No left navigation when new webpartpages are created in SharePoint 2010

Creating webpart pages or basic pages in SharePoint is done with a click of a button. But when you view the page you've created you won't get to see the left navigation menu. The cause I reckon is that the left side navigation is defined in the Master Page in the "PlaceHolderLeftNavBar" content place holder and templates for webpart pages shipped with SharePoint are overriding this content place holder and delete its content. 


The solution for this is to change the page so it will not override the menu place holder, but inherite it from the Master Page. The place holders we are interested in are: "PlaceHolderLeftNavBar" and "PlaceHolderNavSpacer". 


Start by opening the SharePoint Designer. Open the webpart page or basic page you want to add the menu to. In code view look for the following lines and delete them:

      <asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderId="PlaceHolderLeftNavBar" runat="server"></asp:Content>

and

      <asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderId="PlaceHolderNavSpacer" runat="server"></asp:Content> 

and

      <SharePoint:UIVersionedContent ID="WebPartPageHideQLStyles" UIVersion="4" runat="server">
      <ContentTemplate>
      <style type="text/css">
      body #s4-leftpanel {
      display:none;
      }
      .s4-ca {
      margin-left:0px;
      }
      </style>


Save the file. You will get a warning saying you are about to customize the page. Just go ahead.


Hope this saves time.

Developing on SharePoint 2010

As a software developer you can use the SharePoint 2010 business collaboration platform to build enterprise-class solutions for intranet portals and the web. View these ten modules on Microsoft MSDN to get started with development for SharePoint 2010 using Visual Studio 2010.

Module 01: Getting Started: Building Web Parts in SharePoint 2010
Module 02: What Developers Need to Know About SharePoint 2010
Module 03: Building Blocks for Web Part Development in SharePoint 2010
Module 04: Accessing SharePoint 2010 Data and Objects with Server-Side APIs
Module 05: Accessing SharePoint 2010 Data and Objects with Client-Side APIs
Module 06: Accessing External Data with Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010
Module 07: Developing Business Processes with SharePoint 2010 Workflows
Module 08: Creating Silverlight User Interfaces for SharePoint 2010 Solutions
Module 09: Sandboxed Solutions for Web Parts in SharePoint 2010
Module 10: Creating Dialog Boxes and Ribbon Controls for SharePoint 2010