Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animals on the cover of SharePoint User's Guide are a rooster and hens (Gallus domesticus). Roosters (male chickens) and hens (female chickens) are domesticated birds believed to have descended from the wild Asian red junglefowl. They are omnivorous, feeding on small seeds, herbs and leaves, grubs, insects, and even small mammals such as mice. Chickens can fly only short distances but can usually clear a barnyard fence if their feathers are not clipped. Since it is so widespread, the chicken is considered to be the most common bird in the world, with a population count reaching 24 billion (as of 2003).

Humans have benefited enormously from the chicken's efficient reproductive process. When a rooster is placed among a flock of hens, fertile eggs generally appear within a couple of days. When a rooster dies or is removed from the flock, the hens will continue to produce fertile eggs for up to four weeks thanks to their handy "sperm nest" areas, which collect and store semen for later use. Hens quite clearly prefer dominant males to low-ranking ones, and almost always resist copulation with the latter. They try first to run from the assailant before sending out a cry for help to the dominant rooster. If all else fails, the hen simply ejects the assailant's sperm back in his direction immediately after the sexual attack. Matt Hutchinson was the production editor for SharePoint User's Guide. GEX, Inc. provided production services. Lydia Onofrei, Emily Quill, Claire Cloutier, and Colleen Gorman provided quality control. Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from an unknown source. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with Adobe InDesign CS using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Andrew Savikas and Judy Hoer to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Lydia Onofrei.