How to: Make a custom web part appear in the web part gallery (SP2007)
If you have a custom web part that does not appear in your web part gallery, the most probable cause is that you have not defined it in the module.xml file. Remember that, once you have created a custom web part in VS, you will need to add/reference it in the module.xml file. In your [...]
Read MoreHow to: Create a SP2007 Site Collection Template in VS2008 in XML only
So, the other day, I got a curious request. I was to provide a new site collection template, a custom template, that would be using no code whatsoever. The client did not want to deploy custom code to their production server. I had never created a site collection template before. Let alone one that would [...]
Read MoreExplained: Visual web parts VS Standard web parts
If you’re working with Visual Studio to create a web part you will notice that there is a couple of templates you can choose from. First off, just like in SharePoint 2007, you have the standard web parts but, in addition to that, you now have the option to create a visual webpart. The two [...]
Read MoreHow to: Use (or, avoid using) the “base.CreateChildControls()” method
You might have noticed the method ”base.CreateChildControls()” being used in some of the webpart examples I’ve been sharing. It turns out that the method is not entirely needed in those webparts. According to the MSDN article: Often the CreateChildControls only does a “final polish” on the controls, such as setting the tab index of the child [...]
Read MoreIntro to: Interacting with SharePoint 2010 Data (post 2 – Server Object Model)
In a previous post, I made an introduction to interacting with SharePoint data through Web Services; easily, albeit a bit on the verbose side. In 2007, the way to go was by leveraging the Server Object Model (SOM). This is of course kept in the 2010 version of the platform. Today, I’m going to make [...]
Read MoreIntro to: Custom Web Parts
Web Parts are the main ingredient that runs on SharePoint. Doesn’t matter which version of SharePoint you refer to, Web Parts have always been one of the core elements that allow users to interact with the SharePoint platform and developers to perform custom actions on the SharePoint data. The following is a no-brainer Web Part [...]
Read MoreCode: Developer Dashboard Enabler/Disabler
The SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard Enabler/Disabler. As already mentioned, the Developer Dashboard can be enabled or disabled by the developer, through one of three ways: stsadm, Powershell and VS code. All three of those options have their pros and cons. For example, the stsadm approach, is the fastest of the three as it only requires [...]
Read MoreVisualising Data in SharePoint 2010
SharePoint 2010: Visualise Data, Chart Viewer Web Part VS Chart Web Part In SharePoint 2010, there is a couple of ways to display data in visually appealing charts (that certainly all managers enjoy). The difference between the Chart Viewer web part and the Chart web part lies in the scenarios they were build to be [...]
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