About Web Part galleries

A Web Part gallery is a central warehouse of Web Parts that you can use to locate a specific Web Part when you are creating a Web Part Page. Depending on how your site administrator has configured your site, you may have up to four different Web Part galleries available to you. If you have the appropriate permissions, you can access the available Web Part galleries at your site by clicking either Browse or Search from the Web Part Page menu. Once you locate the Web Part you want, you typically drag it to your Web Part Page.

The Site Web Part Gallery is often the most central Web Part gallery for your work group. This Web Part gallery is typically managed by your server administrator, who decides which Web Parts are available and safe for your site. By default, the gallery name is the name of your site. For example, if your site is called "Boaters and Sailors", then the Web Part gallery name is “Boaters and Sailors Gallery”. There is only one Site Web Part Gallery for each site and any subsites under it.

The Web Part Page Gallery is a collection of Web Parts that are available to a specific Web Part Page but not visible on the page, whether you are browsing or designing the page. Each Web Part page has its own Web Part Page Gallery. Through this gallery a Web Part Page author can, for example, create a pool of recommended Web Parts for users to add to the Web Part Page.

The Web Part Page Gallery also contains Web Parts that at one time were on the page, but have since been closed by you or another user (On the Web Part menu, click Close). Web Parts can be either closed by you, as you personalize the Web Part Page in personal view, or by the Web Part page author who created the page for all users in shared view.

Closing a Web Part removes a Web Part from the Web Part Page and moves it to the Web Part Page Gallery. A closed Web Part (as opposed to a deleted Web Part) is still technically on the Web Part Page, but is not available because its IsIncluded property is set to False. However, you can add it back to the Web Part Page at any time, if you have the appropriate permission.

The Online Web Part Gallery contains an additional set of Web Parts available from Microsoft. In this gallery, you can locate several MSNBC Web Parts that display news, stock, and weather information. Over time, you may find additional Web Parts available in the Online Web Part Gallery, either from Microsoft, or from other software manufacturers and vendors. You can also create your own Online Web Part Gallery. For more information on creating your own Online Gallery, see the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Software Development Kit.

If your enterprise is large, has many sites, and has decided to conveniently install the same set of Web Parts on many sites, then these Web Parts may be stored in a Virtual Server Web Part Gallery.

You can deploy Web Parts in a Virtual Server Web Part Gallery by developing a Web Part Package file (.cab). For more information on deploying Web Parts on virtual servers, see the Windows SharePoint Services Software Development Kit.