FIGURE 3-2: Creating a new SharePoint page.
You learn how to create different types of pages in Chapter 6.
The four primary types of pages that can be created and developed from the browser in SharePoint are:
Site page
Wiki page
Web Part page
Publishing page
Following is a brief overview of the four types of SharePoint pages.
FIGURE 3-3: Adding content to a new SharePoint page.
Site page
A Site page, which is the page you created in the earlier exercise, is a standard page that allows you to add components and content without needing much up-front planning. Using a Site page, you can quickly get content onto a page and shared with others around your organization. The Site page is new and was designed to make the onramp to using SharePoint less of a burden for newcomers.
Wiki page
A Wiki page, also known as a content page, is the Swiss Army knife of pages and allows for easy development and customization using a rich text editor built right into the browser. A Wiki page is easy to develop and is an extremely powerful and intuitive collaboration, data capture, and documentation tool.
Web Part page
A Web Part page provides Web Part zones where you can drag and drop various Web Parts from the gallery. A Web Part is a reusable piece of functionality that can be dragged and dropped right onto your pages. A number of Web Parts are available right out of the box, and Web Parts can also be custom developed to meet your specific needs. Imagine a Web Part developed specifically for your organization. After the Web Part is deployed, you could add that custom Web Part to any page you work with on any site in your organization.
Web Parts are discussed later in this chapter and in more detail in Chapter 6.
Publishing page
The Publishing page is designed to separate the functionality between managing content and managing the look and feel of the page. A Publishing page is only available when certain features are turned on by site administrators. All Publishing pages live in a special library called Pages. The Pages library is created automatically when the publishing features are turned on for the site. These pages use a special library because the Pages library already has preconfigured functionality such as versioning and workflow that is designed for the management and distribution of content, or in other words, publishing content.
Chapter 6 covers creating and developing pages.
Understanding Web Parts
A Web Part is one of those fairly rare things in technology that has a descriptive name: A Web Part is a part of a web page. You can think of a Web Part as a bundled piece of web functionality that can be added to a SharePoint page. For example, you will find web parts to add the list and library apps you have created on your site.
SharePoint has a number of Web Parts available that you can add to your pages. You add a Web Part using the Web Part Gallery, shown in Figure 3-4.
In addition to the Web Parts that ship with SharePoint, you can also add custom Web Parts to the Web Part Gallery. A number of third-party developers create Web Parts that can be purchased; Web Parts can also be developed by in-house SharePoint developers.
Web Parts are covered in more detail in Chapter 6.
FIGURE 3-4: The Web Part Gallery in SharePoint.
Digging into SharePoint Features
Terminology is often a central point of confusion in most technology. SharePoint is no different. For example, the term feature means some sort of functionality or grouping of functionality. In SharePoint, the word feature has a very technical meaning: a collection of SharePoint functionality that can be activated and deactivated. When SharePoint programmers hear the term feature, they immediately think of a particular technical part of SharePoint. SharePoint programmers can bundle together a grouping of functionality they have developed for SharePoint into a single feature. Programmers might develop a bundle of functionality and package the entire thing into a single feature that users can activate or deactivate. For example, if you work in financial services, you might need a number of workflows, pages, images, and custom Web Parts on your SharePoint site. A programmer could build all of this functionality for you and package it all into a feature. When you’re ready to use the functionality, you activate the financial services feature.
Microsoft developed a number of features that ship with the SharePoint product. You can view these features on any SharePoint site as long as you’re an administrator. For example, the Mobile Browser View feature ships with SharePoint; it provides a view of SharePoint data specifically designed for smartphone browsers (see Figure 3-5).
Features are covered in detail in Chapter 18.
FIGURE 3-5: The Mobile Browser View feature in SharePoint.
Integrating with Office
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