Creating a custom site definition from scratch can be a daunting task. Each file in the folder structure serves a particular purpose and many of them vary slightly from folder to folder - allitems.aspx is not the same in DOCLIB as it is in VOTING (see Heather's post for a complete list of files in each folder). Due to slight variances, there is no way to do a global search and replace to copy your customizations. Getting the correct code in each file is essential to maintaining SharePoint's functionality. Isn't there an easy way to solve this problem?
The answer is - sort of. First, begin with a blank template file that has all the necessary components for that type (allitems.aspx, for example). Remember that many page elements require specific registrations and script files, so make sure your [HEAD] tags include all the necessary code blocks. Once you have a working template file, copy it into each directory, then add the code necessary for each list type.
I have compiled a list of each file type along with the code elements that are unique to each list (folder) below, using the SPS site definition as a baseline (60\templates\1033\SPS). The code goes in various places but I tried to keep it sequential; that is, the first code block (individual blocks are separated by ***) goes first, then the second, and so on. Some are contextual (they contain more than just the unique code) to make searching and replacing easier. I also tried tgo keep all script elements together to insure that no code gets orphaned. Once you've modified a couple of files you'll know exactly where to place each block.
Site Definition Original Code (SPS)
Please note that I did not include files that are specific to a certain list type (such as calendar.aspx in EVENTS) only those that recur in multiple folders. In a subsequent post, we'll look at how these files differ from those in STS to show how a custom deployment can seamlessly incorporate both SPS and WSS in a unified design.
NOTE ON CODE SAMPLES: Few things frustrate me more than not being able to cut and paste HTML code into Blogger's editor. You would think they could solve this with a special tag like many discussion forums do, but if they have I sure don't know about it. Until such a thing comes along, all <> tags will be displayed as [ and ]. Sorry for the inconvenience.
