SharePoint ACL issue when adding custom images, CSS, script files

I just customized the master page of a MOSS 2007 site and also applied a custom theme that I created to it. It looked great (it's quoted from the customer, no kidding :). However, when a senior manager of the client decided to view it, the site just kept prompting for login continuously. He's not impressed. I knew he was able to view the site BEFORE any customization was applied. So how could an unghosted master page and a modified copy of an existing theme result in access issue?

It turned out that the new resources, a few image files and new CSS files, that I added for the customizations are the culprit. Or rather the ACLs on these new files. Several files added to the images folder and themes folder in the 12 hives didn't inherit the permissions from the parent folder for whatever reason (most other added files inherited fine). As soon as the ACLs on these files are set properly, the site stopped the endless login prompting.

Add Alternate Access Mapping for a WSS web application

You would think that the Alternate access mappings link under Global Configuration on the Operations page in Central Admin is the place to start with if you need to add an Alternate Access Mapping (AAM) for a web application. Nope. You start adding an AAM by extending the existing web application (Create or extend Web application link on the Application Management page). On the "Extend Web Application to Another IIS Web Site" page, make sure the existing web application is selected, and make sure select a value in the Zone dropdown box at bottom of the page that is different from the existing web application. Once you are done extending the web application. Go back to the Alternate Access Mappings page again and you will see the newly extended web application is there.

This TechNet article does an excellent job of walking through the step by step process of setting up an AAM (http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/WSS/en/library/c8ccffce-5162-46af-a3ef-1d7914e8efee1033.mspx?mfr=true).

WSS Create new site collections from Site Directory checkbox grayed out

I was trying to change my site creation from the default of creating subsites to creating site collections in WSS 3.0 today. It took some effort to figure out that you have to have a site directory site first even if you don't want to use the site directory. However, I still faced the problem that the option I really needed to change on the Site Directory Settings page was, errrr, grayed out:

It turned out that the Self-Service Site Management has to be turned on for the web application that this site collection sites on. It makes sense but it's just one of the many gotchas of SharePoint.


To turn on Self-Service Site Management, go to Central Admin -> Application Management -> Self-Service Site Management (under Application Security), and check On and Save. Then go back to the Site Directory Settings page of the site collection. The checkbox is enabled now.