How to add custom JavaScript code to all SharePoint 2010 pages (CustomAction)

There are plenty or articles on how to do this. This is more of a note for myself, as I have to “re-learn” this every time I need to customize SharePoint. There are 2 ways (that I know of) that you can add code to every page in SharePoint 2010, 1 by the AdditionalPageHead delegate control, or ,2 by Custom Action. This article is about #2 using a Custom Action. This article is about #1 – Delegate Controls

To add JavaScript to every page via CustomAction:

1. Start Visual Studio, and create a new Empty SharePoint Project (uncheck the Create Directory for Solution because you salways create the destination directory yourself)
2. Deploy as a Farm Solution (I have not figured what you can and can’t do with sandboxed solutions yet)
3. RightCLick the Project and select Add Module and name the Module at the bottom (I name the Module the name of the Document Library where I want to put the file)
4. Delete Sample.txt and add the javascript file you want (I usually have to go to the correct folder, put the file there, right click the ProjectName and select “Show all files”, then I can include the file in the project).
5. Chop up the elements.xml file. The final should look like this below:
1. is changed to (Url is the Doc Library where the file will be added)
2. is changed to (Remove the path from Url and add the “GhostableInLibrary” part)

<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
  <Module Name="Test" Url="Test">
    <File Path="Test\jquery-1.7.min.js" Url="jquery-1.7.min.js" Type="GhostableInLibrary" />
  </Module>
</Elements>

Now you need to the code to add the file to the top of every page, add the “CustomAction” stuff below

  <CustomAction
    ScriptSrc="~SiteCollection/Test/jquery-1.7.min.js"
    Location="ScriptLink"
    Sequence="11">
  </CustomAction>

Final looks like this:

Right click the project and package it up.

Common PowerShell commands to work with solutions are (you must create the destination Document Library before you try to install this code):

To add/install
Add-SPSolution H:\Path\To\wsp\Test.wsp
Install-SPSolution Test.wsp -GACDeploy
Update-SPSolution -literalpath  H:\Path\To\wsp\Test.wsp -identity Test.wsp -GACDeploy

To remove
Uninstall-SPSolution Test.wsp
Remove-SPSolution Test.wsp

This results in a new Feature in manage features (Active it!)

A new file in the document library, and the following in the source code for the page. Done!: