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Recently, I have been working more and more with the Publishing Feature and
Internet sites. So here is a set of steps that you can follow to create an
Internet site with SharePoint 2007. These steps assume that you are using the
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) with the Publishing Feature.
1. Create a new SharePoint site I like to start with a blank
site and activate only the features I need. I know that SharePoint has an
“Internet” site template that you can use, but I don’t like starting off with
an existing set of pages and graphics. Instead of taking out what I don’t want,
I prefer to build up what I do want.
After creating the blank site, deactivate all features at the site collection
and site level except for “Team Collaboration Lists” at the site level. You’ll
need this feature for creating libraries.
Then you can activate the Publishing Feature.
- At the Site Collection level, activate “Office SharePoint Server Publishing
Infrastructure”.
- At the Site level, activate “Office SharePoint Server Publishing”
2. Get the wireframe for the site
If this is a new site, then you can use an HTML wireframe from a web master. If
you are reworking an existing site, then simply use the existing HTML. The
point here is that you need some HTML representation of the final site in order
to create it in SharePoint. While you could create it from scratch in
SharePoint Designer, it’s really easier to start with something. Plus, you can
allow a non-SharePoint person to create the wireframe, thus dividing labor.
3. Upload all the graphics into the Images gallery Take all the
graphic files and upload them into the Images library associated with the site.
It’s handy to have them there before you start to create pages.
4. Upload the main style sheet into the Styles gallery. Upload
the styles sheet(s) that are part of the wireframe into the Styles library.
You’ll need these styles in order to properly render the master pages and
content pages that you will create later. Again, it’s just easier to have it
there before you start.
5. Create a master page This step is really where the work is.
Start with one of the many base master pages that are available. Here are three
that I know of:
The SDK has a minimal master page with the minimum amount of placeholders
necessary to show an Internet page created with the Publishing feature.
I have created a master page called Placeholder.master, which renders all of
the placeholders in a table so you can easily see which ones are responsible
for what content. Heather Solomon has created a base mater page that has
in-line comments to describe each placeholder.
After you get a base master page, rename it to something meaningful and place
it in the Master Page gallery. Then open the master page in the SharePoint
designer and merge it with the content from the wireframe. Only merge those
parts of the wireframe that you want in the master page. Take care to make sure
you account for every placeholder in the base master page. You can either use
it directly, or hide it in the panel that’s contained near the bottom of the
sample master pages.
As an example, you can remove all of the content from the wireframe that’s not
part of the master page and insert the “PlaceHolderMain” placeholder instead.
This placeholder is then used by content pages to render the actual content.
You must do this type of thing for each placeholder, which is why my
Placeholder.master is so useful.
After you have the master page created, go to Site Settings and set the page
layouts to use the new master page. While you’re at it, set the pages to use
the style sheet you uploaded earlier as the Alternate Style Sheet.
6. Create page layouts Once the master page is ready, you can
create page layouts for the site. I have a separate post that details this
process.
7. Enable anonymous access The last thing to do is enable
anonymous access. First, you must allow anonymous access for the Web
Application. This is done through Central Admin. Open the Authentication
Provider and check the box to allow anonymous access. After that user the
People and Groups page within the site itself to allow anonymous access to the
entire site.
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