SharePoint

If you have used the Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Developer Tools you have probably noticed that there are multiple SharePoint Project Item Templates to create Web Parts from. Find out which of them make the most sense in what scenarios.

Custom Controls are invaluable when working with Web Content Management solutions on the SharePoint 2010 platform. Unfortunately they are pretty inconvenient to use with large portions of HTML markup. Find out how to create better controls in SharePoint 2010.

Menu items and structured and repeatable deployment in SharePoint

It is a common best practice, while working with the SharePoint server API, to always use context objects whenever possible. Because they have been already instantiated by SharePoint itself, reusing context data doesn’t cause additional calls to the database and allows you to create good performing solutions. However, just because you use SPContext.Current in your code, doesn’t mean your solution is built properly.

Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Developer Tools simplify working with SharePoint 2010 projects. By introducing SharePoint Project Items (SPIs) the tools hide the internals of creating SharePoint packages and allow you to focus on the real work. However, when you start moving SPIs around, things might get complicated and break. Find out how to prevent yourself from spending hours on fixing stuff using the standard functionality of the new developer tools.