[sims] SIMS - Hide SLG Web Parts en Masse

[Kathk]

Our LA has requested that several of the Web Parts such as addresses, telephone numbers, etc are hidden from parents, staff and pupils.

 

With almost 100 sites to configure, that's a lot of Web Parts to close.

 

Does anyone know of a way the Web Parts could be hidden en masse or better still not published when the sites are built?

 

Thanks very much.

[GrumbleDook]

If it is hosted can Capita not help with this?

[Kathk]

Hi Grumbledock

 

It is hosted, but not by Capita. So far neither Capita or our third party hosting company have been able to help. It's my job to close down the unwanted web parts and I'm losing the will to live! I was hoping someone on here may be able to offer a solution.

[GrumbleDook]

There are ways of scripting the removal of web parts and there are a few folk (some regulars on here) who could help on that but it does need significant administrative access. I'll try to point a few of them to this thread to see if they will contact you.

[Kathk]

That would be brilliant, thankyou very much.

 

I'm sure I'll be able to find someone with the correct access rights if there is a solution.

[rpwillis]

You can script it, but that would require running the script on one of the SharePoint servers, which is something the hosting company is unlikely to let you do.

 

If doing it through the browser, you can use the Web Parts Maintenance page to simplify it. If you are not familiar with it, it just lists all the web parts on the page and lets you select which ones to Close, Reset or Delete with one click. The screenshot shows the page after I've closed all the web parts. To access the page just append ?contents=1 to the url e.g. http://myserver/mysite/default.aspx?contents=1

 

 

Note that reset does not open them again, it resets all the properties back to their defaults, losing any customisations. There's also no way to unclose the web parts from this page, you'll have to do that one at a time.

 

Also note that closed web parts still partly run so will consume server resources and make the page slower than if they were deleted.

[Kathk]

Hi

 

Thanks very much. I wasn't aware of the Web Parts Maintenance Page, so this is cracking advice. It speeds up the process 10 fold. I've been speaking to our hosting company about the possibility of scripting the process, but in the meantime, this is a really good compromise.

 

Thanks again, very much!