Brainlitter » A video example of customizing/extending the SharePoint ‘Help Desk Template’ in SPD

A video example of customizing/extending the SharePoint ‘Help Desk Template’ in SPD

This seemed worthy of sharing. Someone on Experts-Exchange asked about modifying/extending one of the SharePoint 40 Fantastic templates, to add their own column (Business Units) and then modify the ‘New Request’ form. So, here was my response to him/her including the related YouTube/Screencast video, showing how it is done. This should prove useful/valuable to anyone unfamiliar with making these kinds of changes or modifications using SharePoint Designer 2007 (now free, www.microsoft.com/spd).

 

 

Here’s my response to the poster:

 

You’ll want to add your columns or lookups (and update your views to suit, dashboard views, etc.). Then, you’ll need to modify the ‘Newform.aspx’ (by creating a new one, you should avoid modifying the original) and then assigning it to the necessary navigation like quick launch. I haven’t spent any time specifically with this template previously, so there may be other things to do, but this should get you well on the way…

 

I had some time tonight (and this stuff is fun…) so I made a quick video of the process for you, as I’m sure I’ll be able to use this in the future as well 🙂 In it, I’m doing the following:

 

  1. Adding a column for Business Units (you could look up a list, with more detail attached, if necessary, such as contact/owner information)

 

  1. Opening the site in SharePoint Designer, to create (and assign) a copied/modified New Entry form (and you can of course modify the form as necessary, removing unnecessary fields, add validations, a splash of colour, etc.)

 

  1. Modify the quick launch, to reference using the new Entry Form (there might be other places to edit)

 

Here’s the Video Screen cast of the result, I recorded. Have fun!