The look and feel of a Content Management (WCM) website comprises the general page layout, colors, graphics, and fonts used for all rendered pages in the website. This look and feel is defined by the design's master page and theme. Master pages and themes are basic elements of ASP.NET web sites, and detailed information about developing and customizing master pages and themes can be found in Microsoft developer resources for ASP.NET development such as the Microsoft Developer Network.
■ If you want to customize one of the out-of-the-box themes, we recommend that you start with a copy, so that your changes are preserved when you upgrade. See Copying a website theme for more information.
■ If you prefer to use your own hand-built master pages and themes, you must first place them in the appropriate MasterPages and App_Themes folders beneath the IIS web site root that you plan to associate with this CM website. This ensures that the master pages and themes are available for selection when defining the properties of the website. You must also ensure that the master pages meet all requirements for compatibility with CM.
The master page is an ASP.NET file that specifies the general page layout of all pages in the website. (Do not confuse this with the content layout used for main content area of each page.) The master page defines everything that appears on a rendered page, and where they appear, except for two things:
■ The rendered content visible in the Main Content Area of each page is controlled by the navigation item for that page. The master page defines only where this content area appears on the website pages, and the content area's exact dimensions.
■ The navigation items in the website's sitemap define the actual navigation link text and breadcrumb text shown in the navigation areas. The master page defines only the location, appearance, and behavior of the available navigation areas for the website. Which of the available navigation areas are actually used for the website is defined in the properties of the website itself, and each navigation item specifies the exact navigation areas in which it is displayed.
The theme is a collection of files that specify exactly which colors, graphics, and fonts are used in all rendered website pages, giving them a consistent appearance. The theme comprises all the cascading style sheets used by the master page and available for use in a content layout's iPart zones and iParts, as well as all the graphics used by the master page (as opposed to graphics used in content records). Some themes might also include ASP.NET skin files, which define property settings for ASP.NET Web server controls.