Deploying page layouts with Visual Studio to SharePoint 2010: Revert to Site Definition (Ghosting Unghosted files)

So, you are deploying branding through Visual Studio into SharePoint 2010, which includes your Masterpage(s) and Page Layout(s).

It works great the first time doesn’t it?  But what then . . . as soon as you use the page layout in any of your sites, it gets locked down and can no longer be deleted and replaced.

The answer:

• CKSDEV tools and this nifty little script below.  If you have never used CKSDEV tools, DO IT . . . it’s an amazing plugin for Visual Studio 2010 that will help you love SharePoint deployment.
• Set your project to Upgrade instead of the normal Default on deployment (screenshot below).
• Ghost your files after upgrade/deployment (in SharePoint Designer, this is called Reset to Site Definition) with the code below.

In your Event Receiver under FeatureActivated, add the following code.

using (SPSite siteCollection = (SPSite)properties.Feature.Parent)
{
   if (siteCollection != null)
   {

      // enumerate through each site and remove custom branding
      foreach (SPWeb site in siteCollection.AllWebs)
      {
         SPFile pageLayout = site.GetFile(site.Url + "/_catalogs/masterpage/WebpartPage.aspx");
         if (pageLayout.Exists && pageLayout.CustomizedPageStatus == SPCustomizedPageStatus.Customized)
         {
            pageLayout.RevertContentStream();
         }
      }
   }
}

Some important things to note about this code:

• the using statement avoids memory leaks
• always check if SPAnything is null before using it – SharePoint will toss its cookies on quite a few controls if it has a null reference.
• foreach SPWeb will open every website under the current site collection, which allows you to target all sites where the masterpages and page layouts are deployed
• check if the SPFile pageLayout is SPCustomizedPageStatus.Customized
• RevertContentStream resets the file to site definition.

Sweet… Awesome… Deliciousness…  Hope this helps!