Add Users Custom Action on Web Application level on SharePoint 2013

Question

I want to add Users Custom Action on web application level which will be found on all Site Collection including newly created Site Collection.

I have tried to add Users Custom Action on Site Collection Level and it will automatically added on each sub-sites.

But How can I add Users Custom Action to Web Application Level so which will be added on each Site Collection and each sub-site of it including newly created Site Collection and sub-sites.

FYI :- I want to add Users Custom Action programmatically using c#.

Answer 1

Simple, if you're deploying WSP solution packages. Then you can just create, deploy and activate a web application scoped feature using the feature.xml outlined below. Define your custom actions in the CustomActions.xml file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Feature xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" 
         Id="{5F377DB6-FDC8-477C-9423-4B16C5FAB505}" 
         Scope="WebApplication"
         Version="1.0.0.0"
         Title="Feature Title" 
         Description="Feature Description">
    <ElementManifests>
        <ElementManifest Location="CustomActions.xml" />
    </ElementManifests>
</Feature>

Server side deployments are no longer recommended for new applications. Hence, you should also consider these options for deploying your custom actions:

• Create and deploy a SharePoint App that registers the custom actions. The app can be deployed to a site collection or globally through the App Catalog site.
• Use PowerShell scripting to deploy the custom action(s) to all applicable site collections. Leverage the Add-PnPCustomAction cmdlet from SharePoint Patterns and Practices (PnP).

The PnP PowerShell can run remote, works with SharePoint online and on-premises. I recommend this option the most.