Add webpart to default WSS page via feature

Question

I've developed a custom web part. I would like to create a feature that when activated via STSADM adds the web part to the default page of a WSS Site. Hopefully this can be done without writing code.

This webpart is meant to de deployed to the web application's bin directory and featurereceiver must be installed to the GAC. The AllUsersWebPart element looks promising, but I can't figure out how to get it to work.

TIA,

jt

Answer 1

The AllUsersWebPart element is meant to be used in a site definition, AFAIK it has no relevance in a feature definition.

The easiest way to do this that comes to mind involves some code, but a minimal amount. Write your feature to deploy the webpart, and add a feature receiver to the feature, utilizing the FeatureActivated method to get an instance of the default.aspx page, and use the SPLimitedWebPartManager to add the webpart to the page.

Something like

public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
{
    SPWeb activatedWeb = (SPWeb)properites.Feature.Parent; 
    SPFile defaultPage = activatedWeb.GetFile("Pages/default.aspx"); 
    SPLimitedWebPartManager manager = defaultPage.GetLimitedWebPartManager(PersonalizationScope.Shared);

    MyNewWebPart webPartToAdd = new MyNewWebPart();
    //Initialize your webpart however you may need to

    manager.AddWebPart(webPartToAdd, "Zone 1", 1); //Replace with proper webpartzone name and index;

    defaultPage.Publish();
    defaultPage.Approve();
}

Answer 2

The AllUsersWebPart tag allow us to insert one webpart and place it where we want using WebPartOrder and WebPartZone attributes. The content of the tag is the dwp (or webpart) of your webpart. For example, for a dwp:

<AllUsersWebPart WebPartZoneID="MiddleLeftZone" WebPartOrder="0">
    <![CDATA[                                              
      <WebPart xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v2"&gt;
        <FrameType>None</FrameType>
        <AllowMinimize>true</AllowMinimize>
        <IsVisible>true</IsVisible>
        <Assembly>Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Assembly>
        <TypeName>Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.ContentEditorWebPart</TypeName>
        <ContentLink xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v2/ContentEditor" />
        <Content xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v2/ContentEditor"&gt;
          <Value>&lt;iframe src="$Resources:Summary_Url;" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="100%"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</Value>
        </Content>
        <PartStorage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v2/ContentEditor" />
    </WebPart>
    ]]>
  </AllUsersWebPart>

For a webpart:

<AllUsersWebPart WebPartZoneID="MiddleLeftZone" WebPartOrder="1">
    <![CDATA[                                              
      <webParts>
        <webPart xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v3"&gt;
          <metaData>
            <type name="MyClass, MyAssembly, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=f3b9d1137704f880" />
            <importErrorMessage>No se puede importar este elemento Web.</importErrorMessage>
          </metaData>
          <data>
            <properties>
              <property name="AllowClose" type="bool">False</property>
              <property name="AllowMinimize" type="bool">False</property>
              <property name="AllowConnect" type="bool">True</property>
              <property name="ChromeType" type="chrometype">None</property>
              <property name="Hidden" type="bool">False</property>
              <property name="AllowEdit" type="bool">False</property>
              <property name="AllowZoneChange" type="bool">False</property>
              <property name="MissingAssembly" type="string">No se puede importar este elemento Web.</property>
              <property name="ChromeState" type="chromestate">Normal</property>
            </properties>
          </data>
        </webPart>
      </webParts>
    ]]>
  </AllUsersWebPart>

I haven't tried before but I think it can be done once the web has been created. Try it and tell us.