18 February, 2013

Disabled accounts in AD show up in SharePoint as active profiles

Problem Description:
If the proper filer is not applied in import connections then it can lead to hundreds of unwanted / disabled profile in ssp database. Sometimes due to IT audits we want to get rid of those profiles from SharePoint.

Product Applies:
1.    MOSS2007 (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007)
2.    WSS3.0 Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)

Error Message: N/A

What exactly I did? How exactly I configured and came to know about the issue?
1.    In AD, I have created lots of user and disabled few of them.

2.    Configured SSP to import user profile by using the default filter
(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user).

3.    That’s it-Problem started and found lots of profiles in view user profile.

Resolution:
·         At first apply filter (&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(
!(userAccountControl:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2))) to just import active profiles in
connection.

·         Run full profile import three times back to back.

·         After that you will find users in view user profile > Profile Missing from import.

·         You can manually delete these unwanted profile or wait till clean up job delete them.

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

Your current Contributor Settings prevent you from creating, editing and deleting workflows


Guys, we are well are aware about SharePoint Designer and how it can be very useful for the site customizations. One of my user got this error.

Error Message:
Your current Contributor Settings prevent you from creating, editing and deleting workflows

Probable Cause: 
By Default the Contributor Settings will be enabled on your site. You will notice this in the SharePoint Designer task pane.

Resolution:
This is because your account is present in the Content Authors group, which may “Restrict the use of some features” as the task pane mentions. This behavior can be modified if you turn off the "Contributor Settings" in SPD.

1. Open the site in SharePoint Designer
2. Site Menu
3. Choose Contributor Settings.
4. Click on Disable Contributor settings
5. Refresh the page you should not see the message. 

Important Information:
If you are a site manager or administrator, you are probably working with various groups such as Web designers or content authors who are working on different aspects of a Web site. With so many groups working simultaneously, you are probably worried that somebody might inadvertently break a site — for example, by changing the design of the home page, modifying the style sheet, saving files in a wrong location, or breaking the site navigation or search functionality. If you are concerned, the good news is that you can avoid these scenarios by using Contributor Settings to turn on and configure Contributor mode in Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007.


17 February, 2013

How to hide "Respond to this Survey"



Survey Purpose:
We use surveys to ask team members what they think about issues, how to improve your processes, and many other topics. You can collect the results by using several different types of questions, such as multiple choice, fill-in fields, and even ratings.

Problem Description:
How to hide "Respond to this Survey" when a user has already responded to the Survey

It’s simple but little bit tricky to implement as it involves user controls also.

Imp point to note:
·         The Rendering Template for the Survey List is in the defaulttemplates.ascx
Control under 12/Template/Control template.

·         The rendering template ID is ‘ViewToolBar. This template renders the "Respond
to this Survey", Actions menu and Settings menu in the toolbar.

·         This template is a generic template which is used by other lists as well.

·         "Respond to this Survey" is rendered by <SharePoint:NewMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_NewMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />.

How exactly it looks like:
<SharePoint:RenderingTemplate ID="ViewToolBar" runat="server">
<Template>
<wssuc:ToolBar CssClass="ms-menutoolbar" EnableViewState="false" id="toolBarTbl"
ButtonSeparator="<img src='/_layouts/images/blank.gif' alt=''>"
RightButtonSeparator="&nbsp;&nbsp;" runat="server">
<Template_Buttons>
<SharePoint:NewMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_NewMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />
<SharePoint:ActionsMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_ActionsMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />
<SharePoint:SettingsMenu
AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,tb_SettingsMenu_AK%>" runat="server" />
</Template_Buttons>
<Template_RightButtons>
<SharePoint:PagingButton runat="server"/>
<SharePoint:ListViewSelector runat="server"/>
</Template_RightButtons>
</wssuc:ToolBar>
</Template>
</SharePoint:RenderingTemplate>

Microsoft Recommendation:
1.    We cannot modify OOB defaulttemplates.ascx as this would be unsupported
2.    Make a copy of defaulttemplates.ascx under CONTROL TEMPLATES FOLDER of 12 hive
and rename it to CustomDefaultTemplates.ascx
What exactly needs to done/Resolution:
1.    To hide “Respond to this Survey” if a user has already responded to the survey,
Create a class which inherits from the Microsoft.Sharepoint.WebControls.NewMenu.

2.    In this override CreateChildControls and have your logic to hide unhide "Respond
to this Survey" based on your need.

3.    Build the class library and install the dll to the GAC.

4.    Modify the “ViewToolBar” in the custom ascx such that to render your custom
"Respond to this Survey" menu from the class library you created.

(Note: You need to add your assembly reference and register the tag prefix in the
Custom ascx control.)

5.    Next step is to render the custom rendering template to the "Survey List" so
     that the custom "Respond to this Survey" menu will be rendered in the toolbar.

6.    For this the "ToolbarTemplate" property of the View should be changed in the
schema.xml file of the Survey List definition.

7.    As modifying the OOB files are not supported, Copy the “SurveyList” folder from
12/Template/Features and paste in the same place as “CustomSurveysList”.
Change the feature ID of the “CustomSurveyList”

8.    Open the schema.xml file available under survey folder of “CustomSurveysList”
and add the “ToolbarTemplate=CustomViewToolBar” attribute to the “View BaseID=0”.

Example attached:
<View BaseViewID="0" FreeForm="TRUE" ReadOnly="TRUE" Type="HTML" ToolBarTemplate=" CustomViewToolBar ">

9.    Install and activate "CustomSurveysList"

10. Create a Survey List using CustomSurveyList template and we should be able to
achieve the functionality as required.

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

14 February, 2013

Downloadable evaluation resources for SharePoint 2013

Download the following content for information about how to evaluate SharePoint 2013.

Content Description
Downloads IT Professional Reviewer's Guide for SharePoint Server 2013 Preview Learn how new capabilities in SharePoint Server 2013 can help IT pros better manage cost, risk, and time.
Downloads Download SharePoint Server 2013 Preview See for yourself what SharePoint 2013 can do by downloading and installing this version.
Downloads Download SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview See for yourself what SharePoint 2013 can do by downloading and installing this version.
Lab icon Test lab guides Get up and running quickly in a test environment by following these guides that take the guesswork out of a SharePoint 2013 deployment.
Building blocks SharePoint 2013 training for IT pros IT pro-focused how-to training and covers changes and new features for search, social, plus deployment and performance/scalability with downloadable presentations.

SharePoint 2013 Certifications



As of today, we have a total of 4 training courses available. These are:
FIrst Look Clinic: What’s new for IT Professionals in Microsoft SharePoint 2013 – it’s a 3 hour clinic, rather than a traditional training. I’d argue this is almost full day training, since it took more than 3 hours just to skim through. Since it’s a very early look at SharePoint 2013 there’s not certification alignment for this clinic.

The second one is First Look Clinic: What’s new for Developers in SharePoint 2013 and it’s also a 3 hour clinic. More like a day, although there are no labs available within the course material.
The third one is SharePoint 2013: IT Pro Ignite training. It’s a 3 to 5 day classroom-based training, including hands-on labs. It’s not widely available but does give you a deeper look and knowledge into what’s possible with SharePoint 2013 for IT Pros. As you might have guessed, the fourth course that is available is SharePoint 2013: Developer Ignite training. Also 3-5 days, lots of labs.
Finally, the Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 course was released for public use. A book is coming out in April from MS Press – see details here.

The first exam for anyone wanting to be fluent with developing solutions for SharePoint 2013 is Programming HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 (70-480). This exam was released August 20th, 2012. The accompanying preparation material is available (see here). This is a mandatory certification exam for the upcoming MCSD: SharePoint certification.

The second exam we already have details on, is for IT Pros: Core Solutions for SharePoint Server 2013 (70-331). Availability for this exam was scheduled for February 5th, 2013 and as of February 2nd, the certification exam was available from Prometric. 

The third exam is also for IT Pros called Advanced Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013. It’s also available since February 2nd, 2013. Together with 70-331 and 70-332 you are two steps closer to being an MCSE: SharePoint.

The last requirement for MCSE: SharePoint (for IT Pros) is MCSA: Windows Server 2012. You can either complete this requirement with a single upgrade exam (70-417) or do all three certification exams: 70-410, 70-411 and 70-412.