Microsoft® SharePoint® Server 2007 Bible

Developing Features for Office Server

Features enable you to deploy site functionality at a site, site collection, Web application, or farm level either in a mode where users can see the feature in order to activate or deactivate it, or in a mode where it is hidden and always present. In addition to the features that you see as options to activate and deactivate on a site, as shown in Figure 9.1, most of the building blocks of SharePoint are implemented by using features such as document libraries, the issues list, and the records management functionality.

Figure 9.1. Standard features available for activation and deactivation on a SharePoint site

[View full size image]

By using features to deploy custom functionality, you are able to:

• Leverage the SharePoint structure for installing features at the site, site collection, Web application, or farm levels

• Leverage the SharePoint structure for activating or deactivating features

• Have SharePoint manage the feature definition across distributed SharePoint servers

Almost anything is possible when thinking about the potential uses for Office Server features because SharePoint has provided for a lot of different functionality options. This can make envisioning the scenarios in which you will use features difficult. Here are some examples to get the creative juices flowing:

• Associating a workflow with a particular list type and site template ...