file (10Gb!) and can restore if I foul up (which I quite often do!). I would recommend virtualisation for anyone who has the kit that is able to take the strain. 2Gb of RAM seems to be the minimum workable. I tried it on a 1.5Gb laptop and it struggled. Not nearly as slow as my original setup of 1Gb though!

I've just signed up to the SharePoint User Group UK site as it could be quite handy building up a network of fellow SharePoint misfits

One of the other things I have been tasked with is to create an online help centre for our users. I have created a SharePoint 2007 wiki site for this and set up a series of pages with detailed help on blogs, wikis etc. I then found the Customizable Everyday Productivity Education (EPE) content developed by Microsoft IT for end user training page which has some useful stuff on there for end users, so I may be cribbing bits from it.

You've also probably already found this but Help for SharePoint 2007 from Microsoft is quite good too.

Anyway, next week should be interesting as I try and get all of the site definitions finished. I'll let you know how I get on.

The experts all say that, in a large organisation, a standard look and feel to an intranet is a benefit to everyone. Easy to learn navigation means you know what to expect. The look and feel is easier to manage as templates are centrally owned and brand changes can be applied across the intranet with little fuss. Everyone knows that they are part of "the company".

It is said that the look should come second to the information that is actually on the site and that most users don't care where the information sits, just that they can find it.

Now I agree with the need for a consistent navigation, Office products would look a little silly if the menus were all in different places. Headers, footers and menus all in the same place – I totally agree. Information architecture is key to a successful intranet.

But….

Should Department A have exactly the same look as Department B, Department C and the rest, all the way through to Department Z? I'm not so sure that is such a good thing. Yes, they may all work for the same company but that common identity could be placed in the header or footer of the page. The users and customers of Department A may have different needs to that of Department C. The purpose of Department B's intranet may be different from Department D's.

The point I am trying to make is that, yes, we all belong to the same company, but that company is made up of different departments. If they all did the same thing then why isn't there just one big department?

There is also a staff engagement issue here – as members of staff we like to feel like we belong not just to the company, but to our departments and to our teams.

My solution? Consistent navigation should be used for ease of use but the "theme" of the site should be varied. This can be done through using different colour schemes and slight variations in graphics. While still maintaining an overall "brand" departments will have their own identity.

Microsoft are a good example. Go to their home page and look at the Products & Related Technologies link on the right hand menu. It shows a series of screenshots of all of the different sub sites. Same company, different look and feel….

Now, according to the experts, Microsoft have got it wrong. Ah, but the experts are talking about intranets not internets. I have seen Microsoft's intranet about four months ago and while it is a very useful for its staff, there isn't a great deal of consistency across their sub sites.

In meetings and discussions I have been involved in this has proven to be a very emotive subject. There are those who insist that consistency and sameness is necessary for ease of use. I am totally against sameness. I like individuality and I like to belong to my team and my department. I want to be able to promote team and department successes. Our uniqueness and the good things uniqueness brings can get lost when everything is viewed as one.

I'm keen to hear what you think about this subject. Have you implemented a consistent look and feel on your intranet? Has it worked? Do your staff feel more or less engaged? Has content suffered because too much time was spent on the aesthetics of your site?

Until next time…

Following on from my last post I have upgraded my laptop to 2gb RAM and the virtual MOSS environment now has 1gb to play with – definitely running better now.

I've been playing a bit more with the master templates and it's starting to make sense now. Still haven't worked out how to apply a master (or custom) template to just wikis when they are created, it still seems to apply it to everything, including lists! I'm sure I'll get there but if anyone has a quick answer, please either post a comment or email me