When SharePoint easy tabs are added to a web part zone, they automatically generate a tabbed interface that contains one tab per zone. In Sharepoint 2010 and 2013, easy tabs are used to implement advanced menu functionality to a web page or Sharepoint library. Any web parts that do not have a header are ignored and hidden below the scripts. The easy tab installation package comes with the following features:
- A multilevel menu
- Multiple page user interface for (WSS) sites.
- Multiple-menu types such as custom XML-definitions, web-parts pages inside the website and site map providers
- Vertical or horizontal layout
The easy tab allows webmasters and site administrators to easily simplify the creation of a comprehensive web system that is based on a WSS team sites. beside this, site administrators can also design good looking navigation aids that can later be easily modifies by website users.
How to Use Sharepoint Easy Tabs
Since the easy tabs are installed as a SharePoint management solution, you can only install the package only once regardless of the numbers of your front end servers.
To run and install SharePoint easy tabs package from your front end server; open the package and follow the onscreen instructions. You don’t have to change the default settings in order to completely install the package.
How to Register the Package
if you have purchased the package from microsoft or any other accredited vendor, you will be required to enter the product key or license key during installation. However, if you downloaded the package free from the internet, you will be given a limited time use of the package for a period of 30 days.
Between the trial version period, you can buy a product key from microsoft and activate your package for a lifetime use. When the 30 days trial period is over, the easy tab will stop working and you will be promoted to buy a registered package. Both trial and full time version s contain the same functionality and you can first use the trial version when testing the how easy tabs will work on your site.
How to Use SharePoint Easy Tabs in Different Ways
Follow the below instruction if you want to learn how to use easy tabs on your SharePoint website.
1. How to place a webpart on SharePoint page
- First click on “site-Actions” on the page options and then click on “Edit-Page”
- Click on”Add-Web-Part”
- Select the easy tab you installed from the gallery.
2. Site map with easy tabs
Each SharePoint website contains a built-in site-map that provides a site navigation structure which holds visual navigation tools, tree view, breadcrumbs and built_in site menu. SharePoint easy tabs are capable of attaching site maps together for graphical representation of the navigation data.
If you don’t like the user interface navigation of your Sharepoint site, you can use customized easy tabs to improve and design the navigation bars to your own styles. When you use customized navigation bars you are able to create great appealing menus that cannot be created by SharePoint coding components. With it’s easy user interface, webmasters or site administrators can design site maps by selecting some options on their browser without necessarily opening the SharePoint designer.
3.Easy tabs multiple page interface
When you configure SharePoint easy tabs to work in this mode, all web parts will present and manage pages in the documentary library. The web-part will be configured and created in the document library automatically. when using easy tabs you can design web-parts to a particular mode and allow them to work on your style.
After installing easy tabs, you can create new pages from a direct web part. All you have to is, enter the “site-Action” menu and click “Edit-Page”. On the down-drop options you will see a button with “create-New-Page” options. click on this option and the new page will show up in a new window. If you want to hide the page on your website homepage, specify that the web-page is a hidden page on the list menu.
How to Enable Multiple Level Interface Manually
- First locate the document library attached to the easy tabs and open it
- In the document library create a folder. The folder will appear as a web page in your menu, ignore the warning message and rename the new folder and the web page with the same name
- On your browser view, cut a page and paste it inside the new folder. The page will be shown as a sub-menu item on your site
- Create other new sub-folders in the folder if you want to open and design a new level of hierarchy
How to Build Your Own Tab in the Easy Tab Builder
(a) locate the easy tab builder tool and select your favorite options. Read through the terms and accept the all the license terms.
(b) Click “Save-To-Disk” option to save the scripts to a designated folder on your computer. If the save options are not available, copy and paste the script located at the bottom of the page.
(c)Locate the folder on which you saved the script and upload it to the specified SharePoint library.
4. Link based menu
SharePoint web-parts can connect with existing links to present website content as a menu. If you want to specify certain links as the “parent” enable multiple level interface in order to allow this feature. Follow these option to create a link based menu on your website.
- Click on “Modify-Shared-Web-Part”
- On the new options that will appear on your screen, switch “Data-Sources” to “link”
- Specify the URL of the site where your links are located.
- Choose and select different links from the drop down list.
- Save your changes and settings.
- All links that are added will be extended and will contain the following column.
(a) an Icon URL- You will be required to specify a relative URL of a particular icon that will be placed next to a menu item.
(b) Page order- Specify the right order of your site menu items.
If you want to enable multiple level menus, create new folders in the links list and copy-paste the links to the folders.
Easy tabs can be used to design the navigation of a website that contain a lot of content. When you use SharePoint easy tabs you improve the user interface of your site and this helps all users to easily navigate your site without experiencing difficulties.