How to: Add Missing ContentPlaceHolder

In Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, the BlueBand master page is not supported in the Search Center site templates. When you upgrade your Search Center sites, if you decide to maintain the Office SharePoint Server 2007 look, when you try to access the site, the browser displays the following error message: An Unexpected Error Has Occurred.

This topic describes the cause of the error, and the steps to take to resolve it.

Resolving the Error

---

This error occurs because the BlueBand master page is missing the SPNavigation content placeholder used for additional page editing controls. This content placeholder is required for master pages to be compatible with SharePoint Server 2010. You can verify that this is the cause of the error by checking the Unified Logging Service (ULS) logs for the entry with the matching correlation identifier (ID).

To resolve the error, you must add the SPNavigation content placeholder to the BlueBand master page.

To add the SPNavigation content placeholder

1. Open your site's Site Settings page by appending /_layouts/settings.aspx to the site's URL, as follows:

   http://ServerName/SiteName/_layouts/settings.aspx

2. Locate BlueBand.master page in the master page gallery, select it, and then click Download a Copy.

3. Open the downloaded file in an HTML editor such as Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010, or in a text editor such as Notepad.

4. Add the following code at the end of the customized layout page.

   HTML

    

   <asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="SPNavigation" runat="server">
   </asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
   

   Note

   This code can be added anywhere on the master page.

5. After you add the missing SPNavigation content placeholder, upload the updated BlueBand.master file to your site. You can either replace the existing version of BlueBand.master with the updated version, or upload the updated version as a new master page.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff512790(v=office.14).aspx