Folders present in SharePoint 2010 14\TEMPLATE directory

Introduction

TEMPLATE folder is one of the most important file folder of SharePoint where the templates, pages, masterpages will reside.
We will check the breakdown structure of directory and what each folder is meant for in SharePoint.Understanding this folder structure is important to get clear picture on, how and where SharePoint will house our deployed items.

TEMPLATE Directory

The installation path of the TEMPLATE directory will be

[root directory]:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE
Following is image of TEMPLATE directory breakdown structure in SharePoint 2010

1033

This sub-directory contains templates for various documents, XML files, and workflows.
This number corresponds to the language localization for English.
If SharePoint is installed with other languages being primary, the number will be different.

ADMIN

The ADMIN sub-directory contains ASP.NET server pages that correspond to administrative
tasks. Most of them will be accessed through the Central Administration site.

CONTROLTEMPLATES

This is one of the common sub-directory used by many. This contains ASP.NET user controls that are utilized by SharePoint.Also while SharePoint customization, folders will be deployed to house the project related files.
For example, if we create any visual web parts the user controls will be deployed as folders in this sub-directory.

DocumentTemplates

The only thing stored in this directory is the standard ASP.NET server page for wikis.

FEATURES

The FEATURES sub-directory contains 250+ folders, which represent the core features of SharePoint 2010.
Each of these folders contain a Feature.xml file, which identifies to SharePoint 2010 several characteristics such as the identity, scope, resources and manifest location of the feature. SharePoint customization deployed as features will be deployed to this sub-directory.

GLOBAL

This sub-directory houses the standard ASP.NET master pages that deploy with SharePoint
2010, such as the v4, default, and minimal master pages.
Also here are global templates for site definitions, views, and schema for list templates.

IDENTITYMODEL

This sub-directory contains default login pages for the different types of authentication
models, such as Forms, Windows, Trust, and Card.

IMAGES

This sub-directory houses all of the standard images for the SharePoint product.
If you have images deployed as part of customized solutions, by default they will
be deployed as sub-folders of this sub-directory.

LAYOUTS

The LAYOUTS folder is the folder that contains a large portion of the ASP.NET server
pages that are used in the SharePoint product.
You can reference this directory from within a SharePoint site by using a format similar to the following: http://mysite/_layouts/viewlsts.aspx

Pages

Only three ASP.NET server pages are stored in this folder, named form, viewpage,
and webfldr.

Scenarios

This sub-directory contains wizard-style pages, used in some of the different services
with greater complexity, such as BCS, ProfileServiceApplication, and joining the
farm with a particular web server.

Site Templates

This sub-directory contains the site templates for the different built-in SharePoint
2010 web templates.

SQL

This sub-directory contains SQL table creation scripts for tables associated with
various types of SharePoint 2010 databases. Many of the services database creation
scripts are here, such as the UsageDB, the Diagnostics DB, and Configuration DBs.
Also stored here are upgrade scripts to upgrade from a SharePoint 2007 solution
to a SharePoint 2010 solution.

THEMES

This sub-directory houses the 23 built-in themes or looks that are installed with
SharePoint 2010.

XML

The XML sub-directory contains XML schema and document files related to various
configurations in SharePoint.