Introducing the Magic Data View Builder

Want to make SharePoint output the markup YOU want when you create a List View?

Updated! Check out the new features below…with new video, too!

For years, I’ve advised people who have the guts and the skills to ditch Visual Studio and learn more about XSL, CSS and JavaScript (including libraries like jQuery). Maybe I’m a rebel, I don’t know, but I don’t need to write C# to create a kick-ass front end component for SharePoint. So much can be done with the product out of the box, it just takes a creative approach.

Many people know me as the original proponent of the Data View Web Part, first introduced back when WSS v2.0 was released. While SharePoint has come a long way since then, the web developer experience for creating custom views hasn’t. Last week, as I was rehearsing my demonstrations for my SP TechCon session (on, naturally, the Data View Web Part) it occurred to me: This could be easier. Easier to demonstrate. Easier to write. Easier to get excited about. Easier to get the creative juices flowing.

Continue reading

Controlling Single Web Parts with CSS Article Posted

I often get questions about how can a particular web part be branded separately from all the rest or be branded by type.  For example you want every Contacts list to have a green header bar instead of a tan header bar.  Or perhaps you want a column of web parts on a page to look different than the main area that contains other web parts.

The latter I have always had a solution for, the former I figured out something today.  As with everything that I focus on, these are “no custom development” / “no .NET code” solutions. You can usually build whatever customization you need with custom code.  If you would like to just rely on CSS however, here you go….

Controlling Single Web Parts with CSS

Controlling Single Web Parts with CSS

I often get questions about how can a particular web part be branded separately from all the rest or be branded by type.  For example you want every Contacts list to have a green header bar instead of a tan header bar.  Or perhaps you want a column of web parts on a page to look different than the main area that contains other web parts. Continue reading

Branding SharePoint – Part 3: Changing the look and feel of SharePoint components – Intro and Web Parts

This is part three in a multi-part series. The predecessor of this post is Part 2: Creating the Design in SharePoint.

Depending on the customization method you selected (CSS, Theme or Master Page), at this point you have probably managed to alter parts of your SharePoint site. This part of the article series will focus on how to change the look and feel of SharePoint components that you don’t necessarily have direct or ultimate control over. Continue reading

Customizing the Content Query Web Part and Custom Item Styles

With Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0, we can use the
Content Query Web Part (CQW or CQWP) to display SharePoint content from another source on a SharePoint page.
This web part is rather nifty and one of my new favorite things about MOSS 2007.
At first glance you tend to pass it by, then when you see what it can do, it is
pretty cool.  Imagine if you will, creating a list in SharePoint 2003 and
then adding it as a web part to your WSS home page or SPS portal area.  Continue reading

MOSS 2007 Design Component Relationships and Diagrams

This article refers to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS
2007) Beta 2 Tech Refresh.   Details are subject to change in the RTM version.

One of the MOSS 2007 buzzwords is master pages. But what all does that entail?
How does the master page work with the content in the site and how do we do
things like add web part zones and field controls? To aid and benefit SharePoint
designers and those of us assigned to user interface customization, here is a
break down of the relationships between master pages, page layouts, controls and
content types. This is not a technical breakdown with sample code, this is just
to explain the relationships between these core concepts in MOSS 2007. Continue reading