Introduction to customizing pages by using web parts

In this article

• Overview of Web Parts and Web Part Pages

• Types of Web Parts

• Ways to use Web Parts and Web Part Pages

• Web browser support for Web Part Pages

Overview of Web Parts and Web Part Pages

A Web Part is a modular unit of information that forms the basic building block of a Web Part Page. You can add Web Parts to Web Part zones in a Web Part Page and then customize the individual Web Parts to create a unique page for your site users.

The following example uses the Image Web Part to describe the basic features of a Web Part.

1. The Web Part title bar contains the heading for the Web Part.

2. The Web Part menu contains functions that enable you to minimize or close the Web Part, edit the Web Part, or get Help for a specific Web Part. When the page is in edit mode, you can also use this menu to delete the Web Part or connect it to other Web Parts, depending on the type of Web Part that you are using.

3. The body of the Web Part contains the content that you specified for the type of Web Part that is being used. In this example, the Web Part is an Image Web Part, which displays an image.

A Web Part Page is a special type of Web page in which you can use Web Parts to consolidate data, such as lists and charts, and Web content, such as text and images, into a dynamic information portal that is built around a common task or special interest.

Your site home page is one example of a Web Part Page. When you create a new site or workspace site, you are creating a Web Part Page. You can also create a Web Part Page by selecting one of the available site templates, or you can use a Web design program that is compatible with Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, to create a Web Part Page from scratch.

You can use a Web Part Page to present a variety of structured and unstructured information in an organized, useful, and convenient way. Web Part Pages often contain several Web Parts that are connected so that you can dynamically display data and content to see the results that you want.

For example, you can create a Web Part Page called Customer Orders that you frequently use to display critical information. You get a call from a customer who has a question about an order, does not remember the order ID number, but does remember the date when the order was placed. You can use a Web Part Page to do the following.

1. Look up an order by order ID number or, in this case, the order date.

2. Display all orders by date.

3. Select the correct order, based on the customer's name, and look up the order details as well as the customer details.

4. Select a line item in the order (in this case, the lamp), and display a product picture to confirm the customer's question.

5. Scan for late-breaking business news that is pertinent to the customer's order.

Types of Web Parts

Windows SharePoint Services provides several Web Parts that are ready to use with your site. You can use these built-in Web Parts, customize them to suit your needs, or create new Web Parts and upload them for use throughout your site.

Default Web Parts

The following Web Parts are included by default in any site and can be customized to suit the needs of your team. Many of these Web Parts can also be connected to each other to create a variety of unique solutions:

• Content Editor Web Part     You can use the Content Editor Web Part to add formatted text, tables, hyperlinks, and images to a Web Part Page.

• Form Web Part     You can use the Form Web Part to connect to and filter a column of data in another Web Part. Both Web Parts must run on the same server.

• Image Web Part     You can use the Image Web Part to add a picture or graphic to a Web Part Page. To more easily coordinate the image with other Web Parts on the page, you can control the vertical alignment, horizontal alignment, and background color of the image inside the Image Web Part by editing its custom properties in a shared view.

• List View Web Part    You can use the List View Web Part to display and edit list or library data on your site and to connect to other Web Parts, including other List View Web Parts. Lists are information that you share with team members and often display in tabular format. List views display this information in different ways for different purposes, such as filtering, sorting, or selecting specific columns.

  Note: There is no Web Part called List View. When you create a list on your site, a List View Web Part is automatically created and named after the list. For example, if you create a list called Boats, a Web Part called Boats will be available in the Site Name gallery. The Web Part automatically displays the data contained in the list that you created.

• Page Viewer Web Part     You can use the Page Viewer Web Part to display a Web page, file, or folder on a Web Part Page. You enter a hyperlink, file path, or folder name to link to the content.

• Site Users Web Part    You can use the Site Users Web Part to display a list of users and groups who have permission to use a site. The Site Users Web Part automatically appears on the home page of a Document Workspace site. You can also add the Site Users Web Part to any Web Part Page.

  Note: In sites that are running on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 and earlier, the Site Users Web Part was called the Members Web Part.

• XML Web Part     You can use the XML Web Part to display Extensible Markup Language (XML) and apply Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) to the XML before the content is displayed. For example, you might have an XML file that contains a list of boats, prices, and links to images of the boats. You can use the XSLT to transform the data to display a list of boats and prices and make the boat name a hyperlink to display the image in a separate window.

Preconfigured List View Web Parts

The following Web Parts are built into the Windows SharePoint Services team site template and are automatically configured and ready to use on a Web Part Page when you create a new team site. Different combinations of these Web Parts are included when you create a team site or workspace site, depending on which site template you select.

• Announcements     Use the Announcements Web Part to post news, status, and other short bits of information that you want to share with team members.

• Calendar     Use the Calendar Web Part to display upcoming events or team schedules.

• Links     Use the Links Web Part to post hyperlinks to Web pages that interest your team.

• Shared Documents     Use the Shared Documents Web Part to share files from the default document library with site users.

• Tasks     Use the Tasks Web Part to assign a task to a member of your team, specify its due date and priority, and indicate its status and progress.

• Team Discussion     Use the Team Discussion Web Part to provide a forum for talking about topics that interest your team.

Custom Web Parts

By using a programming environment that is compatible with Windows SharePoint Services, such as Microsoft Visual Studio, developers can exploit the full feature set of Microsoft ASP.NET to create custom Web Parts. A Web Part Page is an ASP.NET file (.aspx), and Web Parts are derived from Web Form Controls. To further enhance Web Part Pages, developers can create their own Web Parts that provide new functionality. Developers can also add custom properties to the Web Parts, add custom builders in the tool pane for specialized user interfaces, and connect to other Web Parts by using Web Part connections. For more information about creating and deploying Web Parts, see the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SDK, which is available from the SharePoint general development site.

You can also use Web Parts that other people or companies have created. You must have appropriate permissions to add a third-party Web Part to your Web Part Page or site. Some Web Parts may need to be deployed directly to the server. If you are unable to add a third-party Web Part to your Web Part Page or site, contact your administrator for assistance.

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Ways to use Web Parts and Web Part Pages

You can use Web Part Pages in the following ways:

• Consolidate data from different data sources.

• Report and summarize critical data.

• Analyze and aggregate data (for example, sums, totals, or counts).

• Summarize key information that you want to see at the beginning of each day.

• Prioritize and highlight project or customer data to help you make effective decisions.

• Display an up-to-date work schedule and meeting information to quickly plan your day.

• Get quick access to business news, local weather, and your favorite Web sites to focus your Web browsing.

Web browser support for Web Part Pages

Web browser support for Web Part Pages can be categorized into two levels:

• Level 1 support is the highest level of visual and functional support. Browsers that provide level 1 support include recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer for Microsoft Windows.

• At level 2 support, a few visual and functional features are not available to some browsers, and some other features are compromised and behave differently from the way they behave in level 1 browsers. However, the majority of features are still available to users. Browsers that provide level 2 support include Firefox 1.5 and later for Windows and Netscape Navigator 8.0 and later for Windows. Level 2 browsers are not supported for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Central Administration.

The following table shows the level of support that some common browsers provide.

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