Converting Visual Studio Ultimate to Pro. Alternate title... "RadLangSvc.Package, RadLangSvc.VS, Version = 10.0.0.0, Culture = neutral, PublicKeyToken = 89845dcd8080cc91′ failed to load"

I ran into an issue today when trying to apply the license my boss purchased for our visual studio. Unfortunately he bought the wrong version. So now I will have to scrap the automated forms that were developed in Infopath. Fine. Ok. I can deal with that. Uninstalling Ultimate... Installing Professional....Launching Professional.... BOOM "RadLangSvc.Package, RadLangSvc.VS, Version = 10.0.0.0, Culture = neutral, PublicKeyToken = 89845dcd8080cc91′ failed to load". Over and over and over.

Something is amiss. What I am thinking at this point is that these must be features left over from Ultimate that I will miss dearly.

Revo to the rescue. Revo is an uninstalling utility that I have used for years. Great uninstallation program to make sure that I get out all the little leftovers that programs so often leave behind. I uninstalled everything that said Visual Studio. Installing Pro version... Launching.... WORKS!

Scrolling content instead of a huge page...

I was faced with a serious dilemma. I needed to create a design that had a framed content area that was scrollable. I had no idea how to do this initially but as I thought about it and used the crap out of f12, I found the following solution to start me on the right path.

The following code will make it so that the content area of your SharePoint site is fully scrollable instead of being a 4000 pixel tall beast. This code, combined with some framing code that I will post later, has sofar created an elegant solution to fully customize your entire design.



Code:
.s4-ca.s4-ca-dlgNoRibbon
{
    overflow-y: scroll;
    width: auto;
    height: 460px;
    }

BACKASSWARDS!

So it appears that my previous css is not going to cut it in any situation... ever... No, it's not really that bad but it is so basic compared to what I am doing now with Visual Studio that its crazy <---italicized for emphasis. It's like I was bound by my hands and fighting (insert newest mma sensation here) as opposed to being able to use a samurai sword in battle!

Let me explain. There is this program called Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. It is hands down best way to work with SharePoint. Once you have Visual Studio installed you can interact with your SharePoint site far easier than using SharePoint Designer. I have compiled quite the list of css goodies since my Visual Studio enlightenment. I will post the code goodies soon.

Custom SharePoint themes... the easy way.

Many blogs that I read are telling me to use PowerPoint to create my SharePoint themes. Well screw that. I want an easier way!

So Microsoft made this:
Microsoft Theme Builder!


To me, this is themes in "easiest possible mode". I can kick out 5 options for a site in like 2 minutes. Big thanks to Microsoft for making a tool for this.

Best Weather Widget?

I just used this on my site and stripped the non essential code out of it, but the bottom line is that this thing is great for SharePoint 2010. And it even has a 4-day forecast built in!

The issue is that SharePoint will duplicate any javascript that you throw into a webpart's source. So that rules out 90% of the weather widgets out there. This widget is Flash based and works flawlessly. Enjoy.
 
http://yowindow.com/weatherwidget.php

HIDE THE RIBBON!

SharePoint 2010 ribbon

Put this above the body in your master page. I found two divs that were root that I threw it in between towards line 293. This will hide the blue ribbon at the top of every page for users or groups that are not able to add or customize pages.

Code:
<Sharepoint:SPSecurityTrimmedControl ID="SPSecurityTrimmedControl2" runat="server" PermissionsString="AddAndCustomizePages">
    <script type="text/javascript">
        document.getElementById("s4-ribbonrow").style.display = "block";
    </script>
</Sharepoint:SPSecurityTrimmedControl>

Simple CSS to style SharePoint 2010

I have compiled some very friendly css from alot of great bloggers' fantastic minds. This removes the leftnav, replaces the banner, and wraps your titles with a nice rounded corner look. I like the oversized corners so it looks somewhat oval egg like. I think it gives it a natural feel.

**CHANGE THE FOLLOWING TO FIT YOUR WEBSITE**
background colors in blue
font colors in green
filepaths to change in yellow
border color in orange

Instructions:
1. Copy paste the code below into a notepad.
2. Save it as newcss.css
3. Open SharePoint site in SharePoint Designer.
4. Click on "Site Assets" and click on Import Files.
5. Grab that newcss.css
6. Click on "Master Pages"
7. Edit your v4master (After you make a backup copy!)
8. Put  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/site/siteassets/newcss.css" type="text/css" media="screen" /> in directly after the  </head>... should be around line 36 in the v4master code. Save it.
9. Right click your v4master in the "Master Pages" page of SharePoint Designer and click on "Set as custom master page".

Code:
body #s4-leftpanel
{
display: none;
}
.s4-ca
{
margin-left: 0px;
}
.s4-title {
            background: #fff url('/site/siteassets/Banner.jpg') repeat-x 0px 0px;
            margin: 0;
            min-height: 100px;
            overflow-x: hidden;
            padding: -10px 0 0 310px;
            word-wrap: break-word;
}
tr.ms-WPHeader td {
            background: #fff;
            border-style: none;
}
.s4-wpcell:hover .ms-WPHeader td, .s4-wpActive .ms-WPHeader td, .s4-wpcell .ms-WPSelected .ms-WPHeader td {
            border-style: none;
}
tr.ms-WPHeader td.ms-wpTdSpace {
            padding: 0;
            width: 10px;
            background: #fff url('/site/siteassets/wp-corners.png') top right no-repeat;
}
tr.ms-WPHeader td.ms-wpTdSpace:first-child {
            background: #fff url('/site/siteassets/wp-corners.png') top left no-repeat;
}
h3.ms-WPTitle {
            color: #6d6d6d;
            font-weight: bold;
}
h3.ms-WPTitle a:link, h3.ms-WPTitle a:active, h3.ms-WPTitle a:visited, h3.ms-WPTitle a:hover {
            color: #6d6d6d;
}
.ms-wpContentDivSpace {
            margin: 0;
}
td.ms-WPBorder, td.ms-WPBorderBorderOnly {
            border-color: #eee;
            border-top-style: none;
}

Now you just need to host your .png corners and your .jpg banner and get your paths right.

!important make the banner 2500 x 100 to avoid replication.  I did a metal looking gradient with bevel and emboss looking edges... Not saying you should, but it looks nice.

If you need help with your corners...
THIS IS THE BEST ROUND CORNERS GUIDE EVER!