Guest Author: Ken Price
www.thesharepointblog.com

One of the many decisions users experience with SharePoint is to decide which of the various types of web parts should be used, how to configure the web part for what is needed or deciding to create a customized web part to accomplish what is needed. In this series, “Default Web Parts in SharePoint”,  I will review some of SharePoint’s Out-of-the-Box (OOTB) web parts that can be used to display a variety of data or even change how your pages are displayed within the browser.

When organizations deploy SharePoint and users start building their sites, the questions will start being asked “which web part can I use?” The options are plenty with the availability of content-based, business data, filter, search, social collaboration, Outlook and other web parts. Knowing which part will do the job will save you time and create more value to your site visitors and your business.

Below are the available web parts for both SharePoint 2007 and 2010 and their assigned categories:

Business Data Business Data Actions Business Data Connectivity Filter * Business Data Item Business Data Item Builder Business Data List Business Data Related List Chart Web Part * Excel Web Access Indicator Details * IView Web Part Status List * Visio Web Access * WSRP Consumer Web Part Content Rollup Site Aggregator Categories *  (Moved from Site Directory group) Sites in Category * (Moved from Site Directory group) Relevant Documents * RSS Viewer Web Analytics Web Part * XML Viewer (Moved from Miscellaneous group) Dashboard Key Performance Indicators KPI Details Default Business Data Catalog Filter Choice Filter Current User Filter Date Filter Filter Actions Page Field Filter Query String (URL) Filter SharePoint List Filter SQL Server Analysis Services Filter Text Filter

Filters Choice Filter (Moved from Default group) Current User Filter (Moved from Default group) Date Filter (Moved from Default group) Filter Actions (Moved from Default group) Page Field Filter (Moved from Default group) Query String (URL) Filter (Moved from Default group) SharePoint List Filter * SQL Server Analysis Services Filter (Moved from Default group) Text Filter (Moved from Default group) Forms * HTML Form Web Part * InfoPath Form Web Part * Lists and Libraries Announcements Calendar Customized Reports * Form Templates * Links * Shared Documents Site Assets * Site Pages * Tasks Team Discussion Media and Content * Content Editor Image Viewer Page Viewer Picture Library Slideshow Web Part Silverlight Web Part Miscellaneous Contact Details Content Editor Web Part Form Web Part Image Web Part Page Viewer Web Part Relevant Documents Site Users User Tasks XML Web Part Outlook Web Access My Calendar My Contacts My Inbox My Mail Folder My Tasks

Search Advanced Search Box Dual Chinese Search * Federated Results People Refinement Panel * People Search People Search Core Results Refinement Panel * Related Queries * Search Action Links Search Best Bets Search Box Search Core Results Search High Confidence Results Search Paging Search Statistics Search Summary Search Visual Best Bet * Top Federated Results Site Directory Categories Sites in Categories Top Sites Social Collaboration * Contact Details * Note Board * Organization Browser * Site Users * Tag Cloud * User Tasks Publishing Site Web Parts Content Query Web Part I need to… RSS Viewer Summary Link Web Part Table of Contents Web Part This Week in Pictures

* Introduced in SharePoint 2010

Keep in mind that there are web parts available depending on which version of SharePoint your organization is utilizing and, in some cases, the site type you opt to create. There are many options and configuration options that these web parts can assist you with a variety of collaboration and publishing needs.

We are going to look at both SharePoint 2007 and 2010 web parts and in the upcoming installments of the series. But first on the agenda, we will investigate some of the most popular and most common web parts deployed in SharePoint sites. We’ll start with the Content Editor, RSS Viewer, Query String (URL) and Content Query Web Parts and walk through some common and uncommon scenarios.

Guest Author: Ken Price
www.thesharepointblog.com

Ken has 4 years experience with SharePoint, working with Fortune 500 companies to deploy collaboration and web content management solutions.  He is currently a Senior SharePoint Consultant at RDA Corporation and resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also speaks at SharePoint community events and blogs at www.thesharepointblog.com.