Visual Upgrade for SharePoint Enterprise Search

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

In this article
Preserving the Office SharePoint Server 2007 UI During Upgrade
Upgrading to the SharePoint Server 2010 UI
Federated Locations
In This Section

The user interface (UI) has changed significantly in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 compared to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, so you may find that customizations that rely on specific cascading style sheets (CSS) classes and UI elements will work best for those who use the old UI. Visual Upgrade is a new feature in SharePoint Server 2010 that enables you to determine when and if the new look for SharePoint Server 2010 is used for existing SharePoint sites.

During product upgrade, the server administrator can specify one of the following options:

  • Preserving the existing UI, keeping the earlier look and feel of Office SharePoint Server 2007. This gives site owners and site collection owners the choice to keep the existing UI, or upgrade to the new UI.

  • Upgrading to the new UI to adopt the new look and feel of SharePoint Server 2010. With this option, server administrators can specify whether customized pages should be preserved or reset.

This topic provides information about how the different Visual Upgrade options affect customizations that you have made to elements related to search UI in the sites that you are upgrading from Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010. For more information about this feature, see Visual Upgrade.

Preserving the Office SharePoint Server 2007 UI During Upgrade

If you choose to preserve the look and feel of existing SharePoint sites, you give site collection owners control over their site collections and site owners control over their sites. Site owners then can upgrade sites from the old look to the new look one at a time. All the data and settings from the original sites are preserved, and layout, command organization, and styles preserve the previous UI.

Table 1. Effect on Search UI elements from the Visual Upgrade option selected by site owner

UI Element

Use the Office SharePoint Server 2007 UI

Use the SharePoint Server 2010 UI

Customized master page

No change.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 master page is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 master page, v4.master. Office SharePoint Server 2007 master pages are preserved in the master page gallery.

Default master page

No change.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 master page is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 master page, v4.master. Office SharePoint Server 2007 master pages are preserved in the master page gallery.

Default page layout customized

No change.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 page layout is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 page layout. We recommend that you create a backup copy of the customized page layout before you upgrade.

Custom page layout

No change.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 page layout is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 page layout.

This scenario may cause the Site Actions menu and the SharePoint server ribbon to not be displayed. For more information and the solution to this issue, see Displaying the Server Ribbon and Site Actions Menu on Customized Search Pages Upgraded to SharePoint 2010 Using Visual Upgrade.

Default page layout

No change.

The Office SharePoint Server 2007 page layout is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 page layout. Existing Web Parts will remain.

Unmodified Web Part properties

No change. Web Parts will include properties that are new in SharePoint Server 2010, but they might not be set to the default value.

No change. Web Parts will include properties that are new in SharePoint Server 2010, but they might not be set to the default value.

Modified Web Part properties

No change.

No change.

Unmodified search results Web Part XSL property

(The Web Part's Use Location Visualization property check box is selected.)

No change.

No change.

Modified search results Web Part XSL property

No change.

No change. To use the SharePoint Server 2010 version of the XSLT, select the Web Part's Use Location Visualization property check box.

Custom CSS

(Style Library only)

No change.

The custom CSS will still be referenced, but may not visually look the same in the SharePoint Server 2010 UI. May also conflict with the updated CSS style definitions.

Customized content page

No change.

No change.

This scenario may cause the Site Actions menu and the SharePoint server ribbon to not be displayed. For more information and the solution to this issue, see Displaying the Server Ribbon and Site Actions Menu on Customized Search Pages Upgraded to SharePoint 2010 Using Visual Upgrade.

Default content page

No change.

Replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 content page. Existing Web Parts will remain.

Site search

No change.

Replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 look.

Upgrading to the SharePoint Server 2010 UI

If you choose to change all existing SharePoint sites to the new user interface, site collection owners and site owners have no control over the upgrade. All the data and settings from the existing SharePoint sites are upgraded to the new user interface. When you choose this option, you can preserve customized pages or reset all customized pages to their original templates so that no customizations are retained after the upgrade.

The Table 2 describes how the search UI elements are affected based on whether you select the option to preserve or reset customized pages during the upgrade process.

Table 2. Effect on Search UI elements from the Visual Upgrade option selected by the server administrator

UI Element

Preserve Customized Pages

Reset Customized Pages

Customized master page

No change.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 master page is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 master page, v4.master. Office SharePoint Server 2007 master pages are preserved in the master page gallery.

Default master page

No change.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 master page is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 master page, v4.master. Office SharePoint Server 2007 master pages are preserved in the master page gallery.

Default page layout customized

No change.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 page layout is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 page layout. We recommend that you create a backup copy of the customized page layout before you upgrade.

Custom page layout

No change.

This scenario may cause the Site Actions menu and the SharePoint server ribbon to not be displayed. For more information and the solution to this issue, see Displaying the Server Ribbon and Site Actions Menu on Customized Search Pages Upgraded to SharePoint 2010 Using Visual Upgrade.

The customized Office SharePoint Server 2007 page layout is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 page layout.

This scenario may cause the Site Actions menu and the SharePoint server ribbon to not be displayed. For more information and the solution to this issue, see Displaying the Server Ribbon and Site Actions Menu on Customized Search Pages Upgraded to SharePoint 2010 Using Visual Upgrade.

Default page layout

The Office SharePoint Server 2007 page layout is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 page layout. Existing Web Parts will remain.

The Office SharePoint Server 2007 page layout is replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 page layout. Existing Web Parts will remain.

Unmodified Web Part properties

No change. Web Parts will include properties that are new in SharePoint Server 2010, but they might not be set to the default value.

No change. Web Parts will include properties that are new in SharePoint Server 2010, but they might not be set to the default value.

Modified Web Part properties

No change.

No change.

Unmodified search results Web Part XSL property

(The Web Part's Use Location Visualization property check box is selected. )

The SharePoint Server 2010 XSLT is used.

The SharePoint Server 2010 XSLT is used.

Modified search results Web Part XSL property

No change. To use the SharePoint Server 2010 version of the XSLT, select the Web Part's Use Location Visualization property check box.

Note

If you select this property, the customized XSLT is removed; this action cannot be undone.

No change. To use the SharePoint Server 2010 version of the XSLT, select the Web Part's Use Location Visualization property check box.

Note

If you select this property, the customized XSLT is removed; this action cannot be undone.

Custom CSS style definitions

(Style Library only)

The custom CSS will still be referenced, but may not visually look the same. May also conflict with new CSS style definitions. We recommend that you remove the applied CSS style definition from the Style Gallery and update for SharePoint Server 2010.

The custom CSS will still be referenced, but may not visually look the same. May also conflict with new CSS style definitions. We recommend that you remove the applied CSS style definition from the Style Gallery and update for SharePoint Server 2010.

Customized content page

No change. This scenario may cause the Site Actions menu and the SharePoint server ribbon to not be displayed. For more information and the solution to this issue, see Displaying the Server Ribbon and Site Actions Menu on Customized Search Pages Upgraded to SharePoint 2010 Using Visual Upgrade.

Replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 content page. Existing Web Parts will remain.

Default content page

Replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 content page. Existing Web Parts will remain.

Replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 content page. Existing Web Parts will remain.

Site search

Replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 look.

Replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 look.

Federated Locations

Search results from federated locations are formatted and rendered based on the specified XSLT. You can specify the XSLT in the XSL property for a specific instance of a search results Web Part, or you can specify that the Web Part use the XSLT that is specified in the XSL property for the federated location. See the information in Table 1 and Table 2 to understand how the different Visual Upgrade options affect the XSLT that is specified for search results Web Parts.

During the upgrade process, the effect on federated locations is the same regardless of which Visual Upgrade option you choose. Any custom federated locations, and the XSLT that is specified for them, are maintained after the upgrade; you do not have to take any action to preserve them. However, the default federated locations will be replaced with the SharePoint Server 2010 versions, so if you have customized the XSLT or other settings for them, you should make a backup copy before you upgrade to preserve the customized settings.

In This Section

See Also

Other Resources

Displaying the Server Ribbon and Site Actions Menu on Customized Search Pages Upgraded to SharePoint 2010 Using Visual Upgrade