Beginning SharePoint Designer 2010 E-Book

Woodrow W. Windischman

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 743

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Teaching Web designers, developers, and IT professionals how to use the new version of SharePoint Designer Covering both the design and business applications of SharePoint Designer, this complete Wrox guide brings readers thoroughly up to speed on how to use SharePoint Designer in an enterprise. You'll learn to create and modify web pages, use CSS editing tools to modify themes, use Data View to create interactivity with SharePoint and other data, and much more. Coverage includes integration points with Visual Studio, Visio, and InfoPath. * Shows web designers, developers, and IT professionals how to use SharePoint Designer 2010 to customize Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Windows SharePoint Services 4.0 * Covers both the design and business application of SharePoint Designer 2010 * Delves into modifying and enhancing every aspect of your SharePoint site--not just the look and feel * Explores creating and modifying web pages, how to add interactivity with SharePoint and other data, and using CSS editing tools to modify themes With the explosive growth in SharePoint, this book is your key to customizing your SharePoint sites with SharePoint Designer 2010.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

About the Authors

About the Technical Editors

Credits

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Who This Book Is For

What This Book Covers

How This Book Is Structured

What You Need to Use This Book

Conventions

Source Code

Errata

p2pwrox.com

Part I: The Lay of the Land

Chapter 1: Exploring SharePoint Designer

What Is SharePoint Designer 2010?

All in the Family

A Backstage Pass

Digging for Artifacts

Governing SharePoint Designer

Summary

Part II: Let's Get Visual

Chapter 2: Editing Pages

What's in a “Page”?

Using Task Panes and Ribbon Tabs to Get Work Done

Summary

Chapter 3: The Anatomy of a SharePoint Page

How SharePoint Pages Work

Page Types

Master Pages

Creating Custom Master Pages

Example Scenarios

Summary

Chapter 4: Publishing Pages

Web Content Management Overview

Getting Started with Publishing

Publishing Pages

Putting it All Together

Summary

Chapter 5: Styles and Themes

Style Defined

SharePoint Designer's CSS Tools

Styling Your Site

Summary

Part III: Data Galore

Chapter 6: Lists, Libraries, & Internal Content Types

Sharing Your Documents and Data

Built-In Lists and Libraries

Customizing Lists and Libraries

Sorting, Filtering, and Grouping

Structuring Your Data with Content Types

Summary

Chapter 7: Data Sources and External Content Types

Getting at Your Data

Lists and Libraries

Databases

XML Files

REST-Based Web Services

SOAP-Based Web Services

Business Connectivity Services

Joining Your Disparate Data

Summary

Chapter 8: XSLT Data Views and Forms

Two Types of Web Parts to Work with Data

Managing Views of Data

Creating Custom Forms

Summary

Chapter 9: InfoPath Integration

The Path to Gathering Info

Customizing SharePoint List Forms

Customizing SharePoint Library Forms

Summary

Part IV: Taking Action

Chapter 10: Web Part Connections

Types of Web Parts

Creating a Composite User Interface

Summary

Chapter 11: Workflow Basics

Ways to Create Workflows in SharePoint

SharePoint Designer 2010 Workflow Elements

Automating Processes Using SharePoint Designer 2010 Workflows

SharePoint Designer 2010 Workflow Considerations

Summary

Chapter 12: Advanced Workflows

Modeling Workflows Using Visio 2010

Working with Visio 2010 Workflows in SharePoint Designer 2010

Customizing Workflow Forms with InfoPath 2010

Built-In Global Workflows

Exporting Workflows as a Package

Summary

Chapter 13: Client-side Programming in JavaScript

The Client Object Model

Getting Started

Retrieving Data Using CAML

Querying Document Libraries

Managing List Items

Managing User Custom Actions

Summary

Chapter 14: Client-side Programming in Silverlight

Why Silverlight?

Getting Started

Retrieving Data Using Silverlight

Managing Lists and Libraries

Managing Files and Folders

Managing Navigation

Limitations

Summary

Appendix A: A Brief History of SharePoint and SharePoint Designer

From FrontPage to SharePoint Designer

The SharePoint Family Tree

Gathering MOSS—Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Continuing Evolution—SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010

Appendix B: Just What Is SharePoint Anyway?

A Default SharePoint Home Page

SharePoint Content: Lists, Libraries, and More

Web Parts

Managing a SharePoint Site

Architectural Background On the Server

Index

Beginning Sharepoint® Designer 2010

Published by

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-0-470-64316-7

ISBN: 978-1-118-01389-2 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-01390-8 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-01493-6 (ebk)

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For my new family Brenda, Justine, and Drew. Everything I do from here on out is all for you.

—Woody Windischman

To my wife Anisa for always supporting me and being my own personal idea generator.

—Asif Rehmani

This book is dedicated to the memory of Larry Page who lived every day as if it were his last and showed everyone that you are never too old to learn something new.

—Bryan Phillips

To my son, Austin, for believing in me. To my mom and dad for their patience.

—Marcy Kellar

About the Authors

Woody Windischman is a technology trainer and consultant with more than 20 years' experience in a variety of roles, allowing him to see problems holistically and come up with appropriate solutions. His experience in SharePoint-related technologies started even before SharePoint became a product, with predecessors such as Site Server, the Digital Dashboard Resource Kit, and the earliest versions of Microsoft FrontPage. Since then, Woody's been deeply involved in the SharePoint community—first having been awarded Microsoft SharePoint MVP from October 2005 through September 2007, and again in 2009. He spent a year working directly for the SharePoint product team. He's active on Twitter (as WoodyWindy) as well as several other online SharePoint communities, including the TechNet and MSDN forums. His SharePoint blog, www.thesanitypoint.com, has been based on SharePoint for almost its entire existence.

Bryan Phillips is a senior partner at Composable Systems, LLC (www.composablesystems.net) and a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in SharePoint Services. He is a co-author of Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 and maintains a SharePoint-related blog at http://bphillips76.spaces.live.com. Bryan has worked with Microsoft technologies since 1997 and holds the Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certifications.

Asif Rehmani has been training and consulting on primarily SharePoint technologies since 2004. He is a SharePoint Server MVP and MCT. Asif runs a SharePoint Videos website (www.sharepoint-videos.com), which provides no-code video tutorials on SharePoint, SharePoint Designer, and InfoPath. Some of his videos have also been published and appear at Microsoft's TechNet site. Asif also provides in-person and online SharePoint training publicly and in private workshops through Critical Path Training (www.criticalpathtraining.com). Over the years, Asif has been a speaker on SharePoint topics at several conferences, including Microsoft's TechEd, SharePoint Conference, SharePoint Connections, and Advisor Live. He is also the co-author of the books Professional SharePoint Designer 2007 and Real World SharePoint 2010 by Wrox publications. Asif was the co-founder and is currently one of the active leaders of the Chicago SharePoint User Group (www.cspug.org).

Marcy Kellar is SharePoint User Experience Architect and co-founder of SharePoint Soapbox. She is a strong advocate for user-centered implementation of SharePoint. She has an extensive background in visual design, web content management, relational data modeling, and life sciences. Marcy is an active member in the SharePoint community and frequent presenter. She has a bachelor's degree in Life Sciences from Indiana University. She pursues hobbies passionately and is award-winning photographer and fine artist.

About the Technical Editors

Reza Alirezaei MVP, MCP, MCPD, MCIPT, and MCTS for SharePoint 2010, is a solution architect focused on designing custom applications with SharePoint, Office, and Microsoft Business Intelligence products and technologies. As a technical leader with over 10 years of experience in software, he has helped many development teams design and build large-scale, mission-critical applications. In addition to consulting, Reza is an instructor and speaker. He speaks in many local and international conferences. Reza achieved the status of Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SharePoint in 2006, which he still is today. He has also co-authored Professional SharePoint 2010 Development and SharePoint 2007 Reporting with SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services. His blog can be found at http://blogs.devhorizon.com/reza and he tweets on Twitter under the alias @RezaAlirezay.

Coskun Cavusoglu has been designing and implementing technology solutions for more than 10 years in both large, enterprise organizations and fast-growth midmarket firms, and is currently a Senior Architect in the Customer Solutions practice at West Monroe Partners. Coskun has completed SharePoint projects for over 100 clients, one of them being Microsoft, where he was a part of the team that wrote the questions for the SharePoint 2007 Developer Certification exams. Coskun has authored two books on SharePoint: Professional Microsoft® SharePoint® 2007 Design and Professional Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Reporting with SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services published by Wrox Publishing. He is currently working on a new book, SharePoint 2010 Developer Certification Study Guide. In addition, Coskun also is a speaker who attends various community events both local and international, where he talks about various SharePoint topics, and his past and future engagements can be found at his blog, www.sharepointcoskun.com. Coskun is a Microsoft Certified Professional and is also a MCTS for SharePoint technologies.

Ryan Keller has been working with SharePoint technologies since 2007 and has worked as a consultant with SharePoint911 since 2009. Prior to joining the SharePoint911 team, he worked for Boulder Valley School District, where he had his first introduction to SharePoint. He has since worked with many companies and organizations troubleshooting issues and helping them plan successful SharePoint deployments. In addition, Ryan helped author and edit material related to SharePoint 2010 for Microsoft. He was a contributing author on Professional SharePoint 2010 Administration, and a technical editor for Professional SharePoint 2010 Branding. Ryan lives in Firestone, Colorado with his wife Brittany, their two dogs, and a cat. He and his wife are expecting their first child in April 2011.

Sundar Narasiman works as Technical Architect with Microsoft Solutions Center of Excellence at Cognizant Technology Solutions, Chennai. He has been a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in SharePoint since 2008. He has more than 10 years of industry experience. He is primarily into the Architecture & Technology Consulting on Microsoft space. He has passion for programming and is excited about SharePoint 2010. He blogs at http://msmvps.com/blogs/sundar_narasiman/ and can be reached at [email protected].

Credits

Acquisitions Editor

Paul Reese

Project Editor

Christopher J. Rivera

Technical Editors

Reza Alirezaei

Coskun Cavusoglu

Ryan Keller

Sundar Narasiman

Production Editor

Daniel Scribner

Copy Editor

Paula Lowell

Editorial Director

Robyn B. Siesky

Editorial Manager

Mary Beth Wakefield

Associate Director of Marketing

David Mayhew

Production Manager

Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Barry Pruett

Associate Publisher

Jim Minatel

Project Coordinator, Cover

Lynsey Stanford

Proofreader

Word One

Indexer

Robert Swanson

Cover Designer

Michael E. Trent

Cover Image

© Lisa Davis/istockphoto

Acknowledgments

WELL, HERE IT IS—another book! I thought things would be easier the second time around, but it was not to be. Although writer's block wasn't the same issue it was the first time around, my life itself has been a whole lot more complicated. The biggest thing, of course, was getting married. I met my lovely new wife, Brenda, after I had started working on the book. She has been absolutely marvelous in her support and encouragement, even though this project took away time that could (should?) have been for us. My deepest thanks must belong to her.

Of course, I can't forget to thank everyone else who made this possible: Asif Rehmani and Bryan Phillips, my cohorts from the first book, reprised their roles, now joined by first-timer Marcy Kellar; Our Wrox editorial team—Paul Reese, Christopher Rivera, and Jim Minatel—along with our technical editors, and everyone at Wrox and Wiley who make the production of a book like this flow smoothly.

Finally, I thank you, our readers. Without your interest in the subject, there wouldn't be a reason for the patience, encouragement, and hard work.

—Woody Windischman

FIRST, I THANK GOD for the opportunity to contribute to this book and all the other opportunities that have come my way. Writing a book is never an easy feat. It requires hard work and support from friends and family. I want to thank my very awesome wife, Anisa, for supporting me throughout this process and letting me skip out on things as needed so I could hit my deadlines. I'm also very thankful to my boys, Armaan and Ayaan, for the comic relief they provide every time I start stressing out about little things.

There is a lot of material in this book, and I'm thankful to my co-authors (Woody, Bryan, and Marcy) for joining forces to provide a thorough breakdown of all the awesome bells and whistles that ship with SharePoint Designer 2010. Also, thanks to Paul Reese and Jim Minatel at Wiley Publishing for giving us all the opportunity to write this book.

—Asif Rehmani

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to the memory of Larry Page, who lived every day as if it were his last and showed everyone that you are never too old to learn something new.

—Bryan Phillips

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK co-authors, Bryan Phillips and Woody Windischman, for pitching in and giving up so much of their time to help make sense of my writing. Woody, you are a saint. Bryan, you have a true gift for teaching. I was blessed to have you both on the team in the 11th hour. Thank you to Christopher Rivera, Project Editor, for always being positive and responsive. Your email replies and candid advice helped more than you know. Thanks to Lisa Atarian, talented SharePoint architect and friend. You dove right in without complaint to research SharePoint 2010 with me. Your subsequent empathy will not be forgotten. Thanks to Jeremy Thake and Mark Miller for working with me as my time on your project shrank so I could focus on the book. Thank you to David Shadle, my UX mentor at Microsoft. Your stories and advice inspired and influenced me right out of the nest. Thank you to the team at PointBridge for making it so easy to transition into the next chapter of my life. Finally, thank you to T. William. I can't overlook how often you were there for me with your technical genius and fascinating recollection of how to diagram a sentence. You are a brilliant man.

—Marcy Kellar

Introduction

Microsoft SharePoint is taking the world by storm. More and more, web designers are being blown along with it—whether they want to be or not. SharePoint is a large, complicated web application. There is a lot of conflicting, confusing (and sometimes just plain bad) advice floating around with regard to how to go about customizing SharePoint for a particular customer. Beginning SharePoint Designer 2010 can be your eye of calm at the heart of this maelstrom.

Who This Book Is For

Maybe you are an experienced web designer who has been asked to brand a SharePoint site. Perhaps you're a business analyst who needs a workflow to manage a QA process, or a power user of SharePoint who wants to mash-up data from a line of business systems (or several) into an online map. Or, maybe you're new to both SharePoint and web design, and just want to see what it's all about.

Beginning SharePoint Designer 2010 offers something for all of you. Although it is not an HTML primer, it does contain some valuable pointers that someone new to web design can use. Yet, because SharePoint Designer is about far more than page editing, even if you never have (and probably never will) gaze upon raw HTML code, this book has plenty to offer you.

What This Book Covers

This book provides a broad overview of Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010. It covers everything from basic page editing to workflow design. You'll be taken from master pages to Silverlight and points beyond. Even the companion technologies of Microsoft InfoPath and Visio find their way between these covers.

This book does far more than scratch the surface in many areas. You will find detailed information on integrating data from other sources into SharePoint, and some of the most comprehensive documentation on the internals of SharePoint's master pages and CSS anywhere.

Since you're reading a Wrox book, you would expect to find programming examples, and those are here as well. There are two chapters dedicated to using the SharePoint client-side object model to take your applications above and beyond. Beyond what? Well, that's going to depend on your own imagination!

How This Book Is Structured

This book starts at the beginning, with an overview of the SharePoint Designer 2010 user interface elements that are common to most of its functions. Since many readers are going to be creating visual elements for SharePoint, the next several chapters deal with editing and styling pages (aka branding).

Following the chapters relating to “form” are chapters that deal with using SharePoint designer to introduce “function” into your sites. This function ranges from designing lists and libraries for storing data, to putting that data into action with workflows, custom forms, and Web Part connections.

Finally, there are two chapters dedicated to expanding the capabilities of SharePoint itself through programming.

You will also find three appendixes designed to give you the SharePoint background and reference material you need to understand and implement many of the concepts introduced throughout the rest of this book.

What You Need to Use This Book

With such an array of material to cover, this book has to make some assumptions about both you as a reader, and the environment in which you work.

First, a bit about you. This book assumes you have a solid understanding of Windows and using Windows-based applications. That means you already know how to move your mouse around, click on items, drag to select text, and drag-and-drop to move things. Copying, cutting, and pasting should be second nature, and you should know the difference between a menu and a font—just to name a few.

Although you can use much of the book without any programming experience, Chapters 12 and 13 assume you know how to program in (or at least read) the JavaScript programming language. Chapter 2 assumes you know something about HTML markup. Although several of the chapters deal with XSLT-based web parts, most of these cover the use of visual design tools, and therefore, a deep understanding of XSL is not required.

Now, on to your environment. The biggest assumption made is that you have access to both a copy of Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010, and at least some access to a site based on either: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, or Microsoft Search Server 2010. SharePoint Designer 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2010, and the Express edition of Search Server 2010 are available for download without charge.

Some exercises may require SharePoint Server 2010, as it has many features that are not built into SharePoint Foundation or Search Server. Others will also require Microsoft InfoPath 2010 or Microsoft Visio 2010. To use these products in production requires paid licenses; however, they are all available for free download in time-limited trial form.

Finally, Chapter 13 requires certain development tools:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010Silverlight ToolkitMicrosoft Expression Blend 4 (optional, but recommended)

All of these tools are also available for download either free, as part of an MSDN subscription, or as trial copies.

Conventions

To help you get the most from the text and keep track of what's happening, we've used a number of conventions throughout the book.

Try It Out

The Try It Out is an exercise you should work through, following the text in the book.

1. It usually consists of a set of steps.

2. Each step has a number.

3. Follow the steps through with your copy of the database.

How It Works

After each Try It Out, the code you've typed will be explained in detail.

Warning

Boxes with a warning icon like this one hold important, not-to-be-forgotten information that is directly relevant to the surrounding text.

Note

The pencil icon indicates notes, tips, hints, tricks, or asides to the current discussion.

As for styles in the text:

We highlight new terms and important words when we introduce them.We show keyboard strokes like this: Ctrl+A.We show file names, URLs, and code within the text like so: persistence.properties.We present code in two different ways:

We use a monofont type with no highlighting for most code examples. We use bold to emphasize code that is particularly important in the present context or to show changes from a previous code snippet.

Source Code

As you work through the examples in this book, you may choose either to type in all the code manually, or to use the source code files that accompany the book. All the source code used in this book is available for download at www.wrox.com. When at the site, simply locate the book's title (use the Search box or one of the title lists) and click the Download Code link on the book's detail page to obtain all the source code for the book. Code that is included on the Web site is highlighted by the following icon:

Listings include the filename in the title. If it is just a code snippet, you'll find the filename in a code note such as this:

Code snippet filename

Note

Because many books have similar titles, you may find it easiest to search by ISBN; this book's ISBN is 978-0-470-64316-7.

Once you download the code, just decompress it with your favorite compression tool. Alternately, you can go to the main Wrox code download page at www.wrox.com/dynamic/books/download.aspx to see the code available for this book and all other Wrox books.

Errata

We make every effort to ensure that there are no errors in the text or in the code. However, no one is perfect, and mistakes do occur. If you find an error in one of our books, like a spelling mistake or faulty piece of code, we would be very grateful for your feedback. By sending in errata, you may save another reader hours of frustration, and at the same time, you will be helping us provide even higher-quality information.

To find the errata page for this book, go to www.wrox.com and locate the title using the Search box or one of the title lists. Then, on the book details page, click the Book Errata link. On this page, you can view all errata that have been submitted for this book and posted by Wrox editors. A complete book list, including links to each book's errata, is also available at www.wrox.com/misc-pages/booklist.shtml.

If you don't spot “your” error on the Book Errata page, go to www.wrox.com/contact/techsupport.shtml and complete the form there to send us the error you have found. We'll check the information and, if appropriate, post a message to the book's errata page and fix the problem in subsequent editions of the book.

p2pwrox.com

For author and peer discussion, join the P2P forums at p2p.wrox.com. The forums are a Web-based system for you to post messages relating to Wrox books and related technologies and interact with other readers and technology users. The forums offer a subscription feature to e-mail you topics of interest of your choosing when new posts are made to the forums. Wrox authors, editors, other industry experts, and your fellow readers are present on these forums.

At http://p2p.wrox.com, you will find a number of different forums that will help you, not only as you read this book, but also as you develop your own applications. To join the forums, just follow these steps:

1. Go to p2p.wrox.com and click the Register link.

2. Read the terms of use and click Agree.

3. Complete the required information to join, as well as any optional information you wish to provide, and click Submit.

4. You will receive an e-mail with information describing how to verify your account and complete the joining process.

Note

You can read messages in the forums without joining P2P, but in order to post your own messages, you must join.

Once you join, you can post new messages and respond to messages other users post. You can read messages at any time on the Web. If you would like to have new messages from a particular forum e-mailed to you, click the Subscribe to this Forum icon by the forum name in the forum listing.

For more information about how to use the Wrox P2P, be sure to read the P2P FAQs for answers to questions about how the forum software works, as well as many common questions specific to P2P and Wrox books. To read the FAQs, click the FAQ link on any P2P page.

Part I

The Lay of the Land

Chapter 1: Exploring SharePoint Designer

Chapter 1

Exploring SharePoint Designer

What You Will Learn in This Chapter

How SharePoint Designer fits into Microsoft's toolsetSharePoint Designer's basic featuresHow to create a SharePoint siteHow to open an existing SharePoint siteHow a SharePoint site is represented in SharePoint DesignerHow to change site-wide SharePoint propertiesRestricting what SharePoint Designer users can do

What Is SharePoint Designer 2010?

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is a large and sophisticated web application. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the tool meant to customize it—Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010—is a large, sophisticated desktop application. Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 is the premier tool for customizing sites based on Microsoft SharePoint 2010. It provides features for:

Creating and editing master pages and page layoutsCreating and editing cascading style sheets (CSS)Designing and editing workflowsConnecting SharePoint to various external data sourcesCreating and modifying lists, libraries, and views of dataManaging virtually all other aspects of a user's experience in SharePoint 2010

One very important thing is not on this list: editing SharePoint content. Although SharePoint Designer 2010 does contain powerful page editing tools, these are primarily used in the service of editing the other elements described previously. SharePoint itself is a powerful web-based content management system. Site owners and users use these web-based tools to create and modify the content of their sites.

Your role as a user of SharePoint Designer is to customize the consistent presentation of that content (master pages and CSS), or rules by which it is gathered and manipulated (external data connections and workflow).

All in the Family

In the 2007 Microsoft Office System, Microsoft replaced many of the traditional user interface elements in several client applications, such as Microsoft Word, with what it calls the Fluent user interface, the most noticeable feature of which is a tabbed mega-toolbar called the ribbon. For 2010, this user interface has been expanded to include virtually all Microsoft client applications, including SharePoint Designer 2010. In addition, even SharePoint itself has been endowed with this very popular element (see Appendix B). Figure 1.1 shows an example of the ribbon in SharePoint Designer.

Figure 1.1

Many tabs on the ribbon are dynamic, or context sensitive, meaning that different tabs are available depending on what you are doing at the time. In Figure 1.1, for example, the tabs in the Code View Tools and List View Tools sections would only be visible simultaneously because the user is editing the design of a list view while the code view portion of SharePoint Designer's split was active. List views and the code view are described in detail later in this book.

A Backstage Pass

In the 2010 client products, Microsoft has taken the Fluent UI a step further. The Office 2007 applications had a Jewel menu that replaced the traditional File menu. For 2010, the name File has been restored, but the functions under that label have expanded even further. Rather than summoning a menu, clicking on the File tab brings forth a new element that Microsoft calls Backstage. Backstage is essentially a full-screen configuration page.

Most ribbon tabs affect a specific piece of a document, such as the font of a word, or the style of a table. Backstage allows you to work with items that affect either the application itself, or the document you are working on as a whole. Different Office applications expose different levels of functionality through Backstage as appropriate. shows the SharePoint Designer Backstage.