LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
CouchDB brings peer-based data replication
This NoSQL database is now production ready for developers who want to spread data out wit...
Experts: UML is active, but the buzz is lost
Since widespread acceptance, there is little enthusiasm around the language even ahead of ...
Compuware intros new GUI for mainframe tools
Beyond the GUI are plug-ins for data and debugging tools, as well as an OEM edition of Sli...
Black Hat conference fields suggestions for software security
Attendees give a wide variety of ideas about the subject, with Rex Black adding in some of...
Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter


            iphoneapp GET THE APP!

Spotlight on 2010: The New Theming Engine


By Randy Drisgill
December 16, 2009 —  (Page 1 of 2)
Love them or hate them, themes were a useful feature in SharePoint 2007, as they provided a nice medium-effort way of changing the look and feel of a SharePoint site without messing with custom master pages.

Having said that, one common complaint with SharePoint 2007 themes was that they weren't very approachable for beginners. You had to place files in the SharePoint root folder (12 folder), edit XML files, and even do an IISReset before you could see your changes. For the 2010 release of SharePoint, the product team was listening to our cries, and they have provided a new theming engine that is extremely easy to use.

Gone are the days of using the SharePoint root folder for themes. Now you can just use Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 to create a theme, save it as a .THMX file, and then upload it directly into SharePoint and apply to your site. In most cases now, site owners can create their own themes in less than an hour without the assistance of developers.

This feature allows you to assign 12 different colors, including background, text, accents and hyperlink colors, as well as two fonts for headings and body text. When this theme is applied to a SharePoint site, the CSS of the site (whether it’s the default CSS or your own) is parsed for special comment markup for coloring and font replacements, and new CSS and colored images are generated on the fly and applied.

One thing to note is that just like SharePoint 2007 themes, none of the underlying HTML can be changed with a SharePoint 2010 theme. Also, unlike SharePoint 2007 themes, you can only recolor existing images; no custom background images are created with a SharePoint 2010 theme (even if they are defined in the theme from PowerPoint backgrounds). Also, if you are using the full SharePoint Server 2010 (as opposed to SharePoint Foundation 2010), themes can actually be modified directly in the SharePoint 2010 Web user interface. This allows for even faster adjustments to themes by site owners, without even going through the steps of using Microsoft Office to save and upload a new theme.

Pages 1 2 


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/33994
 

Comments

05/22/2010 01:10:19 AM EST

I have SharePoint Foundations and created a theme and applied it to my sites and subsites. All was looking great until I viewed it from home. As an anonymous user all that I get is the default theme on the site. As soon as a user signs in the theme is applied. Is that by design?

United StatesGlenn Shorten


Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading



 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 8/1/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Like Ruby n' Rails
Programming languages and Web frameworks go together like peas n carrots. Or Ruby n' Rails.
07/30/2010 04:36 PM EST

Adobe buys a Web-based IDE
Adobe looks to buy a rapid and agile Web development environment.
07/28/2010 03:49 PM EST

OpenStack opens up
OpenStack looks to be an intriguing new idea for running clouds.
07/28/2010 01:56 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
SHARE
8/1/2010 to 8/5/2010
Boston
SHARE

VSLive
8/2/2010 to 8/6/2010
Redmond, Wash.
1105 Media

Agile 2010
8/9/2010 to 8/13/2010
Orlando
Agile Alliance

Delphi Live
8/23/2010 to 8/26/2010
San Jose
S&S Media

VMworld
8/30/2010 to 9/2/2010
San Francisco
VMware