In conjunction with an upcoming marketing campaign, we have redesigned ClermontForKids.org. I worked with the team to design a look that worked within the new brand image.

I’ve never been a big fan of SharePoint, but it had become obvious that installing WSS 3.0 would allow me to get a very functional document library and knowledge base online for internal users in a very short time frame. I recently heard that the second rule of the Army is, “If it’s stupid but it works, it isn’t stupid.” It rung very true.

So now I have it and I needed to redesign it. There were two main suggestions I found online about redesigning SharePoint:

1. Surrender to SharePoint Designer
2. Do not edit “core.css”

First, SharePoint Designer is a descendant of FrontPage. That’s enough to convince a seasoned web developer not to use it. Second, I was careful and backed up files before changing them. I could easily revert back. Third, all changes were made in a development environment and thoroughly tested before being released to the wild.

User-testing helped me to design the version of a SharePoint installation that we both want and need in Photoshop, but changes to a Cascading Style Sheet weren’t going to do it.

To get the results I needed, I edited several of the master pages and user control pages, the “core.css”, two images as well as adding a theme-specific style sheet and images.

Lessons Learned and Best Practices

• Set up a test environment and restore a recent copy of the SharePoint back up. Test your design changes here. Obvious and worth it.
• Create your own theme, but choose the one that looks the most similar to copy. There are plenty of places that will tell you how to create your own theme by copying an existing one, renaming it and then making your edits so I’ll skip that. By choosing one with a similar color scheme to your goal, you can save yourself a lot of time searching through tons of code.
• Don’t be afraid to make changes, just make sure that you have a back up. Some of the design changes I made forced me to edit the master and user control files. What really surprised me was that some design changes could ONLY be made by editing the “core.css”.
• Import a Style Sheet. Use it as much as possible. (It’s worth noting that many sources online recommend this. They also say not to edit the master pages, but then say you have to add the code to import this new CSS file to the default.master. Confusing.)
• Use GIFs over PNGs for images. PNGs looked great in everything but Internet Explorer. Only GIFs survived cross-browser testing.

Where Are All The Files You Will Need?

• Images: Local Drive\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\IMAGES
• Cascading Style Sheets: Local Drive\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033\STYLES
• Default.Master: Local Drive\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\GLOBAL
• Other Helpful Code Files (Notably Application.Master): Local Drive\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS
• The Themes: Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\THEMES
• SPTHEMES.XML (Defines the themes available): Local Drive\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033

Related Articles

• SharePoint Research
• Migrating SharePoint
• Getting Site Search to Work

This was my first website built for a client that uses WordPress as a CMS. I was able to make use of a plug in to create a really nice (and simple!) photo gallery. The solution works out really well for the client, who can easily update the site from the field and easily add images from their digital cameras.

WordPress plug-ins also made it simple to add a rotating image to the site’s header, allowing them to show off a variety of their work.

The client’s main goal was a site that was easy to update. He not only found WordPress very accessible, he was thrilled to be able to be able to update his site anywhere that WiFi is available.

Visit the site.

“So what can a website do to make your life easier?”

That question is not always readily answered, but when I met with the Probate / Juvenile Court team, their immediate response was, “We need to get our forms online”. With no central repository, they found themselves filling each request as it came in. While they had a solid collection in digital format, they found themselves sometimes scanning old paper forms, other times having to request a copy from a neighboring county. To compound matters, they received requests over the phone, via email and in person.

We resolved to do the following:

• Create a usable digital version of all of their forms that was not a scanned document.
• Aggregate all of those forms on a staged website that could later be rolled out so that the collection and uploading could happen over time.
• Make the forms as easy to find as possible by segregating the two courts, then dividing the forms by type of need.

After designing and launching the staged website, I helped the team reformat some of the tougher forms. I also worked with them to determine the most clear-cut way of presenting this online library into something that would make sense to someone without a legal background. Marriage license information was designated as an extreme example of just that, so complete instructions were included and we made sure that all of the pages linked to all the others to make learning and finding what you need as easy as possible.

Their team has done an amazing job of collecting and organizing a great deal of information. Once the site has been indexed, I’ll add in search functionality to make the forms even easier to find.

Immediately after their release in the Content Management System, the aftermath of 2008’s Hurricane Ike knocked out the power in Clermont County for several days and a state of emergency was declared. More than ever before, the County portal and Commissioners’ sites became the best way to communicate to the public and the media. Its ease of use made what would have only been daily updates multiple updates a day, putting out information in a near real-time basis.

Both were lauded for their ability to be updated from anywhere at any time. Well, anywhere with power anyway!