Chapter 8
Master Pages
In the previous chapter, you learned about how Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) work in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). Even though CSS is an important concept in styling MOSS sites, it can only affect the overall look of a site so much. This is equally true for MOSS themes, which was the topic of Chapter 6. Both of these technologies can only affect hiding and showing areas of a design, as well as changing colors and images.
To truly make wide sweeping changes to the user interface of a MOSS site, master pages are the only way to go. This is because master pages can control almost all of the aspects of the HTML that glues all of MOSS together. The difference between using just CSS or themes and making a custom master page is often compared to the difference between just hiring a painter to change the colors of walls in a house and having an architect change the location of walls or even the configuration of the whole house.
In this chapter you will learn how master pages work in traditional ASP.NET applications and more importantly how they work in MOSS. You will also learn how master pages and page layouts differ, as well as how the various parts of master pages are handled in a MOSS site. The chapter will conclude with a tutorial on converting standard HTML and CSS design into a corresponding master page and CSS.
This chapter is focused on creating custom branding, specifically for MOSS sites. Master pages are also used with Windows SharePoint ...
