SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager 2010

SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager for SharePoint Server 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 (WSS 4) is a SharePoint add-in that provides the easy SharePoint extranet collaboration and simplified SharePoint extranet administration that SharePoint 2010 is missing in the out-of-the-box product.
Built on the solid foundation of SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager for 2007, the SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager for 2010 features enhanced functionality and powerful new capabilities – all accessed from within SharePoint 2010 itself.
The comprehensive SharePoint extranet toolkit includes the following features:

• The flexibility to empower delegated users to perform routine administrative tasks like sending invitations, adding accounts, unlocking accounts, managing passwords, granting access, removing access, and more.  Bottlenecks and wait times are eliminated.

• New extranet users can register for site access themselves or you can send them invitations – approval of registrations can be automated.  IT “busywork” is reduced.

• New security features – administrators can define security policies to govern site access and activity – at the site collection level, at the site level, or based on email domain.  You can make your extranet as secure as you want.

• Total SharePoint integration – extranet management from within SharePoint itself eliminates learning obstacles and facilitates enthusiastic adoption.

• With the remote extranet installation service package, the SharePoint solution teams, SharePoint extranet experts can have the vendor extranet up and running quickly, securely, and affordably in just a few hours.  We can start collaborating with our business partners right away!     

Features

* Extranet Collaboration Manager for SharePoint 2010 allows you to manage your extranet within SharePoint itself. No separate program or interface to learn!

* Allows the flexibility to designate certain users as Site Sponsors to perform routine administrative tasks like sending invitations, adding accounts, unlocking accounts, managing passwords, granting access, removing access, and more. Bottlenecks and wait times are eliminated.

* Improved control over assignment of administrative responsibilities – may be based on SharePoint Group(s), Membership Role(s), or both.

* Self-service features for extranet users, including password reset, extranet account sign-up, profile updating, etc.

* Reporting and monitoring features to measure your extranet’s effectiveness.

* Ability to send invitations to one or more desired extranet users.

* Allows an administrator to send an invitation URL manually when necessary.

* Allows an administrator to simulate an invitation in order to see what the         invitee would receive

* Ability to require users to agree with Terms and Conditions before receiving extranet access.

* Ability to capture all site activity in a detailed, simple-to-read audit log, allowing administrators to track service level and maintain compliance.

* Ability to automate registration approval process through a SharePoint workflow.

* Improved control of email notifications:

• Ability to customize notification content with a mail definition defined by an administrator
• Ability to define signatures for your notification emails
• Ability to define the “From” address used by each notification email
• Ability to “turn off” any unwanted notification  

* Ability to choose between SQL, Active Directory, or other membership providers for your extranet user database.

* Ability to set up forms-based login for extranet users; simple, familiar, and easy to use.

* Optional custom sign-in page which supports saved accounts, mixed-mode authentication, and the ability to map requests from an IP range to a specific authentication provider.

* Ability to set security policies at the site collection level, at the site level, or based upon email domain.

* Membership management features allow you to:

• Add and remove extranet accounts
• Change extranet account passwords
• Lock extranet accounts based on last password change date or last login date
• Unlock extranet accounts
• Approve or deny extranet accounts
• View extranet account role membership
• View extranet role account members
• Add extranet users to extranet roles
• Add and remove extranet roles

* Allows new extranet users to register for site access.

* Allows existing SharePoint users to register for site access.

* Supports invitation registration and anonymous registration for site access.

* Allows requiring email verification during anonymous registration.

* Allows an administrator to manually verify an email address used during a registration.

SHAREPOINT LIBRARIES 2010

Library:

·         Container for creating, organizing, managing different document types (Word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms etc).

·         To store files, Meta information about the files.

·         Used among different team members.

·         By default a Shared Library is created when a site is created.

·         Additionally any number of different types of libraries can be created.

Specialized library types in SP 2010

To store specific content  types.

·         Asset Library:

To create a rich media library.

To create, browse, share, organize and manage images, audio and video files.

·         Data Connection Library:

To create, browse, share, organize and manage files that contain information about connecting to external data connections.

Document Library:

To create, browse, share, organize, and manage documents or other files.

For creating folders, versioning of documents and check-in/check-out of files.

Form Library:

To store and manage Microsoft Office InfoPath forms/ XML files for use with Microsoft Office InfoPath(business forms like a status report, purchase orders, etc).

Picture Library:

To upload, share pictures with others.

Includes a built-in image viewer.

Report Library:

To create web pages, reports to track business metrics, goals, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and business intelligence information.

Slide Library:

To create a library for storing and sharing Microsoft PowerPoint slides.

Wiki Page Library:

To create, store customizable pages of content that are linked together and can be edited by several people

The Managed Metadata Service or Connection is currently not available

A managed metadata service publishes a term store and, optionally, content types; a managed metadata connection consumes these. When you enable managed metadata in your SharePoint Server 2010 application, a managed metadata service and connection are created automatically. The service identifies the database to be used as the term store, and the connection provides access to the service.

I've been trying to create new Managed Metadata services but get this error when trying to manage them:

The Managed Metadata Service or Connection is currently not available. The Application Pool or Managed Metadata Web Service may not have been started. Please Contact your Administrator.

Here are the detailed steps that i followed to resolve this issue:

Resolution:

1)  Open Central Administration by going Start--All Programs--Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products--SharePoint 2010 Central Administration.

2)   Click on Manage Service Application which is available in Application Management section.

3)   When you click on Managed Metadata Service application, sometimes you may get the following error:

The Managed Metadata Service or Connection is currently not available

4)   Go and check whether the Managed Metadata Service has been started.

5)   Click on Application Management in the quick launch.

6)   Click on Manage services on server under Service Applications section.

7)  Check whether the Managed Metadata Web Service is started; if not then click on Start

8)   Do an IISRESET

Now you could be able to see the Managed Metadata Service properties

If you still face the same issue, go to IIS and check whether the Application pool for the metadata service is started

Note: Check the account in which the application pool for the metadata service is running. Sometimes if the password for the account is changed, you will get the same issue

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issue. Thank you :)

How to Create a New Document Library in SharePoint 2010

A library is a container for creating, organizing and managing different types of documents. It allows us to store files and Meta information about the files, so that it can be used among different team members. You can create, store and manage almost every type of file in different kinds of libraries (i.e. Word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms etc.)

By default a Shared Library is created when you create a site and additionally you can create as many types of libraries as you want.

1.   Select 'Site Actions', then 'View All Site Content'.

2.   Click 'Create'.

3.   The Popup will ask for Name, Description, Versioning and Template settings. Fill the fields as desired.

How to create the DPMRecoveryWebApplication

1.   Open the SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration console from the Start Menu.

2.   Once the SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration console is open, click on the Application Management tab which opens to display all of the various options for managing your SharePoint installation.

3.   Under the SharePoint Web Application Management heading, click on the Create or Extend Web application.

4.   The Create or Extend Web application page appears with two options. Choose Create a new Web application.

5.   After clicking the Create a new Web application link, the Create New Web Application page appears displaying various necessary fields for details about the web application that is being created. Here is a brief summary of the important fields of this page.

o   Chose the Create a new IIS web site and in the description, name it “DPMRecoveryWebApplication”.

o   In the Port field, give it a unique port which is not shared by any other internal application.

o   The Host Header and Path fields can remain unchanged.

o   Scroll down to the radio button Create new application pool and in the Application pool name box, note that the entry name includes the port number and the SharePoint recovery server name.

o   Under the Select a security account for this application pool, select the Configurable radio button and type in a suitable account and password in the fields that follow.

This is the last entry to make before hitting OK to have the web application created. Upon completion of the DPMRecoveryWebApplication web application, Application Created screen appears. At this point, schedule time to run ‘iisreset /noforce’.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you

Share Point Recovery -- Site recovery on the share point farm itself

Before DPM can be used to recover any individual site/contents on to a protected Farm, following requirements needs to be completed:

1)   An additional dummy SharePoint farm [called as Recovery Farm] is required.

2)   This farm may be a single server and may be hosted in a virtual environment. If you are recovering a WSS 3.0 site, your recovery farm should be WSS 3.0; if you are recovering a MOSS site, your recovery farm should also be MOSS.

3)   The list of features and templates present on the recovery farm must be the same as those on the production farm that is SharePoint Farm build and the SQL SKU installed should be same as the original production farm.

4)   On the Recovery Farm, create a DPMRecoveryWebApplication which would be used by the DPM Application to restore the data on production farm.

5)   Once the Recovery Farm is online, install the DPM Agent, attach the Recovery Farm to the same DPM server and run Configure Protection.exe to configure the WSS Writer.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you

Share Point Recovery -- Restore the Farm to a Network Folder

Note: Only, if the recovery point was created from an express full backup rather than an incremental synchronization, then you have the option to recover a site to a network folder.

§  Click the Recovery tab.

§  Expand Data on Disk and Tapes->DPM Server->SharePoint Server->and click All Protected SharePoint Data.

§  In the Recoverable Item list, Select SharePointFarm\SharePoint_Config.

§  Click Recover.

§  On the Review Recovery Selection page, click Next.

§  On the Select Recovery Type page, select Copy all SharePoint content and components to a network folder.

§  Click Browse.

§  Expand SharePoint Server->Volumes/Shares->select the Network folder and click OK.

§  Click Next.

§  On the Specify Recovery Options page, click Next.

§  On the Summary page, click Recover.

§  Wait until the recovery status is successful and then click Close.

§  Wait until the status is successful and then click Close

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you

Microsoft System Data Protection Manager 2007 – Recovering SharePoint Server

In this series, I will cover three main sections as follows:

Share Point Recovery -- Restoring the SharePoint at Farm level.

Share Point Recovery -- Restore the Farm to a Network Folder.

Share Point Recovery -- Site recovery on the share point farm itself.

SharePoint Recovery Options using DPM

Data Protection Manager 2007 can be used to protect the data on SharePoint server 2007 and Windows SharePoint services 3.0. DPM can protect the SharePoint at the farm level and can be used for recovering the data at multiple levels like:

·         Farm

·         Content databases

·         Sites

·         Webs/Sub Sites

·         Lists

·         Items/Documents

Share Point Recovery -- Restoring the SharePoint at Farm level.

Please follow the steps given below to restore the complete SharePoint production farm:

1.   Click the Recovery tab.

2.   Expand Data on Disk and Tapes--<Server Name>--MOSS27 and click All Protected SharePoint Data.

3.   In the Recoverable Item list, select SharePoint under the SharePoint Farm

4.   Click Recover

5.   On the Review Recovery Selection page, click Next

6.   On the Select Recovery Type page, point to Recover All SharePoint content and components

7.   Click Next

8.   On the Specify Recovery Options page, click Next

9.   On the Summary page, click Recover

Wait until the status is successful and then click Close

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you

The "Send To OneNote 2007" printer is missing in the Print dialog box in a 2007 Office program

In a 2007 Microsoft Office program, the Send To OneNote 2007 printer is missing in the Printer list in the Print dialog box.

This issue can occur when the Send To OneNote 2007 printer driver is missing.

NOTE:  You will be unable to install the Send To OneNote 2007 printer driver on a 64-bit version of Windows as it is incompatible with 64-bit operating systems.

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Repair the 2007 Office program installation

1.  Click Start, and then click Run. 

2.  Copy and then paste (or type) the following command in the Open box, and then press ENTER:

appwiz.cpl 

3.  In the Currently installed programs list, click the installed version of the 2007 Office program, and then click Change. 

4.  Click Repair, and then click Continue. 

Method 2: Install a generic printer driver, and then configure it for Microsoft Office OneNote 2007

1.  Install the generic printer driver in Windows Vista. To do this, follow these steps:

·         Click Start, type printers in the Start Search box, and then click Printers in the Programs list. 

·         On the left side of the page near the top, click add a printer. 

·         In the Add Printer dialog box, click Add a local printer. 

·         Click to select the Use an existing port option, select the appropriate port, and then click next. For example, you can select LPT1. 

·         Under Manufacturer, select Generic, select Generic / Text Only under Printers, and then click next. 

·         If you receive the following message, click to select the Use the driver that is currently installed (recommended) option, and then click Next :

·         Which version of the driver do you want to use? 

·         Click next, and then click Finish. 

2.  Configure the generic printer for OneNote. To do this, follow these steps:

§  In the printer list, right-click the Generic / Text only printer, and then click Properties

§  Click the Ports tab, and then click to select the Send to Microsoft OneNote Port check box. 

§  Click the Advanced Tab, select Send to Microsoft OneNote Driver in the Driver list, and then click Print Processor. 

§  Under Print processor, select OneNotePrint2007, select RAW under Default data type, and then click OK. 

§  Click the General tab, change the name of the printer to Send to OneNote 2007, and then click OK. 

The folder may be located in an unavailable location, protected with a password, or the filename contain illegal characters

Different users…different issues but all are using the same product i.e. SharePoint

And we are here to resolves the issues and guide them in right directions.

This time-I am sharing in interesting issues which is based on sharepoint designer. User opened a ticket by mentioning that she is getting the following error message while opening the site in sharepoint designer.

The folder 'http://localhost' isn't accessible. The folder may be located in an unavailable location, protected with a password, or the filename contains a / or \.

What needs to be done if we encounter such issues? If we notice carefully then we will come to know that the error message is self explanatory. Ok-what exactly?

Here are the guidelines by which you can check the parameters one by one and get back to me in case of any questions/queries/information required:

1)   There is no such site or folder?

2)   This location is inaccessible because you are using FORM Authentication? You need to extend the web application on another port to connect to SPD.

3)   URL contains illegal characters?

4)   URL contains file names i.e. default.aspx

5)   Check in Central Administration > Application Management > Authentication Providers. Make sure "Enable Client Integration" is set to "Yes".

Thank you. Please feel free to contact/any queries/any questions, I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues.