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    Today I discovered while attempting to use a new custom theme on our root site that all subsites now use that theme, though only on their welcome (default) page.  Other pages in the subsites use the previously set theme for the subsite.  Is there a setting for this? I want to use a specific theme on the root site but don't want all the subsites to use the same theme, but unless the root is set at "Default Theme" it doesn't work!!
    • Edited by Mike Walsh FIN Friday, March 20, 2009 6:28 AM !!! removed from subject. Unnecessary,
    Tuesday, November 11, 2008 7:16 PM

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    Ok, updating:  Actually all pages in the subsites were now inheriting the theme from the root site.  Only administration pages were using the individually assigned themes.  I found that every time I set a specific non-default theme to the root site a line was being added to the bottom of the <HEAD> section of the master page specifying the theme, overriding the earlier <SharePoint:Theme runat="server"/> tag in the section.  If I deleted this line the subsites function correctly with their specified themes.  Anyone know why my master page gets altered in this way?  I don't think its normal...

    This is the line it keeps adding to the master page:

    <meta name="Microsoft Theme" content="dailypost 1011, default">

    It does this without creating a new version of the master page or requiring approval.  So every time I change the theme on the root site I have to go into SPD and delete this line from the master page.  Very annoying!
    • Edited by jkelch Wednesday, November 12, 2008 4:47 PM
    Wednesday, November 12, 2008 3:07 PM
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    Hi,


    As you see, when add a theme,     SharePoint adds a meta tag(<meta name="Microsoft Theme" content="ThemeName 1011, default" />) to the master page right before the closing HEAD tag, thus rendering any styles you specified as defenseless against the applied theme.

    For more information, please refer to: http://www.heathersolomon.com/blog/archive/2008/08/13/A-Bit-More-About-Disabling-Themes-in-Master-Pages.aspx

    Xue-Mei Chang
    Thursday, November 13, 2008 9:32 AM
    Moderator
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    Xue-Mei Chang-MSFT said:

    Hi,


    As you see, when add a theme,     SharePoint adds a meta tag(<meta name="Microsoft Theme" content="ThemeName 1011, default" />) to the master page right before the closing HEAD tag, thus rendering any styles you specified as defenseless against the applied theme.

    For more information, please refer to: http://www.heathersolomon.com/blog/archive/2008/08/13/A-Bit-More-About-Disabling-Themes-in-Master-Pages.aspx

    Xue-Mei Chang



    The part I bolded is in fact true, but the real problem for me is that if you apply a theme to the root site, it propagates then to all the subsites.  If you apply a theme to a subsite, it only affects that site (not even the subsites of the subsites!!).  Why does applying a theme to the root site work differently than applying a theme to a subsite?  I don't want my application of a theme to the root site to suddenly change the chosen themes of the subsites, and can't imagine other users would be happy with this either.  Do you suppose this can be changed in later versions of SharePoint?
    Friday, November 14, 2008 7:51 PM
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    This propogation has to do with where the master page is being stored. The addition of the meta tag is done to every master page in the site collection's master page gallery every time the theme is changed. Thus, you will get propogation if the sub-sites are using a master page that resides in that gallery. If the sub-site is using the default.master there is no problem because that master page (unless customized) is stored on the WFE in the 12 hive, and thus not subject to site collection settings.

    If you do not wish this behavior, and you need a custom master page for your sub-sites, create them as normal. BUT store them in the sub-site's _catalogs folder. Then use SharePoint Designer to set it as the site's default master page and also as the site's custom master page. You must do it this way even in a publishing site as only the master pages in the site collection's master page gallery show up in the choices of master pages through the site settings pages.

    Curiously enough, when you take a master page from the site collection's master page gallery and copy it to the sub-site's _catalogs folder, the meta tag is removed during the process. So, you don't even have to open it up to modify the code when performing this.

    Good Luck!

    Kevin Hughes
    Senior SharePoint Administrator
    HNTB
    • Proposed as answer by Kevin Hughes Thursday, March 19, 2009 1:19 PM
    • Unproposed as answer by Mike Walsh FIN Friday, March 20, 2009 6:28 AM
    • Proposed as answer by Parth Dholakia Thursday, June 3, 2010 1:21 PM
    Thursday, March 19, 2009 1:06 PM
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    Kevin:

    Please wait for either a Moderator to mark your post as an answer or wait for someone else to propose it.

    By all means propose *other people's* good answers.

    Do NOT propose your own posts!
    WSS FAQ sites: WSS 2.0: http://wssv2faq.mindsharp.com WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007: http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com
    Total list of WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 Books (including foreign language titles) http://wss.asaris.de/sites/walsh/Lists/WSSv3%20FAQ/V%20Books.aspx
    Friday, March 20, 2009 6:30 AM