The SharePoint Web Part Gallery

By Raymond Mitchell

December 28, 2011 — (Page 1 of 2)
Anytime you choose to add a Web Part to your SharePoint pages, you’re using the Web Part Gallery. It is the list of Web Parts (grouped by categories) that have been made available to you:

The Web Part Gallery comes pre-populated with a number of default Web Parts. The exact Web Parts that appear depend on what version of SharePoint you have installed as well as what site template was selected when you created your site.

It is important to note that the Web Parts that appear in the gallery are not all of the Web Parts installed and available to you, only the Web Parts that are being presented to you. Each Web Part that you see is actually a description file that lives in the Web Part Gallery list. You can see these description files by browsing to the Web Part Gallery via Site Settings and choosing Web Parts under Galleries:

The description files are a combination of .dwp and .webpart files, along with metadata such as Title, Description, Group and Recommendation settings:

The .dwp format was used in SharePoint 2003 and 2007, and many newer Web Parts use the .webpart format. Both formats are XML files that contain properties needed to create a new instance of a Web Part on a page. You can view the XML file by choosing Edit and then selecting Export or View Xml from the Edit Ribbon:

The XML that you will see is a subset of the properties that are configurable (usually the required properties and a few extras for look and feel). If you export a Web Part instance from a page (see "Moving Web Parts in SharePoint 2010"), you will see many more properties configured.

Each Web Part also contains a preview (if implemented) so you can see what the Web Part might look like. This is an oft-overlooked feature that helps users picture what each Web Part is:

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The SharePoint Web Part Gallery

By Raymond Mitchell

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