Power of Content Editor Webpart

The Content Editor Web Part (CEWP) allows you to add text, html, scripts or styles to a SharePoint page. Its versatility makes it a favorite among Web designers.

The fpweb.net site offers a tutorial on how to add a CEWP to a page:
http://www.fpweb.net/sharepoint-tutorials/ContentEditorWebPart.asp

The CEWP has two edit options:
- Rich Text Editor: as it says, allows you to add formatted text.
- Source Editor: this is a more powerful option, allowing you to add html, scripts or styles.

Note that the CEWP is not the only Web Part to allow you to add html to your pages. In some cases you may also consider the Form Web Part or the Page Viewer Web Part.

Looking for examples?

You’ll find on the Web many examples of how to use the CEWP. There’s even a whole site dedicated to it:
http://www.contenteditorwebpart.com/default.aspx

Many scripts were introduced for SharePoint 2003, usually they’ll also work in SharePoint 2007 (after all, they just use JavaScript). This is not the case for styles, as some ids and class names have changed from SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2007.

If you add scripts or styles, you’ll usually choose to hide the CEWP (check the “Hidden” box under Layout).

I came across a good video sample on youtube which adds a slideshow on SharePoint site using Javascript and Content Editor Web Part.

What is SharePoint?

When one says SharePoint there are Windows SharePoint Service(WSS), Microsoft SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007,2010 and Microsoft Search Server.


Basically Microsoft SharePoint is a web application platform developed by Microsoft which is typically associated with web content management and document management systems.


Lets take a brief look at each of above.


Windows SharePoint Services (WSS or SPS) is a portal-based Web services on an intranet. WSS is a free download included with every Windows Server 2003 license and is considered to be part of the Office 2003 productivity suite. 


Read here for Several "Out of the box" features of WSS.

Microsoft's Office SharePoint Server 2007, or “MOSS” for short, is Microsoft's first integrated server platform that aims to provide web content management, enterprise content services, and enterprise search, as well as shared business processes and business intelligence dashboarding to the small/medium enterprise.

Like its predecessor SharePoint Portal Server (SPS) 2003/WSS 2.0, MOSS is fundamentally dedicated to unstructured document storage, structured list storage, and group collaboration. The word “share” has not been removed from the mission concept, which goes something like “connecting people, processes, and information.”

MOSS is built upon six most important pillars.

1. Collabration

2. Portal

3. Enterprise Search

4. Content Management

5. Business Process and Forms

6. Business Intelligence

-The basic MOSS/SharePoint wheel--

Microsoft's SharePoint marketing refers to the "SharePoint Wheel" to help describe the package of functionality built into the SharePoint platform. The wheel refers to six abstract functional capabilities:


Sites: The SharePoint platform fundamentally enables users to provision 'sites' (public or private) without a requirement for specialized knowledge. SharePoint is designed to become the central location for management of sites in an organization.
Communities: SharePoint aims to support the formation of communities within an organization - these communities may form around teams, projects, clients, geographic locations, etc. SharePoint also provides social features and social integration.


Content: SharePoint provides a central location to put content such as files, documents, or general information. This can be accessed and modified within a web browser or using a client application (typically Microsoft Office) via desktop or smartphone. SharePoint 2010 also provides a concurrent edit ability with Office 2010.


Search: SharePoint provides a range of search abilities, including in documents, in external content (such as network shares or public websites), and in user profiles.


Insights: SharePoint provides data integration, data crawling, and report design to enable business decision making. SharePoint can integrate with SQL Server Reporting Services to surface business intelligence.


Composites: SharePoint provides an application platform based on ASP.NET 3.5 allowing no-code development of complex business problems using SharePoint Designer. SharePoint also allows custom code to be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.

What is a web part?

Web Parts are components that enable users to gather information they care about and customize the appearance of Web pages in MOSS environment. For example, visit Pageflakes website, where one Web Part might display a user's appointment calendar; another might create a graph showing current sales figures; and a third might show a list of new business topics, each of which functions as a link to a video or audio presentation. Developers can also create custom Web Part components and make them available to SharePoint users, for building customizable pages that meet their needs.

Some Useful Web Parts for SharePoint 2010

Here is a list of some free Web Parts you may find useful in your development

Bamboo World Clock and Weather
http://store.bamboosolutions.com/pc-55-1-world-clock-and-weather-web-part.aspx

Amrein MSN Money Stock Quote
http://www.amrein.com/apps/page.asp?Q=5731

Matt Jimison's Twitter Search Web Part
http://www.mattjimison.com/blog/2009/03/04/twitter-search-webpart/

Tim Heuer's RSS Feed Reader

http://feedreader.codeplex.com/