Creating custom my site template

Here are some links to start creating a custom my site template:

• intro
• branding
• Sharepoint Designer and my site customizations

If you want to take the default templates take a look at **{SharepointRoot}\TEMPLATE\SiteTempates\SPMSITE **(the site template for “my content” - an individual site collection rootweb template, and first of all {SharepointRoot}\TEMPLATE\SiteTempates\SPMSITEHOST, the host site template for my sites. They include pages and onet.xml. Both use mysite.master which can be found at:

• {SharepointRoot}\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\MySiteLayouts\mysite.master
• {SharepointRoot}\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\PersonalizationSite\mysite.master

If you compare so you will see that they are identical, so I would like to know why there are two same files in different locations. MySite has actually two ribbons, the second with additional links (my content, newsfeed..) is defined by: <SharePoint:DelegateControl runat=“server” ControlId=“GlobalNavigation”/> If you want to remove some links, just remove the controls like: <SPSWC:EditProfileButton runat=“server” id=“ddlEditProfile”/> While creating a custom my site template I discovered many useful controls from Sharepoint WebControls namespace (often shortened as SPWC in xml namespace). Here is an example how we can get a string value from a localized resource:

<SPSWC:StringValueEx ResourceFile="spscore" LocId="SkipContactCard\_Text" runat="server" />
```Or this one:

<SPSWC:ProfilePropertyImage PropertyName=“PictureUrl” RenderWrapTable=“False” ShowPlaceholder=“true” id=“PictureUrlImage” ImageSize=“Large” CenterVertically=“true” runat=“server”/>

##### Using profile controls outside My Site

These web controls can be used outside my site, actually in any other page. But don't forget to add ProfilePropertyLoader:

<SPSWC:ProfilePropertyLoader id=“m_objLoader” LoadFullProfileOfCurrentUser=“true” runat=“server” /> <SPSWC:EditProfileButton runat=“server” id=“ddlEditProfile” />

• mysite
• sharepoint