PixelMill Blog

Innovative SharePoint Driven Web Templates Radically Simplify Site Building and Content Management

(DAVIS, CALIF.) - May 9, 2008 - PixelMill.com, a provider of design solutions for Web site builders and content managers, today unveiled a series of new content management system Web templates that gives all levels of Internet users the ability to easily and instantly edit content areas of Web sites from within ordinary Web browsers.

By combining the professional graphic design of pre-designed Web templates with the power of Microsoft's SharePoint-driven content management system (CMS) interface, PixelMill has introduced an unprecedented level of Web design and content management simplicity. With support from Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) experts B4Contact to develop the new Web template products, PixelMill crafted for business professionals a site building and content management solution that enables virtually any staff member with minimal Web experience and training to contribute to and dynamically edit and update a company's Web presence.

"With today's tightening economy and the rapid decentralization of employees and business partners, establishing a Web presence built on a centralized collaborative tool like SharePoint makes good business sense," said PixelMill CEO Jason Reckers. "This new approach removes virtually all obstacles for businesses to quickly create, deliver and manage a world-class Web presence."

PixelMill advanced this initiative to provide users the customer-centric focus of past Web sites and the collaborative features of today's social collaborative sites which bring together employees and business partners into a secure online environment.

Content management system Web templates from PixelMill are used from within ordinary Web browsers. The templates are first loaded onto a Windows SharePoint Services web server in a process very similar to publishing a standard web site. Hosted Windows servers running SharePoint services are available from a growing number of Windows-based hosting companies, including SharePoint experts at Frontpages Web Hosting Network and B4Contact (in Europe), and other large Web site hosting companies.

With the template loaded, staff members given permissions may login and start making edits and most common changes to content areas of the site from within the browser. The innovative Web browser interface allows for the easy addition of pictures, graphics and images, extra pages, and the ability to modify navigation bars, instantly edit and update content areas with full "rich text" capabilities.

Leveraging Microsoft's Windows SharePoint Services to drive the simpleCMS templates follows a series of moves by PixelMill to make Web site building cost effective, easy to manage, and scalable for web presence growth especially for small and medium sized businesses. Among its more recent moves to make Web site building and editing easier, PixelMill introduced in October 2007 a new catalog of Web Themes and Template "Skins" specifically designed for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 to give novice and progressive Web enthusiasts the ability to transform the "out-of-the-box" SharePoint site design into a variety of customizable designs.

PixelMill's new content management system Web templates are designed as flexible, cost effective packages that give small to mid-size businesses a solution they can grow with for internal team and external partner collaboration, as well as on-the-fly maintenance of their own public-facing web site. In addition to its new SharePoint-driven Web templates, PixelMill's other SharePoint services include custom design work for WSS and MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server). Having contributed to more than 60,000 Web sites, PixelMill's adaption to back-end solutions allowed it to quickly introduce to the design and developer market enterprise solutions that offer increased flexibility and choices in implementing the look and functionality of SharePoint products and services.

Established in 1998, PixelMill serves as the Web's central source of solutions for Web site builders and content managers. PixelMill's extensive digital library features high quality templates and tools - guaranteed royalty free and free of copyright concerns - including more than 2,000 Web, Microsoft® Expression® Web, SharePoint Designer, Adobe® Dreamweaver®, FrontPage®, and HTML templates, 1,800 PowerPoint® templates, 9,000 stock images, and 4,500 royalty free music tracks. Media Contact: Chris Doyle, 916.847.0261 cdoyle@pixelmill.com

Has it been that long?

I realize now that it has been over four months since our last post and our last newsletter. Don't worry, we're still here and working on the business of developing new and exciting solutions for you and your customer's needs.

I recently returned from the Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Redmond. Over the years Microsoft conferences have been somewhat dull and uneventful from a business perspective. Often, they've been very tech heavy with hard-core coders periodically peaking up over their laptops between (and during) sessions. The one exception being the MIX events, which have had a flare to them from the beginning.

This year's SharePoint Conference threw much of that somber "I need to be here, because I was told I need to be" mentality out the window. First, the conference was over sold out. They added a couple over-flow rooms for the keynotes, and it wasn't unlikely to find standing room only in the sessions. The most important observation was the constant buzz. People are 'excited' about SharePoint, and it's not just programmers and network administrators. Many of the attendees, from my observation, were also business consultants and process managers. The industry is seeing the value of SharePoint both inside and outside the Enterprise.

I won't deliver a complete synopsis of the conference, but want to point out the energy we're seeing behind SharePoint. Stay tuned as we start to roll out SharePoint specific solutions that you can start using for your business or as an opportunity to connect with your clients.

Free Webinar! - SharePoint for Web Site Builders

A live one-hour session where you will receive valuable insights for using Windows SharePoint Services as a differentiator for current and prospective clients. Use the power of SharePoint and SharePoint Designer to create successful solutions for you and your clients.

This Webinar will cover:

• Introduction to Windows SharePoint Services


• Options for using SharePoint as a Web Site Management tool


• Connecting Live, Dynamic Content from SharePoint to your Web site


• Formatting SharePoint Data Views and Web Parts using SharePoint Designer


• Using a Hosted SharePoint solution to your benefit

Date: November 15, 2007
Time: 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time

Toll Free conference call access for U.S. and Canada callers. International toll number available.

PixelMill Introduces "PixelMill Skins^TM" for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

(Davis, Calif.) - October 31, 2007 - Leveraging the entry of the latest version of SharePoint, PixelMill today introduced a new catalog of Web Themes and Template "Skins" specifically designed for Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0 to give its users the ability to transform the "out-of-the-box" SharePoint site design into a variety of customizable designs.

Advances in SharePoint Services 3.0, which includes a number of design enhancements that make building Themes and Templates much more cost effective and easier to implement for users, prompted PixelMill to develop its first phase series of Skins for business users. Its years of experience designing with SharePoint and providing custom design services for business enabled PixelMill to readily adapt to evolutions in SharePoint. PixelMill's design contributions to more than 60,000 Web sites and its adaption to back-end solutions allowed it to quickly introduce to the design and developer market enterprise and small business solutions that offer increased flexibility and choices in implementing the look and functionality of SharePoint products and services.

PixelMill's online Skins catalog introduction (http://www.pixelmill.com/products/website-templates/vivid-office.aspx) arrives at a time when hosting solutions for SharePoint now provide significant collaboration capabilities and flexible, cost effective packages giving small to mid-size businesses a solution they can grow with for internal team and external partner collaboration, and even maintenance of their own public-facing web site. Anticipating SharePoint's increasing relevance, PixelMill has already begun developing new solutions that will move beyond "skinning" SharePoint sites to providing Web site designs that use SharePoint as a content management tool.

"We're investing in efforts that give small businesses the ability to use dynamic content in Web sites that anyone on the team can update," said PixelMill CEO Jason Reckers. "With our new Skins, we're enabling companies today to create and deliver world-class Web presence using multimedia and e-commerce components supported by simple, easy to use and powerful back-end solutions such as SharePoint."

PixelMill began its work with SharePoint in 2003. At that time, PixelMill, through its Vivid Office brand, packaged and developed a number of complementary products, design templates, and instructional guides featured in the Microsoft® Right Tools Toolkit and on www.sharepointcustomization.com. PixelMill experts also developed effective strategies to help users implement these designs into their Windows® SharePoint® Services Web sites.

Supporting its entry into Skins for SharePoint, PixelMill's online seminar series featured at PixelMill EDU, helps designers and developers transition from FrontPage to SharePoint Designer. PixelMill's educational series is designed to help customers learn how to effectively work with SharePoint Designer for both static Web sites as well as easy integration with SharePoint. The series also puts focus on users converting from FrontPage to SharePoint Designer since previous versions of SharePoint used FrontPage to edit design, Web Parts, and data view integration tools. PixelMill EDU is available at http://www.pixelmill.com/services/seminars-webinars.aspx.

PixelMill, established in 1998, serves as the Web's central source of solutions for web site builders offering an extensive array of high quality templates, images, video, audio, add-ons, platform-specific solutions, training, and custom services for developers' Web design needs. PixelMill's extensive digital library features high quality, guaranteed royalty free and free of copyright concerns, templates and tools with more than 2,000 Web, Microsoft® Expression® Web, SharePoint Designer, Adobe® Dreamweaver®, FrontPage®, and HTML templates, more than 1,800 PowerPoint® templates, over 9,000 stock images, and over 4,500 royalty free music tracks.

Media Contact: Chris Doyle, 916.847.0261 cdoyle@pixelmill.com

View PDF >>

Transform your out of the box SharePoint site in less than 60 seconds!

I thought it would be best just to show the video of how you can use a PixelMill WSS SharePoint skin to transform your plain SharePoint site in less than a minitute. You can use the skins with SharePoint Designer or without. Watch this short video (which is less than 60 seconds :-)) and see how easy it really is! 

Also, be sure to check out our skins on sale now at PixelMill.com. 

Use coupont code t91D2jPdYhC during step 2 of the checkout process and receive 15% off your order (one time use only).

Adding Content to your Expression Web or SharePoint Designer site.

When moving content from one website to another or adding content from any other source (Word, Outlook, etc.)use notepad so you don't add any extra unwanted code or formatting to your site.

Watch this short video showing how to properly move your content over to your new site.

Closing SharePoint Web Parts through the Browser - Be Cautious of Permissions

Recently I was working on a redesign of a school site. (www.laurensacademy.com) I decided this was another great opportunity to sink my teeth into some fun SharePoint stuff.

Once the site was finished, I kept noticing that a login box would keep popping up. I had set the site permissions to be anonymous, so why am I getting this login? I checked and rechecked my permissions and never found anything wrong. Finally I called Tech Support at FWHN (our preferred SharePoint Hosting provider). It so happened that I had closed a web part through the browser. This particular web part had non-anonymous permissions tied to it and required a login. Even though it was no longer showing in the browser, SharePoint was still looking for the login.

To fix the page I had to open SharePoint Designer and remove the web part from the page. Plus, the 3rd party web part I used had added some code at the top of the page that was a bear to remove. So, be prepared to look for extra code being added to the header of the page when using a 3rd party web part. Lesson learned. If you change a permission based page to an anonymous (or to permissions lower than the previous level) page be sure to remove any web parts that may require permissions higher than you intend. Also, another hint, play with web parts on a separate page!