As a portal site administrator, you can modify the location and naming format for personal sites on the portal site, and edit the site settings for other users.

Selecting the Personal Site Location

The personal site location is the directory in which you create and store personal sites for the portal site. This directory is created directly under the root directory. For example, if you click personal, all of the personal site directories are created under http://servername/personal. You can change this location at any time without affecting the location of existing personal sites.

To select a personal site location

1. On the home page of the portal site, click Site Settings.
2. On the Site Settings page, in the User Profile, Audiences, and Personal Sites section, click Manage personal sites.
3. On the Manage Personal Sites page, in the Personal Site Location section, in the Location list, select the location in which you want to create and store all personal sites.
4. Click OK.

The selected location for personal sites will not be available for users creating SharePoint sites that are not personal sites. Some locations are provided by default. To add new locations, you can define a managed path in SharePoint Central Administration.

To add a new personal site location

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click SharePoint Central Administration.
2. On the Central Administration page, in the Portal Site and Virtual Server Configuration section, click Configure virtual server settings from the Virtual Server List page.
3. On the Virtual Server List page, click Default Web Site.
4. On the Virtual Server Settings page, in the Virtual Server Management section, click Define managed paths.
5. On the Define Managed Paths page, in the Add a New Path section, type the path to add in the Path box.
6. Click Included path, and then select Wildcard inclusion in the Type list.
7. Click OK.

If you want to remove the path as an option, do the following:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click SharePoint Central Administration.
2. On the Central Administration page, in the Portal Site and Virtual Server Configuration section, click Configure virtual server settings from the Virtual Server List page.
3. On the Virtual Server List page, click Default Web Site.
4. On the Virtual Server Settings page, in the Virtual Server Management section, click Define managed paths.
5. On the Define Managed Paths page, in the Included Paths section, select the check box next to the path that you want to remove, and then click Remove selected paths.

Selecting the Site Naming Format for Personal Sites

The site naming format describes the naming convention to use when creating directories for the personal sites for specific users, and how to resolve conflicts with existing directories. This is important because user names can potentially conflict across multiple domains.

1. On the home page of the portal site, click Site Settings.
2. On the Site Settings page, in the User Profile, Audiences, and Personal Sites section, click Manage personal sites.
3. On the Manage Personal Sites page, in the Site Naming Format section, select the naming format to use when creating and storing information for personal sites:
   • User name (do not resolve conflicts) Directories are named using the user name for each user. If the same user name occurs in multiple domains, only the first user with that name can create a personal site. Users with the same name on different domains who attempt to create personal sites will receive an error.
   • User name (resolve conflicts by using domain_username) Unless there is a naming conflict, all personal sites use the user name of the user who created them. In the case of conflicts, the new personal site is created in a directory with the format domain_username.
   • Domain and user name (will not have conflicts) All directories are created using a naming convention that includes the domain name. This avoids conflicts, but may be harder for users to remember.
4. Click OK.

Managing Site Settings for Individual Personal Sites

As a portal site administrator, you can manage the site settings for personal sites of other users.

1. On the home page of the portal site, click Site Settings.
2. On the Site Settings page, in the User Profile, Audiences, and Personal Sites section, click Manage profile database.
3. On the Manage Profile Database page, in the Profile and Import Settings section, click the user's account name, and then click Manage Personal Site.

Alternatively, you can enter the URL for the public view of a user’s personal site directly into your browser’s address bar, and then click Site Settings on the navigation bar of the public view of the site. The file name and parameters for the URL for the public view of personal sites is in the form: \Public.aspx?accountname=DOMAIN\user.

This topic is part of a six part series.

• Introduction
• Using Web Parts to Customize Personal Sites
• Customizing Content on Personal Sites
• Customizing Themes, Styles, and Templates
• Configuring Personal Sites as Personal Pages
• Managing Personal Sites