Applying Master Pages with Extranet Collaboration Manager 2010

by Matthew McBride, Software Division

Extranet Collaboration Manager 2010  (ExCM) is a SharePoint add-in developed by SharePoint Solutions that streamlines SharePoint extranet collaboration and simplifies SharePoint extranet administration. In ExCM, a master page can be applied to the anonymous pages (registration, sign-in, and password reset) to achieve a desired look and feel.  There are three options when selecting a master page:

• ExCM anonymous master page (vanilla)
• Site default master page
• Custom master page

You should consider two factors when choosing the master page for your site:  branding and anonymous access.  You also need to take into account the anonymous access configuration of your Web Application and the site that will run the anonymous pages.

Option 1 – Web Application with No Anonymous Access

In this configuration, the anonymous master page provided by ExCM will be applied.  This page has a very “vanilla” look and feel as you can see from the screenshot below.   Anonymous Access is not enabled on either the Web Application or the IIS site itself.

Option 2 – Web Application with Anonymous Access (Site Default)

In this scenario, the site default master page will be used.  To make this work, Anonymous Access must be enabled on both the Web Application and the IIS site.  In addition, you will need to set up Anonymous Access on “Lists and Libraries” at the top level site to allow the master page to function properly.  This can be found under the “Site Permissions” menu:

Notice how the sign in page now takes the look of the Team Site template which was used when this Web Application was created.  This was achieved without any extra configuration:

In addition, if a subsite or subsite collection is using a separate master page, each page will inherit the same look and feel (registrations that occur at the http://extranet.mydomain.com/sites/acme  site will use the Acme master page).

The drawback to this configuration is that each subsite will need to have the appropriate anonymous access level set up to function properly (Lists and Libraries).

Option 3 – Web Application with Custom Master Page

The last option is to create a custom master page for use with your site.  This is done with SharePoint Designer and requires a little more work.  However, the page would be applied to all of the sites in the Web Application, thus preventing any further configuration.

You can either edit an existing master page or start from scratch.  If you chose to start with the master page provided by ExCM, then you would not need to enable Anonymous Access and would configure it like Option 1.  You can find our master page at the following location:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\SPSolutions\ExCM

Otherwise, you would need to use the Anonymous Access levels outlined in Option 2.

Information for creating a custom master page with SharePoint Designer can be found on the Microsoft Office website here:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/customize-a-master-page-to-brand-your-site-HA102449505.aspx

In summary, Extranet Collaboration Manager 2010 provides multiple options with regard to the master page you can use.  The best solution for your deployment will depend on your specific needs with regard to the overall look and feel of your site, as well as the requirements for Anonymous Access.

SharePoint Life Cycle Management

Most organizations lack a formal SharePoint life cycle management process. What frequently happens is a company finds itself facing uncontrolled SharePoint growth. SharePoint quickly becomes a disheveled mass of new sites, old sites, stale sites, and even duplicate sites. Left to their own devices, users begin creating business-critical applications in obscure SharePoint sites that IT doesn’t even know about. Without proper guidance and controls for style, navigation or branding, every team, department and business unit has a site that looks and feels different from everybody else’s. Further complicating the matter, SharePoint users (you know, those folks who have to do their jobs in order to keep the doors open and the paychecks flowing) become disillusioned because the uncontrolled SharePoint growth negatively impacts the relevance of search results, making it more difficult for them to find the content they are looking for. Decision-makers come to realize that without the proper tools, it is costly to manage SharePoint.

Pressure then builds-up on the SharePoint team to manage growth before it gets further out of control. As a result of this problematic situation, many companies proceed to take away user self-service site creation. This knee-jerk reaction is really no better than plugging a hole in the levee with your thumb. Because now that business users don’t have the ability to create sites on demand, every project manager, team leader and administrative assistant in the company starts calling or emailing to request a new SharePoint site. And, the overworked SharePoint Team Leader starts getting calls from the beleaguered IT Infrastructure Manager who’s getting calls from the demanding CIO because the frustrated business leaders are complaining that they can’t get SharePoint sites out the door fast enough to run the business. The SharePoint team has a limited number of thumbs, and those holes in the levee are popping-up everywhere.

Site Provisioning and Governance Assistant for SharePoint 2010 solves the SharePoint lifecycle management problem. SPGA lets you create SharePoint governance templates in which you decide beforehand where different types of sites are created in your taxonomy.  And with SPGA's lifecycle management features, you'll be able to set your own SharePoint Governance policy to decide when a site should be expired. SPGA enforces the site creation and maintenance section of your SharePoint governance plan while still allowing the free flow of user self-service site requests. With SPGA in-place, the cost to manage SharePoint growth is brought under control, but without those bottlenecks to slow down business. SPGA achieves this through a centralized site request management hub which leverages workflow, policy and auditing to allow you to tame the monster of uncontrolled growth.

Want to know more about Site Provisioning and Governance Assistant for SharePoint 2010? We have a live webinar for you to attend. Register for the webinar here.

Many of our clients have asked us to post a recorded copy of the webinar for download. Here is a link to the recorded webinar, along with supporting materials. I've also included a link to the SPGA 2010 product page for more information.

Recorded SPGA 2010 Webinar (WMV)
Accompanying slides to SPGA 2010 Webinar (PDF)
SPGA 2010 Case Study: Howell Petroleum (PDF)
SPGA 2010 Case Study: Burns, Hoolihan and Winchester, LLC. (PDF)
Site Provisioning and Governance Assistant for SharePoint 2010 Product Page

If you have any questions, contact me here.

SharePoint Governance Plan

Is SharePoint 2010 Governance Planning on your mind?  Not sure where to start? In the Microsoft TechNet topic entitled Plan site creation and maintenance (SharePoint Server 2010), Microsoft is quick to point out that before you deploy and make sites available to users, you will need to answer questions such as:

• Do you want to tightly control site creation or to allow many users to create sites?
• At which level in the site hierarchy should additional sites be created?
• How do you find and remove unused sites in your environment?

Once you've reviewed Microsoft's TechNet topics regarding Governance in SharePoint 2010, let me recommend that you take a look at our Site Provisioning and Governance Assistant for SharePoint 2010 product.  I think you'll find that SPGA does much of the heavy lifting for you. 

With SPGA, you'll be able to provide your users the ability to request sites on demand, but without letting the weeds of site sprawl take over your SharePoint landscape.  SPGA lets you create SharePoint governance templates in which you decide beforehand where different types of sites are created in your taxonomy.  And with SPGA's new life cycle management features,  you'll be able to set your own SharePoint Governance policy to decide when a site should be expired.

Want to know more about Site Provisioning and Governance Assistant for SharePoint 2010?  We have a live webinar for you to attend.  Register for the webinar here.

Many of our clients have asked us to post a recorded copy of the webinar for download. Here is a link to the recorded webinar, along with supporting materials. I've also included a link to the SPGA 2010 product page for more information.

Recorded SPGA 2010 Webinar (WMV)

Accompanying slides to SPGA 2010 Webinar (PDF)

SPGA 2010 Case Study: Howell Petroleum (PDF)

SPGA 2010 Case Study: Burns, Hoolihan and Winchester, LLC. (PDF)

Site Provisioning and Governance Assistant for SharePoint 2010 Product Page

If you have any questions, contact me here.