Page layouts included in a SharePoint solution require additional data to be added to their library properties to associate them with the page layout content type. In this recipe, we will include a copy of the BlankWebPartPage.aspx page layout that we have renamed Tacoma_BlankWebPartPage.aspx with the appropriate properties. You can download a copy of BlankWebPartPage.aspx from the web interface or with SharePoint Designer.
Follow these steps to include a page layout in the solution:
- From the Solution Explorer pane in Visual Studio, right-click on the project name.
- Click on Add and then select New Item.
- Navigate to Visual C# Items | Office/SharePoint and select Module.
- Give a name to the Module (for example,
PageLayouts). - Click on Add.
- Delete the
Sample.txtfile in thePageLayoutsmodule. - Right-click on the
PageLayoutsmodule. - Select Add and then select Existing Item.
- Select the
Tacoma_BlankWebPartPage.aspxpage layout from your filesystem. - In the
PageLayoutsmodule, open theElements.xmlfile. - On the
<Module>element, set theUrlproperty to_catalogs/masterpage, thePathproperty to null, and theRootWebOnlyproperty toFALSE.<Module Name="PageLayouts" Url="_catalogs/masterpage" Path="" RootWebOnly="FALSE">
- On the
<File>element, set theTypeproperty toGhostableInLibrary, theIgnoreIfAlreadyExistsproperty toTRUE, and theUrlproperty toTacoma_BlankWebPartPage.aspx. - In the
<File>element, add the properties that will be assigned to the file in the SharePoint library.<File Path="PageLayoutsTacoma_BlankWebPartPage.aspx" Type="GhostableInLibrary" IgnoreIfAlreadyExists="TRUE" Url="Tacoma_BlankWebPartPage.aspx"> <Property Name="Title" Value="$Resources:Code6587ENCh04,Tacoma_PageLayout_Name;" /> <Property Name="Description" Value="$Resources:Code6587ENCh04,Tacoma_PageLayout_Description;" /> <Property Name="ContentType" Value="$Resources:cmscore,contenttype_pagelayout_name;" /> <Property Name="PublishingAssociatedContentType" Value=";#$Resources:cmscore,contenttype_articlepage_name;;#0x010100C568DB52D9D0A14D9B2FDCC96666E9F2007948130EC3DB064584E219954237AF3900242457EFB8B24247815D688C526CD44D;#"/> </File>
- Save the
Elements.xmlfile. The following screenshot shows the contents of theElements.xmlfile:
In addition to adding files to a SharePoint library, a module can also set the properties of the file in the library. In this recipe, we added a custom page layout to a module and set the properties of the file to provide it with a page layout title and associate it with the page layout content type.
The values of the Title and Description properties are resource strings that we will create in the Adding localization to a SharePoint solution recipe. The ContentType property uses a resource string from SharePoint and the PublishingAssociatedContentType property instructs SharePoint to make this file a page layout.
The /_catalog/masterpage library, where master pages and page layouts are stored, contains multiple content types. If a page layout file is not associated with the page layout content type, it will not be available in the web interface when creating a new content page.
- The Using Modules to Include Files in the Solution article on MSDN at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee231567.aspx
- The File Element (Module) topic on MSDN at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms459213.aspx