7
Creating Custom Master Pages and Page Layouts
What’s In This Chapter
1. ASP.NET Master Pages
2. SharePoint Master Pages
3. Starter Master Pages
4. Custom Page Layouts
5. SharePoint Solution Packages
In Chapter 5, “Using the Design Manager to Start a Design in SharePoint,” you learned about how the SharePoint 2013 Design Manager can help you easily create master pages and page layouts from standard HTML and CSS designs. Although this option is fine for many scenarios, there may be times when creating SharePoint branding from scratch is a better option. One major reason for this alternative might be if you have SharePoint Foundation or don’t have access to a SharePoint Server Publishing site. (The Design Manager feature is only available in sites with the Publishing feature activated.)
Even if you do have access to the Design Manager feature, after you become accustomed to how master pages and page layouts work, you may find it easier to skip the Design Manager and go right to creating custom branding by hand. Think of it like this: if you want to create an iPhone or Windows Phone app, you could use a code generator to make a simple app, but this approach is limited. When you feel comfortable coding for the phone, you would probably find that you have more power and control when coding the app by hand in the native coding language for the device. SharePoint branding is similar; if you are building a highly stylized website, you could build it with Design Manager, but you will ...
