It can sometimes be necessary to disable a certain list type within a WSS site or SPS portal area. If, for example, the customer doesn’t wish to provide portal users with the capability to create discussions, that list type should be removed from the list creation page. If you have not already deployed the portal or team site, removing the list is as simple as editing the ONET.XML file for the site definition. But what if you have already deployed a number of sites or areas? Modifying ONET will have no impact on sites or areas that have already been created – only new ones created after the change takes place. To remove a list type from an existing site/area you’ll need to directly modify the list display and creation pages to remove the list type from view.
In this example we’ll hide the Dicussion Board list type. Begin by removing the display of the list type from the Documents and Lists page (spsviewlsts.aspx in SPS and viewlsts.aspx in WSS – BE SURE TO BACK UP ALL FILES BEFORE MODIFYING THEM IN ANY WAY). Both files can be found in the /60/TEMPLATE/LAYOUTS/1033 folder on the front-end web server(s). On or about Lines 166 - 172 (viewlsts.aspx) or Line 175 - 181 (spsviewlsts.aspx) you will find the following block of code:
ArrayList rgDiscussions = new ArrayList();
rgRgs.Add(SPBaseType.DiscussionBoard);
rgRgs.Add(SPListTemplateType.InvalidType);
rgRgs.Add(L_szDisc_Text);
if (!bBaseTypeInited) { rgRgs.Add(L_szNoDisc_Text); } else { rgRgs.Add(L_szNoDisc1_Text); };
rgRgs.Add("?BaseType="+Convert.ToInt32(SPBaseType.DiscussionBoard));
rgRgs.Add(rgDiscussions);
Remove all but the first line of this code by closing the code block then commenting out the remainder of the text:
ArrayList rgDiscussions = new ArrayList();
%>
<!--
rgRgs.Add(SPBaseType.DiscussionBoard);
rgRgs.Add(SPListTemplateType.InvalidType);
rgRgs.Add(L_szDisc_Text);
if (!bBaseTypeInited) { rgRgs.Add(L_szNoDisc_Text); } else { rgRgs.Add(L_szNoDisc1_Text); };
rgRgs.Add("?BaseType="+Convert.ToInt32(SPBaseType.DiscussionBoard));
rgRgs.Add(rgDiscussions);
-->
<%
This will prevent any existing Discussions from being displayed on the Documents and Lists page. It is important to leave the first line intact so the dependent code that relies upon the rgDiscussions array does not throw an error.
Next, perform the same edits on the WSS (create.aspx, lines 194 - 200) and SPS (spscreate.aspx, lines 199 - 205) list creation pages. Save all four pages to their original location (no reset required) and view them in your browser (/_layouts/1033/{filename}.aspx for each site/area). The Discussion Board group is now hidden from view.
There is one caveat: users with sufficient knowledge of SharePoint can still create and view the list type you have hidden by using the URL protocol. For example, the URL to create a new Discussion Board is http://{portal name}/_layouts/1033/new.aspx?ListTemplate= 108&ListBaseType=3 and the list can still be viewed at /Lists/{ListName}/AllItems.aspx; however, for the vast majority of users this method will be sufficient to prevent them from utilizing the hidden list type. It would also be a good idea to delete any existing lists of that type (if possible); or, at least remove any web parts or links that refer to them.
