Skip to main content

SharePoint Branding Methods

A while back I put together a quick table of branding methods and if they were applied how deep would those changes be visible.

Here are some of the ways that you can implement your branding into Share Point: going from least visible to the most.

  • Content Editor Web Part Style
    • Add a content Editor Web part on a page, then click on the source button and add:

      Example:

      • <style>
        .ms-WPHeader TD{
        background-color: #EEE;
        border-bottom: 2px solid #000099;
        }
        </style>
  • Alternate Stylesheet:
    • Configure by going to: Site Settings > Modify all site settings > Look and Feel > Master Page > Alternate CSS URL > Click on radio button "Specify a CSS file to be used by this publishing site and all sites that inherit from it." > Add in URL of alternate style
  • Custom Theme
    • Create your own custom theme.
  • Adding an Alternate style sheet to a custom master page
    • Upload your custom style to the server or document library.
    • Within Master page <head> add the following:
    • <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_layouts/1033/styles/customstyle.css"/>
  • Adding an Alternate style sheet to the application.master Master Page.
    • Upload your custom style to the server or document library.
    • Within the application.master Master page <head> add the following:
    • <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_layouts/1033/styles/customstyle.css"/>
  • Overriding the Server side CSS and Images
    • Not recommended for small changes, or multiple SharePoint Applications sharing the same Web Front Ends (Intranet + Extranet + Public Website)
    • Styles Location on server: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033\STYLES
      • Main Styles (core.css, portal.css)
    • Images Location on server: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\IMAGES
      • Over 2,050 images. (.gif, .jpg, .png)

So what is the right choice for your branding project?

The first thing you should do is consider what level of branding does your client expect, or need?

Sometimes this is hard to define, and your client might not know. See my blog post Gathering Brand Requirements: It's like pulling teeth…

General Brand Levels: Refer to your SOW and make sure you are not promising anything that would be Out of Scope!

  • Brand Adaptation: Apply logo, colors only, keep out of the box layout and tab styles
  • Custom brand: More design treatments, changes to lines, controls, tab styles.. stay within master page layout
  • Full custom design: Change layout of master page completely.. i.e. navigation may not be in tabs, etc

Who is doing the design?

  • Your Company
    • By staying in house with the design we have better control over the design and keeping it to the approved brand level.
    • We also know that the design is created with SharePoint in mind. More on this below
  • Contractors
    • Most design firms have no clue what SharePoint is and how to design against it.
    • For that reason always make sure you share the designs in a internal peer review before showing it off to the client as our own.
  • Clients
    • Ok this one is a little tricky…
    • Most large companies have marketing departments that own their corporate brand.
    • In most cases they want to own the design and more often than not you can say goodbye to any creativity…

Who is doing the build?

  • Your Company
    • If the consultant/developer on the project does not have any experience with SharePoint CSS branding modifications than we need to find on that does!
  • Contractors
    • Make sure they are well trained and skilled before allowing any customizations
  • Clients
    • Again make sure they have the skills.

X = Changes will be applied
? = To be Determined
Blank = Does not apply to page

Branding Support Filesimage

Master Pageimage

Drop a comment

Comments

Anonymous said…
I look forward to your post, "Gathering Brand Requirements: It's like pulling teeth… " There is a reference to it here but no link.

Popular posts from this blog

How To: Create Hyperlink to Modal Pop-Up Form

I was asked by a client recently if there was a way to create a hyperlink to a New Item Form anywhere within a site but still get the rich experience of the Modal pop-up window that grays out the background. (Note this is for SharePoint 2010 Only…) I basically took the code directly from the “Add new item” and the “Add Document” link within the list view. What this allows you to do is simply add in the following code to any content editor web part, Master page, or Page Layout in any site collection and display the form to be filled out. The user will get the nice experience of the modal window and not have to navigate away from their current page. This could be used for example a feedback form that is included in the master page so whenever someone wants to give feedback it is always going back to a central list. The only that is required for you to know is the List ID and the site name. Full Code For a List Item: <a onclick="javascript:NewItem2(event, &quot

SharePoint 2010 Base CSS Classes

This will be the first of many SharePoint 2010 posts. I will be focusing on a few of the main CSS classes used for SharePoint 2010 Public Beta. As the product becomes more final there might be some changes to the class names but I will be sure to create a new post if that happens. This will be quite a lengthy but it should be helpful. The default CSS given below are just highlights of the full CSS attributes for that class. I will be using a basic team site as my base for the screenshots. Here is a basic structure of the main areas that I will cover. Ribbon Row Table Row Left Site Actions Navigate Up Edit Tab List Browse Page Table Row Right Give Feedback Welcome Menu Workspace Body Container Title Row Title

SharePoint 2013 Responsive Table Columns

I have been wanting to write this one for a while now. It is really amazing how UX is really finding is way into everything that we use and interact with. From Custom applications both mobile and on a desktop to document management or large data visualizations. There is always room for better usability and new concepts. SharePoint lists and library functionality really has not changed much for the past 10 years... I remember back in 2003 when I saw the same table/grid based views of documents and list items that exists in SharePoint 2013. But now we can look at them in a whole new way! In this video blog you will see how to create a responsive CSS table so that when the browser size is reduced it will hide specific columns. However hiding data is not always the right thing to do. What if a user needed those columns to filter on or to use for comparison to another document? Well that is where the custom jQuery Column chooser comes in. It allows you to see what columns are displ