Sharepoint 2013 branding with Design Manager

In SharePoint 2013, Design Manager renders a new trend for creating websites. This tool is accessible when you activate the Publishing Infrastructure feature or use the Publishing Portal site template at the site collection level. The purpose of this new tool is to offer users an easy way of branding SharePoint. This advanced tool allows designers to create a compelling behavior, look and feel for a SharePoint 2013 site by using the techniques they are most comfortable with. It also supports exporting and importing of a visual design, and thus helps you assure a consistent visual experience across all device platforms in your industry.

This article discusses about the designing and support capabilities involved in this development technology. Let's have a quick tour through SharePoint 2013.

Considerations for SharePoint Designers or Developers:

• Design packages: To create as well as export the visual designs as a package.

• Device channels: To create, change or delete a device channel along with reorder device channels in SP 2013.

• Image renditions: To create, edit as well as delete image renditions that define the attributes used for the purpose of displaying images in the publishing sites.

• Display templates: To relate display templates to Search Web Parts. Learn about how the templates are organized, for mapping properties by using jQuery or variables, or creating a custom display template.

• Themes: To use themes for customizing the look and feel of the sites.

• Snippets: To use the Snippet Gallery in Design Manager so that you are able to add SharePoint functionality quickly to your HTML page layout or master page. Snippets are HTML representations of SharePoint components and hence a snippet helps in controlling like a Web Part or a navigation bar.

Design Manager to Implement Designs

On the left side of this tool, there is a series of links representing the high-level tasks that need to be performed. Based on your designing plan as well as the requisites of your site, you might not have to carry out all these performances in thorough order. Nevertheless, this sequence is a vital starting point.

Before you start using this technology, you need a scheming. You can use a ready-made website template or create one of your own. A designing is simply a group of files that employ the visual designing of your site.

Generally, the file categories include:

• At least one HTML file which is going to be changed into a SharePoint master page

• JavaScript files

• One or more CSS files

• Different supporting files

• Images

Design Manager to Customize Your SharePoint 2013 Site

In order to represent your company's brand or if you want it to be designed in a way that does not look like SharePoint, you can easily customize your site as per your preference. Creating a custom design by using Design Manager can help you achieve the desired business goal. The new tool is a feature in SharePoint 2013 making it easier to create a fully pixel-perfect and customized design implementing the web-designing tools that you find yourself familiar with. It is a publishing dimension that can be made available in publishing sites in both Office 365 and SP Server 2013. The technology can also be used for branding the public-facing website in Office 365.

This tool can also help in creating visual designs for websites by applying any web design tool or HTML editor of your choice, and then upload that designing to SharePoint. Design Manager is the central hub as well as interface where all aspects of a custom designing is properly managed. Often, visual designing creations of publishing sites fit into the larger process, in which thousands of people as well as administrations are involved. You can hire developers from top companies in sharepoint development who can help you build products within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide sharepoint development services. If you would like to speak to one of our expert SharePoint developers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.