Use Master Page from Layouts Folder

Question

Hi All,

I have created a new master page (lots of UI level changes) and placed it in the _layouts folder.

The placement in _layouts folder is to create a single point of control for this master which will be used across multiple site collections.

I also want to apply this to default MOSS pages that are there in a site collection.

The following are my questions:
1. Can a master residing in the _layouts folder be referred in a site collection?
2. Can the "~masterurl/default.master" be set to point the master in the layouts folder?

---

HTH, Krishnan

Answer 1

Krishnan,

I have also done this in the past.  I utilized the Dynamic SharePoint Rebranding Module on Codeplex: http://dsrm.codeplex.com/

This will allow you with a fairly simple snippet of code to replace the default master page with a custom master page of your choosing.

Answer 2

Hi Cathy,

Thanks for the response. Let me have a look into it.

However I do notice one thing, the "Shared Documents" rebranding seem to be applied only from _catalogs folder and not from _layouts :(.

Let me test this and get back to you.

---

HTH, Krishnan

Answer 3

Hi Cathy,

Thanks so much for pointing sample out. I was able to use the code in codeplex site as base for my changes :D

---

HTH, Krishnan