kalmstrom.com Tip: Use CSS in SharePoint 2010

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a time saving invention when you work with websites. Most web designers want to use a limited number of fonts and colors on a site, and they also want all lists, heading types etc. to have the same look. Instead of adding the code for this on each page the info can be gathered in a CSS file. When a page has a link to that file, all formatting info in the CSS file will be applied to the page. Changes in the CSS file will apply to all pages that have the link, so with CSS it is easy to try out and change the formatting of a website.


Microsoft Certified SharePoint expert
CSS may also be used with SharePoint, but working with SharePoint is not exactly the same as working with web pages. Our kalmstrom.com CEO has earned all the available Microsoft Certifications for SharePoint 2010, so he knows how to do it. In the demo above he shows how to get started with CSS in SharePoint. This demo is also included in the Tips section of the kalmstrom.com website.

Create the CSS file in SharePoint Designer
First Peter creates a CSS file in SharePoint Designer 2010, and since he wants to keep it very simple he just makes a change of the text color. When a link to that CSS file is added to the SharePoint homepage in addition to all the CSS files already uses by default, the custom styles is layered on top of what comes out of the box, and the text color is changed.

Add the CSS link in the browser
However, it is not possible to just add a link to the new CSS file in an ASPX page because SharePoint will not save it. Instead Peter explains how to edit a SharePoint web part in a web browser and add the link to the CSS file that way.

Expansion of SharePoint usage
Peter is fascinated by the endless possibilities of SharePoint 2010. For several years HelpDesk OSP has been one of the most popular kalmstrom.com products, and we also plan to add SharePoint as an alternative for sharing and storage in more applications. In the future kalmstrom.com will make a much stronger use of SharePoint than today, but I will come back to that in later articles.

How To Embed A YouTube Video In A SharePoint Site

Our CEO, Peter Kalmstrom continues to share his vast knowledge of SharePoint with useful tips published on the kalmstrom.com website. Now he has released a demonstration on how to embed a video from YouTube into a SharePoint site.

All from guidelines to entertainment
Video demonstrations like the one above can be very useful to have on a SharePoint intranet, for instructions, lectures, information or maybe just for fun! A video from the latest office party will be a popular addition to the site, and it will enhance the good spirits within the group.

Not as easy as you might think
To embed a YouTube video in SharePoint one would think that you only have to add the embed code from YouTube into the SharePoint HTML, just like you do when you embed it in another website. And if you do so it looks very good at first ‒ but only until you save. Then the video disappears again.

Add a Web Part
To make the video stay also when you have saved the page, you must add a Content Editor Web Part and then add the embed code there. Peter shows you how to do that in a few easy steps. Try it, and you will have yet another way to use your SharePoint site!

kalmstrom.com demos
On the kalmstrom.com website you cannot only find demos in the Tips section. We also use them to present the various kalmstrom.com Outlook add-ons, and each one of the products has a Demonstrations page with a number of recorded instructions on installation, configuration and usage. The video demonstrations are of course not as easy to update as the manuals, but they are good complements that really show users and evaluators “how to do it”.