Professional SharePoint 2007 Web Content Management Development : Building WCM Sites with Office SharePoint Server

This book is for SharePoint developers working with Publishing sites—sites that leverage MOSS 2007 WCM capabilities. It does not cover administrative topics in any great detail, only where absolutely necessary. For the most part, no two chapters are dependent upon each other, so each chapter can be used as a reference independently of the others. Readers need not have any development experience with SharePoint, but they should have some experience with and a working knowledge of ASP.NET 2.0 development practices and topics. Of course, it is beneficial if the reader does have at least a working knowledge of what SharePoint is all about.

This book covers MOSS 2007 WCM Publishing sites. You will find some chapters that seem to cover general WSS 3.0 topics, but everything is treated in the context of a Publishing site. While the chapters are arranged in a logical order, it is not necessary to read the book from cover to cover in a linear fashion. The following is a brief description of each chapter:

Chapter 1, “Embarking on Web Content Management Projects”—This chapter explains what this book is all about, who the target audience is, and who will benefit most from the book. It also details what the reader needs in terms of a local development environment in order to implement the solutions. In addition, each of the subsequent chapters is explained very briefly to provide an overview and clarify how each chapter fits in.

Chapter 2, “Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Development Primer”—This chapter covers the fundamentals of WSS, including definitions of terms such as farm, Web application, site collection, site, list, and document library, and the general architecture of WSS. Some basic object model techniques are demonstrated in this chapter.

Chapter 3, “Overview of Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Web Content Management”—This chapter briefly explains each of the various components that make up MOSS. In addition ,while the book is development-focused, the “ABCs” of content-centric Internet sites is covered.

Chapter 4, “SharePoint Features and the Solution Framework”—Both new to WSS 3.0, the SharePoint Feature and solution frameworks are covered in great detail in this chapter, as well as a process for automatically creating WSS solution packages on every project build.

Chapter 5, “Minimal Publishing Site Definition”—Many users create new WCM sites by using the Publishing Portal template. Unfortunately, this adds quite a bit of unnecessary content to the site. This chapter picks apart the Publishing Portal template and Publishing Features and demonstrates how to create a minimal Publishing Portal template.

Chapter 6, “Site Columns, Content Types, and Lists”—Three core components to every WSS 3.0 site—site columns, content types, and lists—are covered in this chapter.

Chapter 7, “Master Pages and Page Layouts”—This chapter covers everything you need to know about creating, editing, and leveraging master pages and page layouts within Publishing sites.

Chapter 8, “Navigation”—While WSS 3.0’s navigation is founded on the ASP.NET 2.0 navigation provider framework, there are a few SharePoint-specific topics, which are covered in this chapter.

Chapter 9, “Accessibility”—If it’s not already, accessibility is becoming an increasingly important topic with regard to Web sites. This chapter explains the different levels of accessibility and discusses some techniques and tools developers can leverage to create sites for users with disabilities.

Chapter 10, “Field Types and Field Controls”—Although it’s a WSS 3.0 concept, field types and field controls are covered in this chapter in the context of a Publishing site. This includes creating custom field types with custom values types and controls, as well as custom field controls that leverage existing field types.

Chapter 11, “Web Parts”—This chapter covers creating custom Web Parts and som

Andrew Connell has a background in content management solutions and Web development that spans back to his time as a student at the University of Florida in the late 1990s managing class sites. He has consistently focused on the challenges facing businesses to maintain a current and dynamic online presence without having to rely constantly on Web developers or have a proficiency in Web technologies.
In 2005 and 2006 he was designated a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Microsoft Content Management Server for his contributions to the MCMS community. When the functionality of MCMS was merged into the SharePoint platform, he became a MOSS MVP (2007 and 2008). Andrew has contributed to numerous MCMS and SharePoint books over the years.
He has spoken on the subject of MOSS 2007 development and WCM at various events and national conferences such as TechEd, SharePoint Connections, VSLive, Office Developer Conference, and the Microsoft SharePoint Conference.
Technology is not only Andrew’s job, but also a personal passion: He thrives on expanding his technical knowledge. When not in front of his computer, he enjoys football, golf, the beach, and spending time with his family. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife, Meredith, his son, Steven, and their two dogs. You can always find Andrew online at his SharePoint development and WCM-focused blog at www.andrewconnell.com/blog.