Web Parts

Web Parts enable you to display content on a page. The first type of Web Part is the List View Web Part. The List View Web Part takes data in lists and displays the data on the page allowing you to provide the information to your users without the users having to visit the list. Because Web Parts are configurable, you get to determine how the Web Parts are shown.

The second type of Web Part is determined based on the version of SharePoint and the features that have been enabled. To determine which Web Parts will be available to you based on the version you have installed, see Table 3.3.

If you have MOSS Standard, you may not see some of the Web Parts in the preceding table because the features haven’t been activated. The Publishing Infrastructure feature adds the Content Query Web Part, Summary Links Web Parts, and Table of Contents Web Part. The Search Web Parts and Offices SharePoint Server Search Web Parts are activated in the Site Collection feature.

Web Part Zones

Web Part zones are holders to place Web Parts in and show users where they can add and edit Web Parts within the browser. Each site, Web Part page, and page template has a different layout and number of Web Part zones. A typical team site shown in Figure 3.12 has a left zone and a right zone. The left zone takes up 70 percent, and the right takes 30 percent. This means Web Parts placed in the left zone will span 70 percent of the page, whereas Web Parts place in the right zone will only span 30 percent. A user can drag Web Parts between the Web Part zones visible on the page. Additional Web Part zones can’t be added through the browser, however, they must be added through SharePoint Designer, a tool discussed in Chapter 4, “Introduction to SharePoint Designer 2007.”

Figure 3.12. Web Part zones on a sample team site.

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Exercise: Adding a Web Part to a Page

Customizing a Web Part

Each Web Part has a Web Part tool pane with all of the options to customize the Web Part. To access the Web Part tool pane, place the page in edit mode on the Web Part and click Edit and then Modify Shared Web Part. The tool pane appears on the right side of the page. Options specific to the Web Part are listed at the top of the tool pane as shown in Figure 3.13, and every Web Part, and generally even third-party Web Parts, includes Appearance, Layout, and Advanced sections. The Appearance section has an option to title the Web Part, change the height and width of the Web Part, and determine how the chrome will appear. The chrome refers to the title and border of the Web Part. The Layout section allows you to determine what can be done with the Web Part as far as closing, hiding, or minimizing it. It also allows you to determine the URL for the title link and whether you want to target the Web Part. The URL for the title link defaults to the list or library if this is a List view Web Part. However, you may want to provide a link to another site or remove the link completely. Audience targeting is covered in further detail in Chapter 7.

Exercise: Customizing the Properties of a Web Part

Users who don’t have the right to edit a Web Part page may still create a customized experience for themselves by using the Personalize this Page feature on the Welcome menu. This allows users to personalize the page as they desire but only affects their view of the page. After the page is personalized, additional options, Show Shared View and Reset Page Content, appear on the Welcome menu. Show Shared View allows users to switch back to what others are seeing, and Reset Page Content removes all of the personalization. When users first view the page, they will see the shared view and then have to switch to their personal view upon each visit.

You can also customize a Web Part using the Export functionality on the Web Part drop-down list. This exports the XML of the Web Part and allows you to edit it using a text editor such as SharePoint Designer. When the desired changes have been made, the Web Part can be imported back and placed on the page. The customized Web Part could also be added to the Web Part gallery for the site collection and made available throughout the site collection.

It’s important to understand the difference between closing a Web Part and deleting a Web Part. It may initially seem like both are a way of removing Web Parts, however, closing a Web Part only places it in the closed Web Part Gallery, so the Web Part still loads on the page even though it can’t be seen. You can’t even see the Web Part when the page is in edit mode. You need to navigate to the closed Web Part Gallery by clicking on Advanced Web Part Gallery and Options on the Add a Web Part dialog box and then drag the Web Part back on the page to delete it. If you have several Web Parts in the closed Web Part Gallery, this can start to impact performance because all of the Web Parts are attempting to load when a user opens the page. If you want to completely remove a Web Part, be sure to select Delete.