What is the difference between master page and page layout

Question

What is the difference between master page and page layout ?

Ring Zhong · Answer

Hi MASTER PAGE Master pages form the basic structure of all pages in a site. A master page is the template into which the other pages fit. SharePoint uses a master page to define the basic structure and then a set of pages to provide the page specific parts. SharePoint Server further uses page layouts to provide the template for the content to be displayed. From these page layouts page instances are created. PAGE LAYOUT Page Layout is part of SharePoint publishing features which are the Web content management features of SharePoint. These templates allow content authors to focus on generating their content. SharePoint manages the merging of the user content and the template into a single consistent page. Page layouts are templates into which content will be added but these templates still fall inside of the scope of what the master page defines but they further refine what is on the page by including specific Web Part zones Web Parts and field controls. Page layouts are a SharePoint Server 2010 Web Content Management feature so they are not available in SharePoint Foundation. When users use the publishing features to create a new page they are creating a new page instance. The page layout is selected (the content type is inferred) and the user is presented with an opportunity to enter the content. Under the covers SharePoint merges the content and the template into a single output that is returned to users when they browse the site. Hope it helps. Thanks