Slides from Tech.Ed Australia 2007 - Templates and Features

Here are the slides I did in my presentation with Milan Gross (his slides are not included here, as they are his to publish):
I start we had the Tech.Ed image:

Next, our names and titles:

Some links and referances:

• http://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx
• Solution Deployment with SharePoint 2007 [MSDN]
• SharePoint Solution Installer Scott Hillier’s Open Source SharePoint 2007 Features
• How to: Deploy UDFs Using Windows SharePoint Services Solutions [MSDN]

The agenda of the session (Milan covered that):

Here I spoke about the difference between templates (save as template for a list or a site) and definitions (file system xml and aspx files that allow developers and administrators have more control over the sites after deployment)

A quick explanation of how a solution package is built. For example I showed the package of the "print list" feature as it was done by Scott Hillier.

Next I discussed what are DDF files and why we need them (we need them to let makecab.exe know how to build our cab file - using folders), as well as giving some alternatives such as cabarc that allows you to build a cab file with folders in it - no need for a definition file. I also mentioned a tool I never used - WSPBuilder

Now to my part of the demo - I showed how to create a feature for a webpart and how to package it. I used my own Enhanced Content Query WebPart solution package to demonstrate this, and you can download that from codeplex!



After that Milan took over and showed a scenario that used the Solution Generator (part of the WSS extensions for Visual Studio) to create a site definition, with lists that are connected to workflows and have BDC fields and all. It was pretty complex, and I felt we needed more time to really explain it all.
And that was my first presentation. I will let you know about the second one soon.

Off to teched

So this is it - the moment I have been waiting for and the reason I didnt write anything in the last month. I am flying to the goldcoast tomorrow and will be presenting there this week. I will also be at the meet the experts dinner (as a self proclaimed expert) and at the influencer party (as an MVP).
See you there!
p.s. I released today a technical refresh to the content query web part project. more features, less bugs!

I am presenting - Tech Ed Australia 2007.

It is official - I will be presenting two presentations in Tech Ed Australia 2007:

• OFC304 Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Upgrade and Migration
  
  Do you want to learn about upgrading from Windows SharePoint Services version 2 to version 3, and SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to Office SharePoint Server 2007? In this session you will learn the different upgrade options, as well as how to prepare your SharePoint deployment today for upgrade.
• OFC402 Templates and Features: The Engine Under the SharePoint Hood - Build and Deploy Your Own!
  Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services version 3.0 provides many new capabilities for extending existing sites and building new solutions. This session outlines the high-level concepts of SharePoint templates, features, and extension points; and discusses the best practices for deploying code to a SharePoint farm, including code access security and the new solution deployment capability.

I will also be available for Q&A, and am always happy to answer questions - so come meet me in Tech Ed, and let me know how you liked my presentation!