SharePoint Branding Bootcamp – 2007

This course is part of the track

Upcoming dates

What’s this all about?

Designers: "Please, make it look like anything but SharePoint!"

SharePoint's nice looking, but it's not hot. During this class, you'll learn all about customizing the look and feel of your SharePoint sites. Dive deep into web content management features and designer technologies like master pages, content types, and page layouts. Find out how to apply your graphical mojo to SharePoint sites!

Who should take this course?

Products covered by this course

Available delivery formats

Cost and duration

Online training

Private training

  • $3,300 per day (no per-student fees, no instructor travel fees)
  • $2,500 per day for private online delivery, each day consisting of two 3-hour sessions
  • Pre-payment discounts available!
  • Request the standard class or create a hybrid training and/or consulting experience based on your specific needs
  • Learn more about our private, personalized SharePoint instruction

Back to top

What do I get?

  • Full color student workbook and exclusive access to our Learning Management System
  • The know-how to brand a large SharePoint implementation, from taxonomy to CSS tweaks
  • Confidence in your ability to effectively manage and maintain your SharePoint branding project
  • The knowledge on how to brand your site with the least number of files and in the most effective, template based way
  • Bonus CSS tips and tricks

Course modules

  • A Tour of SharePoint 2007
    You don’t have to be a whiz at SharePoint 2007 to learn branding. The class kicks off with a tour of key features of SharePoint 2007 with a special focus on identifying elements in the site interface that you can brand.
  • Getting to Know SharePoint Designer 2007
    SharePoint Designer will be the only code editor you need in class. We take a look at popular features and tool panes and get acquainted with SharePoint Designer so you can easily be on your way with your customizations.
  • SharePoint Branding Cliff Notes
    Confused by all of the options for branding SharePoint? No worries, right off the bat we cover all options and look at each one at a high level. From there the rest of the class is a deep dive into each option so you can make the best decisions for your project.
  • SharePoint Concepts: Web Content Management
    One of the biggest and most useful features of SharePoint is Web Content Management (WCM). Find out why WCM is so beneficial and experience the publishing process from both the end user and site designer point of view.
  • SharePoint Concepts: Taxonomy
    One of the biggest and most useful features of SharePoint is Web Content Management (WCM). Find out why WCM is so beneficial and experience the publishing process from both the end user and site designer point of view.
  • Content Types Demystified
    The keys to the SharePoint castle is Content Types. Don’t fear the unknown, instead dive in and understand what Content Types are, how to use them, and why they play an integral role in SharePoint branding.
  • Designing for SharePoint Sites
    You don’t have to be a SharePoint expert to create great designs for SharePoint, but knowing a thing or two about the products will certainly help cut down on development time and cost. In addition to discussing essential steps and things to consider, we cover common gotchas that often pop up in initial SharePoint designs.
  • Cascading Style Sheets and SharePoint
    What is a site without style? SharePoint makes heavy use of CSS and your customizations will follow suit. Don’t worry if your CSS skills are a bit rusty, we review CSS concepts, how SharePoint uses CSS, and how you can modify the site interface and create your own CSS for SharePoint.
  • Creating Themes
    Sometimes you don’t need to remodel your house, you only need a fresh coat of paint. Themes provide a great way to change out images and colors for any SharePoint site. In addition to discussing when and how to use a theme, we create custom themes and learn the easy way to develop them.
  • Introduction to Master Pages, Content Pages and WCM Page Layouts
    When a fresh coat of paint doesn’t cut it and you need to remodel that house, master pages are the answer. Learn all about this great and versatile tool for SharePoint branding, including how they work, core components, and how content is delivered to a web page with the master page counterpart, content pages. We also dive into page layouts, a special content page used for Web Content Management to create templatized web pages.
  • Creating a Page Layout and Master Page
    We don’t just talk in this class, we do. This is time to take action and create your own custom master page and page layout that you can walk away with at the end of class and actually use in your site.
  • More Master Page and Page Layout Tasks
    Speaking of doing, we provide a 40+ page handout of how to do all sorts of things with your master pages and WCM page layouts.
  • Customizing the Out of the Box Navigation
    SharePoint provides multiple ways to get around your site. Take a look at how to make several modifications to the navigation through both the user interface and your custom master page.
  • Customizing Content Display
    Your site doesn’t end with pretty pictures and logos, learn how to create custom content displays so your content works for you without you babysitting what is displayed on key site entry pages. And the best part is everything is available to you using out-of-the-box components.
  • Advanced CSS Techniques
    The more crafty you are with your CSS, the more you can do! Learn helpful tips and tricks for your sites, as well as introduction into semantic code, the grid, and CSS-based layouts.
  • Code Enhancements for Your Site
    Server controls, user controls, delegate controls… SharePoint is full of all sorts of controls. We review each type of control and where it is used in SharePoint as well as some tips for using a few yourself! Also learn about jQuery, a great way to spice up your SharePoint sites.
  • Branding Everything Else in SharePoint
    SharePoint is a deep application, there are several components of the interface that need special attention. Learn about all of the areas you need to address when branding a site and the potential gotchas with these SharePoint components.
  • Branding Process Revisited
    Whew! A lot of information has been covered in this class so it is time to stop and revisit all the steps needed to successfully brand your site. This module comes full circle and provides direction for how to start branding and what to do for each method covered previously in class.
  • Wrapping Up – Accessibility, Browser Support and Deployment
    Two common hot topics for SharePoint administrators of internet facing sites is accessibility and browser support. Learn about resources and tools that are at your disposal for creating accessible sites that will even work in Firefox. And now that you have your branding developed, learn how to deploy it!
  • Introduction to SharePoint Foundations 2010 and SharePoint 2010
    You may not be ready to dive into SharePoint 2010 quite yet, but we are going to stop to take a quick look around and review key things you need to know so your 2007 branding efforts can more easily be migrated to 2010.

Back to top

Prerequisites

  • An understanding and good comfort level with HTML is highly recommended
  • A solid foundation in CSS is highly recommended. Get a leg up with CSS before class with our CSS Bootcamp computer based training!
  • This course is geared for web designers and developers so we assume students are familiar with basic web site design, layout and structure guidelines

Workstation requirements

  • SharePoint Experts will provide you with your own SharePoint site for class or you can run your own virtual machine:
    • OS details: Windows Server 2003 SP1 or higher, with MOSS 2007 Enterprise or Standard installed
    • Optionally use Microsoft’s trial SharePoint virtual machine (link)
    • The virtual machine should be run off an external hard drive or the workstation needs to have adequate RAM, disk space and processing speed
  • SharePoint Designer 2007 (required)
  • Photoshop or other graphics design program (optional)
  • USB 2.0 port for in-class file transfer (on-site students only)

Back to top

Frequently asked questions

This class is for a beta product, how much of what I learn will still apply when the product is released?
The majority of the class content will be applicable for the production release of SharePoint 2010. However, this course was written based on the beta and the product is subject to change. As an alumnus, you will receive course workbook updates and access to a special beta release forum. If the product changes, you will still have appropriate materials as well as insight from your instructor.
Is it OK if I don’t know HTML or CSS?
In this course you will view and edit code. If you don’t know HTML and/or CSS, you can get by but there may be times you feel a bit lost. Lab code samples are provided so you can continue through the modules.
I am not a graphic or web designer, is this course still right for me?
Yes! This is not a design class and you will not be asked to produce original web site design. Even if your artistic abilities are limited to stick figures, you will still get the full benefits from this class! Sample designs will be provided in class for your use.
I need to know how to create a SharePoint Feature for branding deployment. Does this class cover that?
The course covers branding deployment options and provides some resources. However, this is a custom SharePoint branding course and not a SharePoint development course. You will not create a Feature in class.
Can I bring my web site design from work with me to class?
We love to work with real-world designs and challenges and everyone is welcome to bring web site designs or comps from their existing organizations and/or projects. There will be several times during class that we can review the design and/or use it for branding code samples. It is not required to use the course design samples and you can complete any of the lab exercises using your own design.
Where can I get more information?
Contact us using the “Contact Us” link at the top of the page.
My question isn’t here.
Well, that’s not really a question. Just kidding! Contact us with your question using the “Contact Us” link above. If your question seems common enough, we’ll add it to this page!

Back to top