Creating a Content Managed web site using MOSS 2007 Beta 2
Ok, so I have got the MOSS 2007 Beta 2 whizzing inside my virtual PC. I have been tinkering with settings and created my first site collection for a WSS site. Creating a new site collection is different from what it used to be in the 2003 version.
For starters the Central Administration screen now has three new tabs titled: “Home”, “Operations” and “Application Management” The Operations tab clearly lists all available functions and provides easy access to main operational administrative tasks which were not so easy to find in the previous admin UI.
This screen also gives access to new functionality. One of the new features is “Information Rights Management”. By clicking on IRM the link a Windows Rights Management Service if available can be specified for the server. (IRM helps protect sensitive files from being misused or distributed without permission once they have been downloaded from the specified server. Read more about IRM here.)
One most notable is the Back up and Restore section. Yes, now you can do the backups for the farm from the Operations screen.
The Backup and Restore page gives options to backup the full server farm or specific content data bases of the server farm. The screen shot shows that I have selected the content database for the MOSS2007 demo site collection to be backed up.
The Application Management Tab provides links to configure settings for applications and components installed on the server farm. What I like about this screen is that you can pretty much do everything in one place. No need to switch to IIS and create web apps before creating your site collection. Once you are ready click on “Create or Extend Web Application” and choose “Create a new Web application”.
The steps on this page are as follows:
**IIS Web Site **
In this screen provide the info for the web application as follows.
Security Configuration
Set the desired security configuration. In this instance I have chosen NTLM authentication.
Load Balanced URL leave as default
Application Pool
You can choose an existing application pool or choose to create a new application pool.
Database Name and Authentication
Add the Database Server name and a Database name to be created. Then select the authentication mode.
Search Server Leave blank as this will require to be configured later.
Once you reach the “Application Created Screen” open IIS manager and check that your Web Application has been created.
From the Application Created Screen choose “Create a new Windows SharePoint services Site collection” link. At the Create Site Collection page fill in the standard information such as Site Title and Description and choose Create site at this URL > URL path “root”. This will create a site at http://sitedemo Then add your Primary Site Collection admin info etc. Once you get to the “Template Selection” we are going to choose “Internet Presence Web Site” template. This template gives you a basic starting point to build a content managed web site in SharePoint 2007 Beta 2.
Once the site is created you’ll be presented with the link to the brand new site. If you get a 404 error when you click the link to the new site add the IP address and host name to the hosts file found in “c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts”.
The very first time you try to access the site you may be prompted for your credentials use the site administrator account settings you specified for the site collection to login if required. [ Note: I am running this on a Virtual PC image I built with active directory running on the same server instance ]
The basic site you see has a few links which guides the first time user through standard tasks such as:
Enabling anonymous access Managing site navigation Navigate to master page gallery where the ASP.Net master pages for layouts are storedChange the page layouts and master page of this site collection Managing site content and structure Setting up multilingual support
We’ll first look at adding a new page to the site. On the top right hand corner’s “Site Actions” menu choose “Create Page” you will be taken to a page where you enter the page title and description for the page you are about to create.
In this section you will notice that the location of the page you create will be stored under a path named “Pages”. This is because with MOSS 2007 you save your pages in a SharePoint Document Library. The page you create will be saved to a document library named “Pages” which is a page container for holding a site’s pages. Then select a Page layout for your page. We will choose a page layout with an image on the right.
Click OK. Then you will be presented with the page you created in Edit Mode. What you’ll notice immediately is the new Editing tools on the top of the page. (I.E: From previous MCMS days it was the Site Console).
The tool bar gives access to all editing and page actions of the current page.
Features of the Page Settings menu include Check In, Check Out and Page Settings and Schedule which gives access to publishing properties. This is very slick and smart as the user has access to these settings very easily.
The Tools menu gives the user access to Spelling, Preview, Unpublished Items, Version History and the Recycle Bin. (Did I say Recycle Bin!)
The Workflow menu has workflow based tasks and the ability to start a workflow.
To add content click on the placeholder on the template. A new editing toolbar will be presented. You’ll notice that this editing window is a very much improved editor than previous versions. (I.E: Active X toolbar version from MCMS 2002)
Once you have added content hit publish and the page will be published to the site.
Next we’ll look at how to create a new section for this web site and how to modify the site’s master templates.
Next > Create a new Area in a MOSS 2007 Content Managed Web Site
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer’s view in anyway.