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Publishing features overview (SharePoint Server 2010)

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Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

Publishing is the authoring and deploying of branded artifacts, content, custom assemblies, and configuration files across a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 farm. Publishing in SharePoint Server 2010 consists of two separate features. The SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature provides publishing functionality at the site collection level, and the SharePoint Server Publishing feature provides publishing functionality at the site level. The subset of features and functionality of each feature supports the goal of publishing as part of a Web content management solution.

This article only describes the features that become available when publishing is enabled at the site collection and site levels for a nonpublishing site. This article also describes any dependencies between features, and it lists changes to the user interface that occur when publishing is enabled. However, this article does not explain how to enable the publishing features, how to plan publishing sites, or how to convert nonpublishing sites to publishing sites.

Important

Before you enable the publishing infrastructure and publishing features for a nonpublishing site, you should read this article to understand the specific publishing features that you want to use and to determine whether it is worth enabling the complete publishing infrastructure to get the benefit of only certain publishing features.

In this article:

  • About publishing sites

  • About publishing features

  • SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure features

  • SharePoint Server Publishing features

  • Other publishing features

About publishing sites

The Publishing Portal site collection template and the Enterprise Wiki site collection template are the only two SharePoint Server 2010 site collection templates that are preconfigured to use the publishing features. Creating a site collection by using one of these two site collection templates automatically enables the publishing features for those site collections. By default, if the Publishing Portal site template is used, only the Publishing Site with Workflow site template and Enterprise Wiki site template are available to use to create a site within the site collection. A site collection administrator can enable other site templates for use within the site collection by using the Page Layout and Site Template Settings page.

Nonpublishing sites are all the other site templates that are available in SharePoint Server 2010, such as the Team Site and Document Workspace template. You can enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature at the site collection level, and then enable the SharePoint Server Publishing feature for the root site of the site collection and any sites below it in the site hierarchy. This enables all the publishing features that you typically get when you create a site by using a publishing site template, in addition to the standard features of the nonpublishing site. For a complete list of the site templates available in SharePoint Server 2010, see Sites and site collections overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

About publishing features

The SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature provides publishing functionality at the site collection level, and the SharePoint Server Publishing feature provides publishing functionality at the site level. The subset of features contained in each of these primary features is collectively known as “publishing features.” Publishing features are all the features that are part of a preconfigured publishing site or that are added when publishing is enabled at the site collection and site level. When publishing is enabled, all publishing features are automatically enabled. You cannot select individual publishing features, such as variations, to be enabled separately without enabling other publishing features. All publishing features are either active or inactive. However, even though you can decide to enable the publishing features, you do not have to use them all.

SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure features

This section describes the publishing features that are enabled when the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature is enabled on a nonpublishing site collection.

Site templates

A site template is a predefined site configuration that determines, for example, the lists, files, Web Parts, Features, or settings with which to provision a new SharePoint site. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following publishing site templates are added and are available to use when a new site is created:

  • Publishing Site

  • Publishing Site with Workflow

  • Enterprise Wiki

For more information about the site templates that are available in SharePoint Server 2010, see Sites and site collections overview (SharePoint Server 2010) and Site templates and definitions.

Groups and permission levels

SharePoint groups enable you to manage sets of users instead of individual users. The ability to view, configure, or manage a site is determined by the permission level that you assign to a user or group. When you create a site collection by using a nonpublishing site template, SharePoint Server 2010 automatically creates a standard set of groups and permission levels. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, other groups and permission levels are added to the site collection. These groups and permission levels enable you to assign users to specific publishing-related roles. For example, only users who have the Approve permission, or who are in the Approvers group can edit and approve pages, list items and documents for publishing.

The following groups are added to the site collection:

  • Approvers

  • Designers

  • Hierarchy Managers

  • Quick Deploy Users

  • Restricted Readers

  • Style Resource Readers

The following permission levels are added to the site collection:

  • Approve

  • Manage Hierarchy

  • Restricted Read

By default, sites that are created below the site collection use the groups and permission levels from the parent site. For more information about groups and permission levels, see Determine permission levels and groups (SharePoint Server 2010).

Site settings

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following changes are made to the Site Settings page:

  • In the Site Administration section, the following links are added at both the site collection and the site level:

    • Content and structure

    • Content and structure logs

    • Searchable columns

  • In the Look and Feel section, the Quick launch and Top link bar links are removed, and the Navigation link is added at both the site collection and the site level.

  • In the Site Collection Administration section, the following links are added at the site collection level only:

    • Site collection navigation

    • Variations

    • Variation labels

    • Variation logs

    • Translatable columns

    • Suggested content browser locations

In addition to the changes that are made to navigation links on the Site Settings page, the following navigation changes are made when you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature:

  • The top link bar is replaced with the global navigation menu.

  • Default settings for the global navigation menu and the Quick Launch menu are specified.

For more information about navigation, see Site navigation overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

Theme changes

Themes provide a quick and easy way to apply colors and fonts to sites in SharePoint Server 2010. Each site can apply a theme directly to itself. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the Inherit Theme and Apply Theme sections are added to the Site Theme page. These options allow a site administrator to specify whether a site should inherit the theme from the parent site or should use its own theme. These themes also allow the site administrator to specify whether to apply the selected theme only to the current site or to the current site and all sites below it in the site hierarchy. For more information about themes, see Themes overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

Master pages and page layouts

Master pages and page layouts dictate the overall behavior and appearance (look and feel) of a SharePoint site. Master pages contain controls that are shared across multiple page layouts, such as navigation, search, or language-preference for multilingual sites. Page layouts contain field controls and Web Parts. The top-level site for a site collection that is hosted on SharePoint Server 2010 has a special document library called the Master Page Gallery library. All page layouts and master pages are stored in this document library. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following files and folders are added to the Master Page Gallery library:

  • New master pages and page layouts, such as article pages and a Wiki page that is used by publishing sites, are added.

  • A new folder is created in the Master Page Gallery library, and is named based on the language that was used for the SharePoint Server 2010 installation. For example, if the English version was installed, the folder name is en-us. This folder contains a folder named Preview Images, which contains the thumbnail preview images of the Publishing page layouts.

    Note

    If other language packs have been installed, each language will have its own folder that contains a Preview Images folder in the Master Page Gallery library.

  • A new folder named Editing Menu is created in the Master Page Gallery library, and it contains XML files that can be used to customize the page editing menus. For information about how to customize the page editing menus, see How to: Customize Page Editing Toolbar Components.

For more information about master pages and page layouts, see Page Layouts and Master Pages.

Images and style sheets

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following items are added to the Style Library:

  • Cascading style sheets for default styles and styles that can be customized.

  • Images for user interface elements, such as bullets and arrows.

  • Alternate preview images for the media player.

  • XSL style sheets for applying styles to data-driven Web Parts such as Summary Links, Content Query and Table of Contents.

For information about how to customize styles, see How to: Customize Styles.

Document libraries and lists

Different document libraries and lists are created for a site collection, depending on the site template that is used to create the site collection. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following document libraries and lists are added to the root site of site collection:

  • Content and Structure Reports   This list is used to customize the queries that are appear in the View list in the Site Content and Structure tool.

  • Reusable Content   This list contains HTML or text content that can be inserted into Web pages.

  • Site Collection Documents   This library stores documents that are used throughout the site collection.

  • Site Collection Images   This library stores images that are used throughout the site collection.

Content types

A content type defines the columns of a list item, a document, or a folder. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, SharePoint Server 2010 adds, at the site collection level and at the list and library level, more content types that are used by sites within the site collection.

At the site collection level, publishing content types such as Page and Page Layout, and page layout content types such as Article Page and Enterprise Wiki Page are added. Two additional content types, Reusable HTML and Reusable Text, are added specifically for the Reusable Content list.

For more information about content types, see Content type and workflow planning (SharePoint Server 2010).

Columns

Metadata is information about a document that is used to categorize and classify your content. Each item of metadata that is associated with a content type is a column, which is a location in a list to store information. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following columns are added:

  • New page layout columns such as Byline and Page Content, and Publishing columns such as Article Date, Scheduling Start Date and Scheduling End Date are added at the site collection level. A custom Wiki Categories column that uses managed metadata for Wiki pages is also added at the site collection level.

  • New columns for the Reusable Content list and the Content and Structure Reports list are added.

For more information about columns, see Content type and workflow planning (SharePoint Server 2010).

Web Parts

Web Parts are user interface elements that are used in pages on SharePoint sites to present information that is pulled from multiple data sources. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following Web Parts are added at the site collection level and are available to use in all sites that are created within the site collection:

  • Content Query Web Part

  • Media Web Part

  • Summary Links Web Part

  • Table Of Contents Web Part

Page editing menu

The page editing ribbon is a panel of user interface elements that provide page information and ways to use the page. The user can use the page editing menu on the page editing ribbon to add text, images, and rich media to a page, check in the page to share a draft, and approve a pending version of the page for publishing. When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following changes are made to the page editing menu:

  • The Publish tab is added to the master page.

  • Under Editing Tools, on the Format Text tab, the following changes are made when a rich text field is selected:

    • The Spelling group and a Spelling button are added.

  • Under Editing Tools, on the Insert tab, the following items are added when a link is selected:

    • In the Media group, the From SharePoint selection is added to the drop-down list of the Picture button.

    • In the Links group, the From SharePoint selection is added to the drop-down list of the Link button.

    • In the Media group, a Video and Audio button is added.

    • In the Web Parts group, Media Web Part is added to the Media and Content category in the Web Part selection menu when the Web Part button is clicked.

  • Under Link Tools, on the Format tab, the following items are added:

    • In the Link group, a Select Link button is added.

    • In the Properties group, a Bookmark text box is added.

  • Under Picture Tools, on the Design tab, the following items are added:

    • In the Select group, the From SharePoint selection is added to the Change Picture list.

    • The Spacing group is added.

    • In the Spacing group, the Horizontal Space and Vertical Space options are added.

  • A Media tools menu is added to the page menu when a Media Web Part is selected.

Timer jobs

A timer job runs a specific Windows service for SharePoint Server 2010. The timer job contains a definition of the service to run and specifies how frequently the service is started. Each timer job has its own default schedule for when the job runs. You can change the frequency with which each job runs on the Job Definitions page on the Central Administration Web site.

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature, the following timer jobs are enabled on the server that hosts the Central Administration Web site:

  • Notification Timer Job   Sends e-mail to the item owner when an item is about to expire.

  • Scheduled Approval   Publishes approved pages according to the specified start date and time. By default, this timer job runs every minute.

  • Scheduled Unpublish   Unpublishes pages according to the specified end date and time. By default, this timer job runs every minute.

  • Variations Create Hierarchies Job Definition   Creates a complete variations hierarchy by creating all variation sites and pages from the source variation site, based on the variation labels. By default, this timer job runs once a day.

  • Variations Create Page Job Definition   Creates pages on the target variation sites when the Automatic Creation option has been disabled and a user manually creates a new page. By default, this timer job runs every hour.

  • Variations Create Site Job Definition   Creates variation sites when the Automatic Creation option has been disabled and a user manually creates a new variation site. By default, this timer job runs every five minutes.

  • Variations Propagate Page Job Definition   Updates pages on target variation sites after a page on the source variation site has been approved or after it has been manually submitted by a user. By default, this timer job runs every hour.

  • Variations Propagate Site Job Definition   Creates variation sites when the Automatic Creation option is enabled. By default, this timer job runs every five minutes.

For information about timer jobs, see View timer job status (SharePoint Server 2010).

SharePoint Server Publishing features

This section describes the publishing features that are enabled when the SharePoint Server Publishing feature is enabled on a nonpublishing site.

Site settings

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing feature, the following changes are made to the Site Settings page:

  • In the Galleries section, the Master pages link is removed, and it is replaced with the Master pages and page layouts link at both the site collection and site level.

  • In the Site Administration section, a Site output cache link is added at the site level only.

  • In the Look and Feel section, the following links are added at both the site collection and site level:

    • Master Page

    • Page layouts and site templates

    • Welcome Page

  • In the Site Actions section, the Save site as template link is removed at both the site collection and site level.

  • In the Site Collection Administration section, the following links are added at the site collection level only:

    • Site collection cache profiles

    • Site collection object cache

    • Site collection output cache

Regional settings

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing feature, the Subsite Settings section is added to the Regional Settings page. This enables you specify whether all sites below the current site should inherit the regional settings set for the current site.

Document libraries and lists

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing feature, the following document libraries and lists are added:

  • Documents   This library stores documents that are used on pages in the site.

  • Images   This library stores images that are used on pages in the site.

  • Pages   This library stores pages that are created in the site.

  • Workflow Tasks   This list stores workflow tasks that are created in the site.

Note

If you later disable the SharePoint Server Publishing feature, libraries or lists that contain content are not removed from the site, but empty libraries or lists are removed from the site.

In addition to the libraries and lists that are created, the following changes are made to document library settings:

  • On the Document Library Settings page, in the General Settings section, a Manage item scheduling link is added.

  • On the Versioning Settings page, the following changes are made:

    • The Document Version History option is set to Create major and minor (draft) versions. This option determines what versions are created when a file is edited in the Pages library.

    • The Draft Item Security option is set to Only users who can edit items. This option determines who can see draft items in the Pages library.

    • The Require Check Out option is set to Yes. This option requires documents to be checked out before they can be edited.

Page editing menu

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing feature, the following changes are made to the page editing menu:

  • The Publish tab and Publish button are added to the master page.

  • The following items are added to the Publish tab:

    • If the Publishing Approval Workflow feature is enabled for the site collection, and the Publishing Approval workflow template is associated with the document library, the following changes are made:

      • A Workflows group is added.

      • In the Workflows group, a Start a Workflow button is added.

      • In the Workflows group, a Status button is added.

      • In the Workflows group, a View Tasks button is added.

    • If the Quick Deploy job is enabled for the site collection’s content deployment path, in the Publishing group, a Quick Deploy button is added.

    • If item scheduling is enabled for the document library, in the Publishing group, a Schedule button is added.

  • On the Page tab, the following changes are made:

    • In the Manage group, the Edit Properties button is enabled.

    • In the Manage group, the Rename Page button is removed.

    • In the Page Actions group, the following items are added.

      1. A Preview button is added.

      2. A Page Layout button is added.

      3. A drop-down list that contains page layouts is added to the Page Layout button.

    • In the Page Actions group, a Draft Check button is added.

  • Under Editing Tools, on the Format Text tab, the following changes are made:

    • The Spelling group and the Spelling button are added.

    • The Layout group and the Text Layout button are removed.

  • Under Editing Tools, on the Insert tab, the following changes are made:

    • In the Content group, a Reusable Content button is added.

    • A customizable drop-down list is added to the Reusable Content button.

  • If a page was created by using document conversions, a Source Document Tools menu is added to the page editing bar, and the following items are added:

    • Under Source Document Tools, a Document tab is added.

    • On the Document tab, a View and Update group is added.

    • In the View and Update group, a View Document button is added.

    • In the View and Update group, an Update Page button is added.

Other changes

When you enable the SharePoint Server Publishing feature, the following changes are made:

  • Users can no longer create pages that have a space in the name. Spaces are automatically converted to a dash ‘-‘.

  • The Manage Content and Structure link is added to the Site Actions menu. This opens the Site Content and Structure tool for the entire site collection.

Other publishing features

When you enable both the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature and the SharePoint Server Publishing feature, the following Publishing features are enabled:

  • Content deployment   You can use content deployment to deploy content from a source site collection to a destination site collection. Content deployment is administered at the farm level, on the Central Administration Web site. If your site uses content deployment and a farm administrator has enabled the Quick Deploy job, a Quick Deploy button will be added to the Publishing group on the Publish tab of the page editing menu. The Quick Deploy job enables users, such as authors and editors, to quickly deploy a Web page to the destination site collection. By default, a Quick Deploy job runs automatically every 15 minutes. When a user clicks the Quick Deploy button on a page, that page is included in the next automatically scheduled Quick Deploy job. For more information about content deployment and Quick Deploy jobs, see Content deployment overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

  • Variations   The variations feature in SharePoint Server 2010 makes content available to specific audiences on different sites by copying content from a source variation site to each target variation site. When the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature and the SharePoint Server Publishing feature are enabled, the Variations, Variations Labels and Variations Logs links are added to the Site Collection Administration section of the Site Settings page. If a variations hierarchy has been created, the Variations group is added to the page editing toolbar for all publishing pages on all sites within the site collection. However, the buttons in the Variations group are enabled only when a page is part of a source variation site. For more information about variations, see Variations overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

  • Object and output caching   The object cache reduces the amount of traffic between the Web server and the SQL database by storing objects—such as lists and libraries, site settings, and page layouts—in memory on the front-end Web server. The page output cache stores the rendered output of a page and uses cache profiles that specify how long items should be held in the cache. When the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure feature and the SharePoint Server Publishing feature are enabled, links to configure these caches are added to the Site Settings page for the site and site collection. For more information about the object and page output caches, see Cache settings operations (SharePoint Server 2010).

See Also

Concepts

Plan Web content management (SharePoint Server 2010)