Michael Yeager's MSDN Blog : Sharepoint Designer

Balancing your MOSS Content Types

mty — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:59:00 GMT

I have found that the following two issues can be critically important when architecting a catalog style WCM site:

1. The intention to use the Content Query Web Part (CQWP) to roll up lower level detail pages to higher level summary pages can have a major effect on your “Content Type Architecture” The CQWP has the ability to query across multiple sites by Content Type. In a “catalog” style site where one is drilling down to detail pages, the ability to roll up across many different Pages libraries by Content Type can be a crucial functional detail

2. Another important detail is the fact that a content type can have many layout pages. Often the authoring team wants to be able to switch between layout pages for the same content. You can do that by simply making sure the layout pages share the same content type, and that the fields that each layout page shares line up properly.

The first issue encourages the site architect to create more content types to make it easier to roll-up the content. The second issue encourages the site architect to create fewer content types each having multiple layout pages so that the authoring team can easily switch between layouts.

SharePoint Designer Check-in and Check-out and Publishing

mty — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:58:00 GMT

Maybe I'm missing a hotfix or something, but SharePoint Designer seems to have a lot of problems with Check-ins and Check-outs. Often it shows a file as checked out when it is actually checked in and vice versa. Sometimes closing SD and opening the site again clears this up, but as a general practice, I do a lot of check-ins and check-outs in the browser and not in SD.

Mostly I'm talking about Master Pages and Layout Pages - which you can check-in and check-out in your browser by navigating to the Master Pages Gallery found under Site Settings > Galleries > Master pages and page layouts

Also, I typically use the Publish Selected Files functionality to promote new Master Pages and Page Layouts from Dev to Production, but note that you have to check out the files on both servers. The easiest and most effective way to do this again is in the browser by navigating to the respective Galleries on each farm and checking them out in the browser.

For instance, you go to the Master pages and layouts Gallery on production and check-out your custom master page, and you go to the Master pages and layouts Gallery on development and you check-out your custom master page, and then on Dev in SharePoint Designer you right click on your custom master page and select Publish Selected Files (and enter the url for your production site if you haven't already).

Note that after you Publish your new versions, they are only minor versions, and you can view them on production without endangering the site for other users. Once you confirm that they are working and doing what you want, then you can Check them in as a Full version on production. Remember also then to Undo Checkout on Dev. You only checked it out to publish it, so just Undo Checkout so that you don't have a new insignificant version.

To review - after Publishing, on Production after checking them as a Minro Version you check in and approve a Major Version, and then on Development you Undo Checkout.

A little complicated, but it works consistently.

Non Obvious Details about Content Deployment

mty — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:44:00 GMT

When you have Quick Deployment job, and you edit a page and add it to Quick Deployment, the job appears in a list called:

Quick Deploy Items

Go to: http://<mysite>/Quick Deploy Items to view it.

If Quick Deploy is failing, you can go to this list and delete the problem items out.

Also note that your deployment jobs (like your backup jobs) end up in the Timer Job Definitions found in the Operations section of Central Admin. If your Full Deployments are failing, delete them out of the Timer Job Definitions before restarting (the same with failed backups).