Cannot see Master Pages in SharePoint Designer 2013 In root site

If you just want to edit the master page without fixing the missing items in the sidebar, you can navigate to _catalogs/masterpage through the “All Files” section in SharePoint Designer.

On the other hand, if you want to fix it, here’s how I managed to do it:

We were facing the same problem in one of our SharePoint 2013 installations. I searched for that and I only found answers saying that I’d need to activate the publishing feature in the site collection scope, however that was not the problem since it was already activated.

Later I found out that the “Lists and Libraries” section in the Site Objects would not show any results. The problem is that we had a list in the site that was using a list template from an old solution that was not installed anymore, causing ListData.svc — a web service used by SharePoint Designer — to crash. You can see more here: Why don’t Lists and Libraries show up in SharePoint Designer?

After I deleted that list though the SharePoint Management Shell, not only the lists started to show up in the Lists and Libraries section, as also the Master Pages and Page Layouts sections reappeared.

Ref : Sharepoint StackExchange

How to Upload Shortcuts Into SharePoint – 2013

By taking advantage of the Add to SharePoint Sites tool, your company can create shortcuts between SharePoint and various Microsoft Office applications. Using this tool makes it easier to publish or share SharePoint documents to the SharePoint library directly from other Office applications, to insert files from the SharePoint library into Office documents, open SharePoint library documents in Office applications and easily locate SharePoint documents in Windows Explorer.

Step 1 : Launch SharePoint and open the SharePoint site library with which you want to work.

Step 2 : Click the “Library” tab.

Step 3 : Click the “Connect and Export” group.

Step 4 : Click the “Connect to Office” icon in the Connect and Export group to display the Connect to Office drop-down menu.

Step 5 : Click “Add to SharePoint Sites” to add a shortcut to the currently active library in all compatible Microsoft Office applications.

Tips

To remove a SharePoint shortcut, click “Connect to Office” in the Connect and Export group and click “Remove from SharePoint Sites.”
To manage your list of Microsoft Office shortcuts, click “Connect to Office” in the Connect and Export group and click “Manage SharePoint Sites.”

Warning

Information in this article applies to SharePoint 2013. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.

Ref : Chron

Starting a SharePoint 2010 Branding Project: Using v4.master as base

There are several ways that you can pursue a branding project with SharePoint 2010. You can use one of the new themes, override existing styles with a new css file, alter an existing masterpage, or go completely custom. For this series of posts I will share how I go about altering an existing masterpage and styles.

Make a copy of the v4.master
Open the v4.master in Designer and do a save as. Save the new file as something different, such as custom.master, and then open it in Designer. Make sure the file is checked out before you start editing it.

Create a custom css file
Create a new css file and save it to a location that makes sense to you. You can save it to the Styles library, or on the server in the 14 hive, or anywhere that is accessible.

Create a changes.txt file
Use this file to record changes made to the masterpage as well as to paste in any controls that have been removed from the masterpage.

Link to the new css file in your copy of the masterpage:
Paste the following code into the HEAD of the masterpage and change the link to refer to your custom css file:

<sharepoint:CssRegistration 
name="http://spimages.stei.com/sp2010/styles_senet03.css" 
After="corev4.css" runat="server"/>

This code assures that your custom styles will always be able to override the corev4 styles.

Apply your custom masterpage to a site

Right-click on the new masterpage and select Set as Default Masterpage. You will only be able to preview fully your masterpage changes if the custom masterpage is applied to a site. Make sure that after each change you save the masterpage, check it in and then approve it. Make sure to check the file out before editing it again.

Now you can start altering the masterpage and overriding the css.

The Best Way to Add Custom JavaScript and jQuery to SharePoint

During extensive SharePoint user interface customization you’ll likely encounter a scenario where you need to make a web part or user control do something it was not intended to do or have a look that cannot be accomplished using the CSS hooks provided out-of-the-box. The solution is to create a custom master page and include a reference to a JavaScript file where you can modify the Document object. While straight JavaScript will do, I prefer to use the jQuery JavaScript library, which is far more robust, easier to use, and allows for plugins. Follow the steps below to add jQuery to your master page.

1. Go to jquery.com and download the latest jQuery library to your desktop. You want to get the compressed production version, not the development version.
2. Open SharePoint Designer (SPD) and connect to the root level of your site’s site collection.
3. In SPD, open the “Style Library” folder.
4. Create a folder named “Scripts” inside of the Style Library.
5. Drag the jQuery library JavaScript file from your desktop into the Scripts folder.
6. In the Scripts folder, create a new JavaScript file and name it (e.g. “actions.js”).
7. Open your master page file in SPD.
8. Within the <head> tag of the master page, add a script reference to the jQuery library just above the content place holder named “PlaceHolderAdditonalPageHead” (and above your custom CSS references, if applicable) as follows:
   // <![CDATA[
   src=”/Style%20Library/Scripts/{jquery library file}.js” type=”text/javascript”>
   // ]]>
9. Immediately after the jQuery library reference add a script reference to your custom scripts file as follows:
   // <![CDATA[
   src=”/Style%20Library/Scripts/actions.js” type=”text/javascript”>
   // ]]>

Your custom master page now includes jQuery and a reference to your custom scripts file where you can add jQuery scripts. SharePoint includes a number of JavaScript files throughout the site, so be careful that the scripts you add do not conflict with SharePoint’s; the jQuery library itself does not conflict with SharePoint.

The Best Way to Add Custom CSS to SharePoint

To thoroughly customize your SharePoint site, you’ll need to use a custom CSS. SharePoint offers a way to specify a single CSS file to use via the “Master page” settings for the site. However, using this approach still limits you to customizing only those IDs and classes that are included on the pages by SharePoint. Moreover, using this setting applies to both site and system pages, which may not be desirable.

With these downsides in mind, the best approach is to create a custom master page and include references to one or more custom CSS files. Follow the steps below to include a custom CSS file in your master page.

1. Open SharePoint Designer (SPD) and connect to the root level of your site’s site collection.
2. In SPD, open the “Style Library” folder.
3. Create a new CSS file and name it (e.g. “customstyles.css”).
4. Open your master page file in SPD.
5. In the tag add a link to your custom CSS just above the content place holder named “PlaceHolderAdditonalPageHead” as follows:

<link href=”/Style%20Library/customstyles.css” rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” />

Your custom master page is now using your new CSS file in addition to all of the CSS files SharePoint uses out-of-the-box. The idea is that you are taking advantage of the “cascading” property of cascading style sheets by layering your custom styles on top of what SharePoint creates in order to alter the SharePoint look-and-feel as desired—like a skin.

How to Create a Custom SharePoint Master Page

The first step in customizing your SharePoint site is to create a custom master page.  The following steps will help you do just that (please note there are differences indicated between SP 2007 and SP 2010).

1. Open SharePoint Designer (SPD) and connect to the root level of your site’s site collection.
2. In SPD, open the “_catalogs” folder, then open the “masterpage” folder.
3. Identify the out-of-the-box (OOTB) most like your ultimate design.
   1. (SP 2007) If your SharePoint’s site design is to be fixed-width and centered on the page, select BlueBand.master and copy it.
   2. (SP 2007) If your SharePoint’s site design is to be a liquid layout that fills the page regardless of the user’s screen resolution, select default.master and copy it.
   3. (SP 2010 beta) You want v4.master.
4. In SPD, right-click on the master page you want to duplicate and select “Copy,” then paste it back into the same folder.
5. Rename the new file something project-specific.  For instance, if this master page is to be used on the sales portal, you might rename the new master page SalesPortal.master.
6. Publish and approve the new master page.
7. In your browser, navigate to your site’s Site Settings page.  Under the “Look-and-Feel” column click “Master page.”
8. Select your new master page as the site master page (the need to set the system master page will vary by project).  Save the settings change.

Your site is now using the new master page you created.  From here you modify the master page to your liking, including adding custom CSS and custom JavaScript and jQuery.