Replace Wiki homepage with Webpart page

In SharePoint 2010, creating a site using the Team Site template results in a page that looks like this:



SharePoint Home Page

This page is a wiki page called Home in a wiki page library called Site Pages.  It allows you to blend different objects such as images, text, and web parts into a workspace that you have layout control over.  The SharePoint 2007 model used a web part page for Team Sites and to mix content you had to use specific web parts such as a Content Editor or Image web part.

For experienced admins, the wiki page offers more flexibility.  But if you are in the habit of handing control of new sites over to users who need a less confusing, more stringent model you may want the web part page back rather than the wiki page.  Fortunately there is an easy way to make this switch without manually adding or dropping wiki libraries and changing home pages in SharePoint Designer.

Site Feature for Wiki Page

In Site Settings, manage the Site Features.  At the bottom of the list is an option for Wiki Page Home Page, in other places referred to as a Welcome Page.  When active, the default home page is Home.aspx in the Site Pages wiki library.  When you deactivate the feature, the home page is set to default.aspx which is a web part page at the root of the site.  The Site Pages library is not deleted or hidden from the Quick Launch, so you'll need to handle that based on your preferences.

If you currently have a web part home page, perhaps from a site that was migrated from SharePoint 2007, you can switch to a wiki home page using the same feature, only this time you activate the feature.  Activation will create a Site Pages library and wiki home page.

Remember to consider your primary users when deciding which home page type to use.