here's my small code snippet that enables an administrator to change the theme and the icon of an entire sitecollection at once.

here it is:
public enum SPSiteThemes {
none,
classic,
simple,
Belltown,
Breeze2,
Cardinal,
Citrus,
Granite,
Jet,
Lacquer,
Lichen,
Obsidian,
Petal,
Plastic,
Reflector,
Verdant,
Vintage,
Wheat
}


private void ApplyThemeToWeb(SPSiteThemes Theme, SPWeb Web, bool Recurse)
{
Web.ApplyTheme(Theme.ToString());
if (Recurse) {
foreach (SPWeb subweb in Web.Webs) {
try
{
ApplyThemeToWeb(Theme, subweb, Recurse);
}
finally {
subweb.Dispose();
}
}
}
Web.Update();
}

private void ApplyIconToWeb(string IconURL, SPWeb Web, bool Recurse)
{
Web.SiteLogoUrl = IconURL;
Console.WriteLine(Web.Title + " updated to " + IconURL.ToString());
if (Recurse)
{
foreach (SPWeb subweb in Web.Webs)
{
try
{
ApplyIconToWeb(IconURL, subweb, Recurse);
}
finally
{
subweb.Dispose();
}
}
}
Web.Update();
}




There are 46 new tutorials added to the AJAX.NET website.

here

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2008 Extensions, Version 1.2

An overview:

Tools for developing custom SharePoint applications: Visual Studio project templates for Web Parts, site definitions, and list definitions; and a stand-alone utility program, the SharePoint Solution Generator. Please also download the User Guide and Samples listed in Related Resources.

The User Guide for this tool can be found here

The 1.1 version can be found here for Visual Studio 2005 support: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2005 Extensions, Version 1.1

Version 1.2 of the Visual Studio 2008 Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services contains the following tools to aid developers in building SharePoint applications:

Visual Studio 2008 Project Templates Web Part
Team Site Definition
Blank Site Definition
List Definition
Empty SharePoint Project
Visual Studio 2008 Item Templates (items that can be added into an existing project)
Web Part
Custom Field
List Definition (with optional Event Receiver)
Content Type (with optional Event Receiver
Module
List Instance
List Event Handler
Template

SharePoint Solution Generator
This stand-alone program generates a Site Definition project from an existing SharePoint site. The program enables developers to use the browser and Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer to customize the content of their sites before creating code by using Visual Studio.

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Ever thought things on ASP.NET were a bit slow the first time accessing them? Many of you are aware that ASP.NET from a web admin perspective know that things have to recompile and things just aren't as fast the first time. In fact some times things are incredibly slow the first time and are incredibly slow. Ever had users say, for some odd reason some times when I hit my SharePoint site it takes 30 seconds to load, then after a refresh it goes sub second, even clearing their cache the page is fast. That's because it's not a user issue, its simply compiling, caching, etc... on the server after an IISReset or app pool reset or worker process cycle.


Joel Oleson's post is very very interesting:

Tip #1: Add Command Line Shortcut to "12 Hive"
Tip #2: Access STSADM.EXE From any Directory in a Command Prompt
Tip #3: Recycle Application Pools, not IIS

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