What is SharePoint Content Page ?

Content pages are stored logically within their SharePoint sites, and most of the files are also stored physically in their associated SharePoint content database. However, not all content pages are actually stored in the content database.Content pages can be modified by end users by using tools such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, or uploaded using protocols such as WebDAV. When you create a SharePoint site, many content pages are created automatically, for example, default.aspx, allitems.aspx for your Web Part gallery, editform.aspx as an edit form for your announcements list, and several others.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 supports page customization . However, Windows SharePoint Services stores customized pages differently from unmodified template pages.Unmodified page template files are stored on disk on the front-end Web server, not in the content database. Customized pages—template pages that a user has modified—are stored in the content database.In cases where Windows SharePoint Services provisions a page from a SharePoint template, instead of retrieving a page from the content database, the system creates a pointer to the instance of the page template file on the front-end Web server. As a result, Windows SharePoint Services avoids repeatedly creating copies of its content pages, which are provisioned each time a site is created.This pointer to an instance of the template page on the front-end Web server is created only if the user has not customized the page. After a page is customized (using Office SharePoint Designer 2007, for example), the pointer is voided and the page itself is stored in the content database.