Configure settings for a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)

 

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

After you create a Web application, you can use Central Administration, Windows PowerShell 2.0 cmdlets, or the Stsadm command-line tool to configure Web application settings. Web application settings affect all site collections in the Web application.

This article describes the general settings that you can configure for a Web application, and introduces other articles that describe additional Web application settings.

Web application general settings

You typically configure the Web application general settings when you create a new Web application. You can access the general settings in Central Administration by clicking Manage Web applications in the Application Management section, clicking the Web application that you want to configure, and then clicking General Settings on the ribbon.

Note

You must be a member of the Farm Administrators SharePoint group to use Central Administration.

Many of these settings can also be configured by using Windows PowerShell 2.0 cmdlets. For information about how to use Windows PowerShell 2.0 cmdlets for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 administrative tasks, see Windows PowerShell for SharePoint Server 2010, and the individual articles that are referenced in this article for particular settings.

The following list describes general settings for a Web application:

• Resource throttling

  Resource throttling settings let you fine-tune the Web application for improved performance. We do not recommend that you adjust the default settings unless you have tested the server configuration and know that making these changes will definitely improve performance.

• Workflow

  SharePoint Server 2010 provides a set of predefined workflows that you can use to guide and track common tasks such as document review or approval. In addition to using the predefined workflows, you can define your own workflows by using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 or create code-based custom workflows by using Visual Studio. You can configure workflow settings that apply to all sites in a Web application. For more information about using and configuring workflows, see Workflow administration (SharePoint Server 2010).

• Outgoing e-mail

  You can configure outgoing e-mail for a specific Web application so that users can track changes and updates to individual site collections. For more information, see Configure outgoing e-mail (SharePoint Server 2010).

• Mobile account

  You can configure and manage a mobile account to enable users to subscribe to alerts that are sent via Short Message Service (SMS). The alerts are sent to users' mobile phones when changes are made in a SharePoint list or item. For more information, see Configure a mobile account (SharePoint Server 2010).

• SharePoint Designer

  You can specify whether to allow users to edit sites by using Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010. By default, this setting is On. Additional settings for SharePoint Designer 2010 are as follows:

  • Allow Site Collection Administrators to Detach Pages from the Site Template.

    You can specify whether to allow site collection administrators to detach pages from the original site definition by using SharePoint Designer 2010. By default, this setting is On.

  • Allow Site Collection Administrators to Customize Master Pages and Layout Pages.

    You can specify whether to allow site collection administrators to customize master pages and layout pages by using SharePoint Designer 2010. By default, this setting is On.

  • Allow Site Collection Administrators to see the URL Structure of their Web Site.

    You can specify whether to allow site collection administrators to manage the URL structure of a Web site by using SharePoint Designer 2010. By default, this setting is On.

• General settings

  The General Settings option on the General Settings drop-down menu lets you view and modify the following settings for a Web application.

  • Default Time Zone

    You can define the default time zone that is used for all sites in the Web application.

  • Default Quota Template

    A quota template consists of storage limit values that specify how much data can be stored in a site collection, and the storage size limit that triggers an e-mail alert to the site collection administrator. Use this setting to select a default quota template for all site collections in the Web application. For more information, see Plan quota management (SharePoint Server 2010).

  • Person Name Smart Tag and Presence Settings

    When the Person Name smart tag and Online Status is enabled, online presence information is displayed next to member names and the Person Name smart tag appears when users move the pointer over a member name anywhere on the Web site. This setting is enabled by default.

  • Alerts

    You can specify alert settings for the Web application. By default, alerts are enabled and each user is limited to 500 alerts. For more information, see Configure alert settings for a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010).

  • RSS Settings

    You can enable Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds for viewing RSS feeds from blogs, news sources, and other venues. By default, RSS feeds are enabled.

  • Blog API Settings

    You can select whether to enable the MetaWeblog API for the Web application. By default, the MetaWebLog API is enabled and the setting to accept a user name and password from the API is set to No.

  • Browser File Handling

    You can specify whether additional security headers are added to documents that are served to Web browsers. These security headers specify that a browser shows a download prompt for certain types of files (for example, .html), and to use the server's specified Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type for other types of files.

    The Permissive setting specifies that no headers are added. The Strict setting adds headers that force the browser to download certain types of files. The forced download improves security for the server by disallowing the automatic execution of Web content. By default, the setting is Strict.

  • Web Page Security Validation

    The Web Page Security Validation setting establishes an amount of time after which a user is required to retry the last operation. By default, security validation is set to On with a 30-minute expiration time.

  • Send User Name and Password in E-Mail

    This option lets users retrieve their user name and password by e-mail. If this option is turned off, a new user cannot access the site until an administrator changes the user's password and notifies them of the new password. By default, this setting is On.

  • Master Page Setting for Application _Layouts Pages

    You can allow pages in the _Layouts folder to reference site master pages. Pages in the Application _Layouts folder are available to all sites in the farm. If this setting is Yes, most pages in the _Layouts folder will reference the site master page and show the customizations that have been made to that master page. By default, this setting is Yes.

  • Recycle Bin

    You can specify whether the Recycle Bins in the Web application are turned on. For more information, see Configure Recycle Bin settings (SharePoint Server 2010).

  • Maximum Upload Size

    You can specify the maximum size to allow for any single upload to any site. By default, the maximum upload size is set to 50 megabytes (MB).

  • Customer Experience Improvement Program

    You can collect Web site analytics about Web page usage on the Web application. By default, this setting is Yes.

In this section

The following list references additional articles that describe how to configure settings for a Web application:

• Manage permission policies for a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)

  Administrators can define policies to establish different levels of access to sites within Web applications to various users. This article describes how to create and manage permissions policies.

• Manage permissions for a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)

  Administrators can control user actions by enabling or disabling the associated permission on the Web application. This article describes how to establish permissions on a Web application.

• Turn on or turn off self-service site creation (SharePoint Server 2010)

  Self-service site creation lets designated users create sites in defined URL namespaces. This article describes how to configure this feature for a Web application.

• Configure Recycle Bin settings (SharePoint Server 2010)

  Recycle Bins help users and site collection administrators recover data. This article describes how to configure Recycle Bins for a Web application.

• Configure alert settings for a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)

  The alerts feature helps users keep track of changes that were made to a Web site. The feature does this through an e-mail notification service. This article describes how to configure alerts.

• Define managed paths (SharePoint Server 2010)

  By defining managed paths, you can specify which paths in the URL namespace of a Web application are used for site collections. This article describes how to configure managed paths for a Web application.

• Add or remove a service application connection to a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)

  A service application connection associates the service application to Web applications via membership in a service application connection group (also referred to as application proxy group). This article describes how to add or remove service application connections to a service application connection group.

See Also

Concepts

View site collections in a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)
Create a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)
Extend a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)
Add or remove a service application connection to a Web application (SharePoint Server 2010)