Best Practices

8/6/2010

dataBridge Launches SharePoint 2010 online training site

Become a SharePoint Super User!
For years dataBridge has been training end users, one on one, to become SharePoint Experts! Now we've created an Online Training Site dedicated to SharePoint 2010 that is complete with Self Pace Training Modules and Best Practices. From Beginner to Advanced these training videos allow you to learn at your own pace. Plus we add new videos each month and let you submit ideas for their content.

Whether you need to become an expert as your company's SharePoint Administrator or you need to provide End User training to your entire organization we have affordable options that get results! Check out samples here

Posted at 2:00 PM by Michael Fuchs | Category: Best Practices | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

8/2/2010

What Can SharePoint 2010 Do For You?

Hear from SharePoint 2010 customers - Global Crossing, Associated Press, and many more. From ECM and WCM, to Collaboration and Search, SharePoint 2010 is delivering real results to our customers. Watch here

Posted at 10:45 AM by Michael Fuchs | Category: Best Practices | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/5/2009

SharePoint, SharePlosion and Governance

I heard a very interesting term last night at the WNC SharePoint User Group. "SharePlosion" (a SharePoint explosion) and that is a great description of what can happen with SharePoint if you don't have a governance plan in place. Microsoft has made it so easy for users to create new sites and workspaces that in a very short period of time a small group of users can create hundreds of sites. The ability to put the "power" into the end users hands is a double edge sword. Yes, this eliminates the bottleneck that occurs when users have to ask IT to create sites for them but at the same time it can mushroom into an unorganized mess.

Governance 101 – Who is allowed to create sites and what justifies their ability to do so. Here's a simple example: First you will have at least two roles. One will be an Admin person or "Approver". The second would be a user that has the ability to create sites but must receive approval first. In this example Mary, the user, needs a new project site. She navigates to a form (custom list) on here SharePoint Intranet and requests permission to create the site. The form may have questions like;

Purpose of site
Members of site
Company project or initiative associated with this site
Associated department
Type of site needed
And any other comments

Once the form is complete, the "approver" Bob, gets notified of the new site request, reviews the criteria and approves or denies which in turn notifies Mary. In this way there is a process in place to manage the number of sites created and the opportunity for the approver to suggest other alternatives when appropriate. For instance there may only be a need for a new document library on an existing site rather than an entirely new site.

Governance for your SharePoint site must be one of the first steps when planning for your SharePoint Implementation. SharePlosion clean up is very messy!

Posted at 9:13 AM by Michael Fuchs | Category: Best Practices | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/19/2008

No No’s in SharePoint File Names

If you're like many SharePoint users you have tried to upload a file or multiple files and received an error message. The most common problem are documents or images with an "&" in the file name.

Characters that shouldn't be used in File, folder and site names.

& ~ # % * ? / + | " . _ { } \ : < >

Underscore shouldn't be used at the start of any name and periods can't be used consecutively in the middle of a name or at the end.

Posted at 10:33 AM by Michael Fuchs | Category: Best Practices | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/9/2008

Create a SharePoint List from Excel

The first thing you'll need to do is open up the excel spreadsheet and select TABLE from the INSERT tab. Make sure all rows and columns are selected and you check the 'My Table has headers' box

After doing this a new tab named design will appear at the top of the window. Select DESIGN and then click EXPORT : Export Table to SharePoint List…

A box will then appear where you will be prompted for 3 things

Address: www. yoursite .com
Name: The Name of the SharePoint list to be created
Description: Any description you would like listed with the SharePoint list to be created

After entering this information you can click finish and when it is done it will provide you with a link to the newly created list in SharePoint.

Posted at 10:23 AM by Michael Fuchs | Category: Best Practices | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/20/2008

SharePoint Document Management

Document libraries are one of the most important things within SharePoint. You can store documents very easily within a document library and more importantly you have different ways to find the document you are looking for. It started with SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services 2003, you finally had the ability to use views to categorize your documents based on meta-data. Say goodbye to your complicated folder structures on your departmental drives.

How much time have you spent in the past to find your documents on your departmental drive? How much time have you spent trying to find your way through the folder structures your colleagues have made on your corporate drives? In the past I have seen many folder structures with over 50 levels deep. For the one who built this structure it could be very useful. However for most of the people this structure is too complicated. Everyone has his own way to find the information he is looking for. With SharePoint document libraries you can define multiple views, you now have the ability to sort, filter and group your information and these views can be made based on the meta-data you have applied to a document.

Windows SharePoint Services 2007 has many new document management features.

Columns, Views and Meta-data in the document library are the most important areas of every document management system. SharePoint has different column types in place in which you can enter your meta-data.

Single line of text
Multiple lines of text
Choice (menu to choose from)
Number
Currency
Date and time
Lookup (information already on this site)
Yes/No (Checkbox)
Person or Group
Hyperlink or Picture
Calculated (calculation based on other columns)
A picture with display attributes and optional constraints
A hyperlink with display attributes and optional constraints
Content Type ID

When you setup a document library for the first time you really have to think about the meta-data. Meta-data is the keyword for making it easier to find your information. Setting up a document library and setting up views can be done by everyone. However when thinking about how to use meta-data and how to categorize your information it is always better to hire a SharePoint consultant to point you in the right direction.

When you're thinking about meta-data you always need to think how users will access the information. You always need to question yourself about what the most logical way to find the information within a document library is.

Edit in Datasheet
The Edit in Datasheet functionality is one of the easiest ways for changing meta-data. It gives you an overview as you would have within Excel. You can use the filter capabilities very easily. On the right side of the screen you can open a new tool pane to expose additional features including export capabilities and charting features.

Quick Tip
If you upload multiple documents or pictures you cannot select the meta-data. Best practice is to upload multiple individually or edit the metadata for multiple document uploads in the datasheet view.

Posted at 10:35 AM by Michael Fuchs | Category: Best Practices | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)