Comments on Chris O'Brien: Feature stapling

I struggle for half a day before discovering that ...

2011-08-12T03:32:37.034+01:00

I struggle for half a day before discovering that the feature that is being stapled has to be web scope

I hope this comment helps someone else....

@Anon,

Sorry I don't have any specific idea...

2009-02-20T17:31:00.000Z

@Anon,

Sorry I don't have any specific ideas on that one..

Good luck,

Chris.

Hi Chris,

I have a feature stapler that wor...

2009-02-19T16:22:00.000Z

Hi Chris,

I have a feature stapler that works just properly in my development environment. When I move it to test, the "Stapler" stops working. I am using solution deployment to deploy both my feature and my feature stapler. I am stapling to the STS#0 and GLOBAL#0 site defs.

Any insight would be appreciated.

-Anon

@Anonymous,

Interesting points, but for me ...

2008-12-21T21:44:00.000Z

@Anonymous,

Interesting points, but for me you've actually answered your own question. The very reason to develop your functionality in Features which are then stapled to your 'skeleton' site definition is because you have more flexibility - as an example, if you develop in this way you can easily deploy your new functionality to existing sites (by activating the Features against these sites) and for new sites (by stapling the Features to the site definition). As you've found, dealing with existing sites isn't catered for when you add all the functionality directly to the site definition. Also keep in mind that it isn't supported to change the actual site definition files once sites have been created. Andrew Connell also talks about this in his post You don't need to create site definitions, and a good point he raises is that you also have the capability of removing functionality by deactivating Features if you want - another thing not possible with everything in the site definition.

HTH,

Chris.

I can see that it should be nice to use feature st...

2008-12-19T18:04:00.000Z

I can see that it should be nice to use feature stapling when I use builtin site definition (from MOSS or WSS) but when i alread have a custom site definition why would i use feature stapling instead of modifying the site definition? but i have a much more important question here... if i have files inculded in a custom site definition (i mean ASPX file or image or whatever else) that i added to site definition after site creation... is there a way to rexecute the modules so it add new files to existings sites or i will be forced to use a new feature and then have file in directory of my feature been used instead of the one in my site definition??

@Anonymous,

I wouldn't use this approach - ...

2008-11-30T23:19:00.000Z

@Anonymous,

I wouldn't use this approach - it's not supported to modify out-of-the-box site definition files, so I'd suggest creating your own definition based on a copy of the standard one.

HTH,

Chris.

@madhusudhan,

Briefly, it's not supported t...

2008-11-30T23:17:00.000Z

@madhusudhan,

Briefly, it's not supported to make changes to a site definition which is already in use (i.e. sites have already been created from it).

The Feature stapling approach can help you out in this scenario though - this allows you to add Features (and hence, execute code) without touching the original site definition files.

If you really do need to modify the site definition, you can create a subsequent 'version' by copying/renaming the original site definition, making the updates, and then hiding the original version by deleting the *webtemp.xml. This means new sites can only be created from the new version and existing sites continue to function unaffected. If you want those existing sites to also reflect the changes, you'll need to do some work to apply them, typically this will involve using the API.

HTH,

Chris.

@Anonymous,

Interesting finding - it doe...

2008-11-30T22:59:00.000Z
@Anonymous,

Interesting finding - it does sound like a bug, I'd raise a call and see if you get any joy from PSS.

Be interested to hear the result if you do.

Chris.

@dejawoo,

It's been a while since I've used...

2008-11-30T22:37:00.000Z
@dejawoo,

It's been a while since I've used Feature stapling, but I'm not sure I would expect the behaviour you're seeing. Although your Feature is scoped for a site collection, are you sure the elements within the Feature can belong at this scope?

HTH,

Chris.

I want to update some files in the Blog Site (post...

2008-11-26T23:20:00.000Z
I want to update some files in the Blog Site (post.aspx, schema.xml) without creating an other sote definition.
Can I use the stapling feature to overwrite the default files and when I deactivate the Blog Site the files should have the original status.
Is that possible and how?

Thanks in advanced.

Alex

Hi Chris,
I have created about 10 sites out o...

2008-11-26T13:24:00.000Z
Hi Chris,
I have created about 10 sites out of a custom created site definitions using visual studio extensions.
Then after deploying to production changes came to the existing sites.
I made changes to the existing site definition in the visual studio and generated a wsp file and then deployed it in to production.And this worked for old sites also.

Then again when next time changes have come so again I changed the sitedefintion and deployed them. This time all the existing sites are broken and they stopped working.

Upoun investigating further I came to know some times only the sites are breaking.

My question is which is a puzzle to me is how to make changes to the site defintion without breaking the older sites? Is it Possible ?

Hi,

I have been having an issue with stapli...

2008-11-25T14:25:00.000Z
Hi,

I have been having an issue with stapling and site templates (.stp)

If you have a feature with event receivers at the list level (itemAdded etc) enabled on your site, then, save that site as a template using (save this site as a template) and then create a new site from that template, the event receivers will be registered twice with the lists... They will register with a different sequence number but the same event name.

Something like:

CustomItemAdded : Sequence: 1000
CustomItemAdded : Sequence: 1001

This is really annoying since it makes the event receivers fire twice and the code runs twice which can lead to error in some occasions.

Is this a known issue?

hi Chris,

I guess answer to this question ...

2008-11-09T06:53:00.000Z
hi Chris,

I guess answer to this question has been already given,just a little bit obscure yet, would like to pose again. Logically since I have a feature which is site collection scoped, expectation would be it will be automatically applied(activated) at the time of new site collection is created. seems I m getting it even while I m creating a new site(web). is that normal behavior. can you pls. elaborate a bit. thanks.

Paul Mc,

Sorry for the delay in getting to ...

2008-11-02T10:54:00.000Z
Paul Mc,

Sorry for the delay in getting to your comment. I'm not sure I quite follow what your issue is - do you mean that the Features are being activated but their artifacts aren't being provisioned?

If so, suggest checking your artifacts against the Feature elements by scope table to make sure you're using the right scope for the different things.

HTH,

Chris.

Great atricle. I have a question though having com...

2008-10-17T11:41:00.000+01:00
Great atricle. I have a question though having come across some difficulties.

I have created my staple at farm level and have installed a number of features in central admin that have been deployed to existing sites.

I create a new site with a staple to deploy a list of features which are scoped at Site collection level.

The features get activated successfully but the deployment isn't happening it would seem.

This is a facet of SharePoint I don't understand but because the features have been installed on other sites they appear in the list of site collection features for every site.

When the new site is created they are available to be activated. However because they have not been officially deployed to the new site the content types are installed because the feature has the correct files in the 12 hive, but the web part dll and the safe control tag are only performed when deployed which the staple doesn't seem the be doing.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your reply. I will loo...

2008-08-02T12:01:00.000+01:00
Hi Chris,

Thanks for your reply. I will look at this and will keep you inform.

-Yesh

@Yesh,

I wonder if your issue is connected ...

2008-07-31T21:56:00.000+01:00
@Yesh,

I wonder if your issue is connected to the permitted scopes for the various Feature elements. Suggest checking the Elements by scope matrix to ensure you're not doing anything which doesn't make sense.

HTH,

Chris.

@mvmastry,

Do you mean that new sites which...

2008-07-31T21:38:00.000+01:00
@mvmastry,

Do you mean that new sites which are created from the definition after the Feature has been deactivated continue to have the stapled feature? If so that's a good question and I'm afraid I don't know the answer! It could be that you need to run some code in the Feature deactivation to do this.

However, if you're expecting the Feature to be deactivated from sites which have already been created when the stapler was activated, I wouldn't expect this to happen - you'd need to go round each site and deactivate the stapled Feature.

HTH,

Chris.

@Seno,

Hmm, sorry don't have too many ideas...

2008-07-31T21:28:00.000+01:00
@Seno,

Hmm, sorry don't have too many ideas there, don't see anything too wrong with what you're doing. You might want to try scoping the feature at site collection though to see if that could be the problem.

HTH,

Chris.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the Nice post. I have ...

2008-07-30T12:47:00.000+01:00
Hi Chris,

Thanks for the Nice post. I have a question regarding Activation> I have a feature at Farm level and one at web level having Item Events which is stapled to "GLOBAL". However I am seeing that whenever I create a site, though my feature is activated,it is not triggering the events in the feature. It would be very helpful if you can guide me regarding this.

Chris,
Do you know how we can destaple the feat...

2008-07-24T20:19:00.000+01:00
Chris,
Do you know how we can destaple the feature after we stapled out.

I have observed that when we deactivate the feature(that staples another feature) the destapling is not happenning.

Thanks,
Venu

Hi Chris,

I have a normal feature scoped at...

2008-07-22T21:16:00.000+01:00
Hi Chris,

I have a normal feature scoped at Site level that creates a doc lib without using an FeatureEventReceiver (just xml).

This feature is working normally when activated manually but when I use a Stapler-feature to link this first feature to the Global#0 definition it doesn´t work. My stapler-feature is scoped at Farm level and new site collections doens´t have the new doc lib.

Any suggestion?

Cheers

Fábio

Hi Dennis,

To be honest my recent focus has...

2008-06-25T21:41:00.000+01:00
Hi Dennis,

To be honest my recent focus has been on WCM sites, where the whole emphasis is away from site definitions and the collaboration pieces anyway. However, I think the idea of adding Features to a standard site definition can often work better, but I guess it often comes down to if many sites are being created from a template or all the customizations are oriented around one site.

I can see the attraction of working with Features through code, but if everything is still based on the Features framework, do you really get away from the XML?

Cheers,

Chris.

Chris,

Just wondering how often you create ...

2008-06-20T04:41:00.000+01:00
Chris,

Just wondering how often you create custom site definitions? I've generally prefered using an out of the box site definition then adding or removing artifacts (Lists, Web Parts, etc.) to the site via the Features with the object model. Custom Site defs add tons of XML to maintain and debug and personally I prefer C# to angle brackets. What are your thoughts?

Thanks,
Dennis

@saurabh,

Not sure if you mean to add a lis...

2008-06-15T10:49:00.000+01:00
@saurabh,

Not sure if you mean to add a list of sites to a single team site or to the team site definition (so that all subsequently-created team sites get the list), but either way this would be possible.

- single team site: add/edit a web part page and add appropriate web part (e.g. Table of Contents web part, Summary Link web part)
- team site definition: staple a feature which adds appropriate web part to a new web part page using 'AllUsersWebPart' tag

HTH,

Chris.

Comments on Chris O'Brien: Feature stapling

I struggle for half a day before discovering that ...

@Anon,Sorry I don't have any specific idea...

Hi Chris,I have a feature stapler that wor...

@Anonymous,Interesting points, but for me ...

I can see that it should be nice to use feature st...

@Anonymous,I wouldn't use this approach - ...

@madhusudhan,Briefly, it's not supported t...

@Anonymous,Interesting finding - it doe...

@dejawoo,It's been a while since I've used...

I want to update some files in the Blog Site (post...

Hi Chris, I have created about 10 sites out o...

Hi,I have been having an issue with stapli...

hi Chris,I guess answer to this question ...

Paul Mc,Sorry for the delay in getting to ...

Great atricle. I have a question though having com...

Hi Chris,Thanks for your reply. I will loo...

@Yesh,I wonder if your issue is connected ...

@mvmastry,Do you mean that new sites which...

@Seno,Hmm, sorry don't have too many ideas...

Hi Chris,Thanks for the Nice post. I have ...

Chris,Do you know how we can destaple the feat...

Hi Chris,I have a normal feature scoped at...

Hi Dennis,To be honest my recent focus has...

Chris,Just wondering how often you create ...

@saurabh,Not sure if you mean to add a lis...

@Anon,

Sorry I don't have any specific idea...

Hi Chris,

I have a feature stapler that wor...

@Anonymous,

Interesting points, but for me ...

@Anonymous,

I wouldn't use this approach - ...

@madhusudhan,

Briefly, it's not supported t...

@Anonymous,

Interesting finding - it doe...

@dejawoo,

It's been a while since I've used...

Hi Chris,
I have created about 10 sites out o...

Hi,

I have been having an issue with stapli...

hi Chris,

I guess answer to this question ...

Paul Mc,

Sorry for the delay in getting to ...

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your reply. I will loo...

@Yesh,

I wonder if your issue is connected ...

@mvmastry,

Do you mean that new sites which...

@Seno,

Hmm, sorry don't have too many ideas...

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the Nice post. I have ...

Chris,
Do you know how we can destaple the feat...

Hi Chris,

I have a normal feature scoped at...

Hi Dennis,

To be honest my recent focus has...

Chris,

Just wondering how often you create ...

@saurabh,

Not sure if you mean to add a lis...