27 May, 2011

How can I change the name of an existing Document Library?

As i already published some useful content in my previous post that covers basics of document library:

I remembered two things which i have not mentioned in the above post are:
1. How can I change the name of an existing Document Library?
2. How to Change the Logo on Your SharePoint Site?

So let’s start with the first one:
1. How can I change the name of an existing Document Library?
1)   From the Library, use Settings menu, then Document Library Settings
2)   From the General Settings section select Title, description and navigation.
3)   From this screen you can change the title of the library.
4)   Click the OK button-that’s it-Done

2. How to Change the Logo on Your SharePoint Site?
1)   Log in to your SharePoint Site
2)   On the right, click Site Actions >> Site Settings
3)   Under Look and Feel click Title, Description, and Icon
4)   Skip down to the Logo URL and Description section.
5)   In the URL field, enter the full URL for the logo image you want at the top of your SharePoint site.
6)   Click OK and You are done!!

Please let me know in case of any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information. I would be more than HAPPY to resolve your issues, Thanks!!

Change the document library URL


Sometimes, an easy task takes some time to resolve and becomes a headache. The Document Library is the most usable part in SharePoint and serves as document repository. In this post, i am going to highlight basic points which are related to document library but effective ones.

This post will cover:
1. How do you change the address of a document library?
2. How to upload multiple documents into a document library?
3. How do I change the properties on a document or item in a list?
4. How do I setup alerts on a document?
5. How do I send a link to a document to others?

Let’s start one by one. One request to everybody-Please let me know in case of any questions/queries regarding the below mentioned steps

I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues :-)

1. How do you change the address of a document library?
-Open your site in SharePoint Designer.
-It will display all the doc libs in the Folder List view (quick launch)
-Right Click the doc lib for which you want to change the URL
- Rename the doc lib. thats it-Done

2. How to upload multiple documents into a document library?
Well for this-several options are available by which you can achive the results:

Windows Explorer Option
-Click on the View Drop down
-Click on Explorer View

Explorer View Option
-Click on Actions
-Click on Open with Windows Explorer
-You can now drop files in here or paste file

Upload Multiple Documents Page option
-Click on Add New Document link
-Click on Upload Multiple Files...
-Select the Files you wish to upload

3. How do I change the properties on a document or item in a list?
-Hover over the document you wish to edit the properties or metadata for
-Click on on the down arrow to pull the menu
-Click on Edit
-Change the properties on this page

4. How do I setup alerts on a document?
-Hover over the document you wish to set an alert on
-Click on on the down arrow to pull the menu
-Click on Alert Me
-Specify the Alert settings you wish
-Click on OK

5. How do I send a link to a document to others?
-Right click exactly on the document you wish to send a link to
-Click on Copy Shortcut

18 May, 2011

Getting User Profile Data into InfoPath


InfoPath is based on Extensible Markup Language (XML). When you design a form template, InfoPath creates an .xsn file, which is a cabinet (.cab) file that contains the files necessary for the form to function, such as XML Schema (XSD) and XSL Transformation (XSLT) files. When a user fills out a form in InfoPath, the data in that form is saved or submitted as industry-standard XML
                  MOSS has a great new feature that allows the publication of InfoPath forms to the server and thus enabling users that do not have InfoPath installed to fill in forms without having to distribute or purchase InfoPath for each client.


I needed to get the display name for the logged in user from active directory to populate a text box in an InfoPath form and went searching Google for an answer and finally I found some really complex resolutions that I didn't even want to attempt to deploy.


1. code approach
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb952744(v=office.12).aspx


2.Without code approach
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/itaysk/archive/2007/04/05/InfoPath-_2D00_-Get-the-current-user-without-writing-code.aspx
 I can suggest you to go for 'without code' approach as it is very properly defined and easy to implement as i had used it many times without any issues...
Please check and let me know in case of any questions/queries... 
I would be more than happy to resolves your issues regarding the same.... Thanks 

15 May, 2011

How to open a list in Edit Mode



To open a List in edit mode and add the new Web Parts you usually need a SharePoint Desinger. 


But there is a trick, how to open a List in Edit Mode and have the “Add Web parts” window is displayed. 


Everything you need to do is to add  "&ToolPaneView=2" parameter to the List URL.


By means of this, you have the ability to add web parts and edit a List’s Form pages in the browser. It will look like:


http://SharePoint2007/Lists/ListName/ListFormView.aspx?&toolpaneview=2


Where ListFormView.aspx is either AllItems.aspx, NewForm.aspx, DispForm.aspx, or EditForm.aspx using the default names.


There is no SharePoint Designer used and no customisations to the page that require unghosting from the site definition.
Note:
ToolPaneView=2 -Shows the "Add Web Parts" toolpane, allowing you to drag and drop web parts onto a "Web Part Page".
ToolPaneView=3 -Shows the "Search" toolpane, letting you search through the web part galleries before adding a web part to the page.


Some useful info regarding the same:
1. Add “?contents=1″ behind the URL and you can delete any webpart from your page.


2. Find List Guid or view Guid:
In the list view – right click and view source. Then search for “ctx.Listname”.
The Guid looks like this:
{DEF643C7-CF80-4DF8-866F-C16DC017DFC0}.


The view Guid is found by searching for “ctx.view” and looks similar to the list Guid above.


If you have any information that you find valuable regarding the same then please share it by means of comments so that it will be useful for everybody.

Your Feedbacks/Suggestions/Comments are very important for me...If you have any Doubts/Queries/Confusion then please let me know...

I would be more than HAPPY to help you as well as RESOLVES your issues, Thanks

Hardware and software requirements (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

This article lists the minimum hardware and software requirements to install and run Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx  

Hardware requirements—Database servers  
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx#section3 

Software requirements
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx#section4 

Hardware and software requirements (SharePoint Foundation 2010)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx#section2

Capacity management and sizing for SharePoint Server 2010.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261700.aspx

URL path length restrictions (SharePoint Foundation 2010)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff919562.aspx

Demos and training for Office SharePoint Server 2007

I love to learn by watching videos, seeing how someone else accomplishes a task so that I can replicate that in my own environment.

In this post, you’ll find a plenty of material including free online videos to help you learn how to developing using SharePoint.

If you have any information that you find valuable regarding the same then please share it by means of comments so that it will be useful for everybody.

Your Feedbacks/Suggestions/Comments are very important for me...If you have any Doubts/Queries/Confusion then please let me know...I would be more than HAPPY to help you as well as RESOLVE your issues, Thanks

Training videos for SharePoint Enterprise search
The presentations provide details about key enterprise search capabilities in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dhirajm/archive/2010/05/31/training-videos-for-sharepoint-enterprise-search.aspx

 Here is another set of videos and training material for Office SharePoint Server 2007:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dhirajm/archive/2010/05/31/demos-and-training-for-office-sharepoint-server-2007.aspx

Video demos and training for Office SharePoint Server 2007

A six-part series on getting the most out of SharePoint Designer 2007

Video demos and training for SharePoint Server 2010


SharePoint Guidance – November 2008
This guidance helps architects and developers design, build, test, deploy, and upgrade SharePoint intranet applications. A reference implementation demonstrates solutions to common architectural, development, and application lifecycle management challenges: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C3722DBA-6EE7-4E0E-82B5-FDAF3C5EC927&displaylang=en 

SharePoint Designer 2007 Visual How-Tos

 WSS 3.0 Visual How-Tos – Developer

SharePoint Server 2007 SDK Online

Video Demos and Training for Office SharePoint Server 2007 – End User Contains links to many Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 video demos that are intended for IT professionals.

SharePoint Developer Center
Find information about planning, coding, building, deploying, and migrating solutions for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905503.aspx

Icons in Datasheet view for lists in SharePoint does not display correctly with office 2003

Office 2003 has so many limitations as compare to advanced version i.e. Office 2007. Microsoft recommended that if we want to use SharePoint 2007 in feasible manner then the best version is Office 2007.

I have two Virtual machines for testing from the client perspectives: One with Office 2003 and second with office 2007.

Issue is: When i tried to open a sharepoint list in datasheet view then the icons didn't render properly
Note: This is my Office 2003 with SP3 machine

Standard view is working correctly, problem is only with Datasheet view

Troubleshooting Did:
-Installed the windows sharepoint services support component by means of Office options
-checked the number of characters in the URL & that's fine (256 character limitation)
-checked with Office 2007, works perfectly

Now the questions arises: what is the problem with Office 2003. Not able to find out the root cause behind this but seems to be a Design Limitation with Office 2003.

Conclusion:
This issue is a design limitation for integration between Microsoft Office 2003 and SharePoint, and is only present for List's Datasheet view.
As a result, you cannot browse the folders from this view.

If you open a Document Library in Datasheet View, the Icons are rendered correctly.
If you open a List in Datasheet View with Microsoft Office 2007 the Icons are rendered correctly.

Upgrade to Office 2007 or later in order to avoid this behavior with SharePoint.



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 issues...

11 May, 2011

This file is not in a recognizable format


Excel files are the most commomly used in day-to-day office works.. 
There are so many complex functions, Daily/Monthly Reports, Graphs,pie diagrams etc..that can be easily managed by Excel.. But what you will do if this excel stopped functioning ?? Big Question-RIGHT !! 


While working on the excel, I have encountered some messages which took some time to resolve but finally heaved a sighed of Relief :-)

When you start Microsoft Excel, Excel attempts to open multiple documents and you may receive one or more of the following error messages. 
OR
If the computer is not updated and you did not install the Office Compatibility Pack, you will receive one of the following error messages when you try to open the file, depending on the program that you are using.

This file is not in a recognizable format /


Windows cannot open this file


PowerPoint can't open the type of file represented by filename
What you have 2 do? Don't Worry here are the steps to resolve this above mentioned error messages.

Resolution:
To resolve this issue, install the Office Compatibility Pack and each update for your version of the Office program.

One more thing that i would like to mention some differences that i found out while researching on this issue..

If you are using office 2003 and using SharePoint Server 2007 then some functionalities will not going to work.
Now the questions arises which are going 2 work and which are not !!

Please refer the following information regarding the same:
Application / FeatureOffice 2003Office 2007
Saving and editing Office 2003 files from SharePoint sitessupportedsupported
Viewing Office 2007 files from SharePoint sitesupportedsupported
Editing Office 2007 files from SharePoint sitesnot supportedsupported
Check-out/in, version historysupportedsupported
Start a workflownot supportedsupported
Publishing Excel files as web pagesnot supportedsupported
Working with Slide Librarynot supportedsupported
Synchronize document libraries to Outlooknot supportedsupported
Inserting document properties for (DOC/DOCX)not supportedsupported
Updating propertiessupportedsupported
Write a blog postnot supportedsupported
Synchronize tasks/discussion boards to Outlooknot supportedsupported
Synchronizing calendars to OutlookOnw Way Sync Onlysupported
Synchronizing contacts to OutlookOnw Way Sync Onlysupported
Compare versions of a SharePoint documentnot supportedsupported

Please let me know in case of any queries/questions/confusion regarding the above mentioned steps.. 
I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues..

09 May, 2011

A DDE error has occurred, and a description of the error cannot be displayed because it is too long. If the filename or path is long, try renaming the file or copying it to a different folder.

When you try to open a Microsoft Office 2003 file in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, the document does not open, and you receive the following error message:

A DDE error has occurred, and a description of the error cannot be displayed because it is too long. If the filename or path is long, try renaming the file or copying it to a different folder.

This issue occurs because of a 259-character limitation on creating and saving files in the Office products. Also, you receive an error message when you save or open a file if the path of the file meets the following condition for the appropriate program.

Microsoft Word: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 259 characters.

Microsoft PowerPoint: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 259 characters.

Microsoft Access: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension exceeds 259 characters.

Microsoft Excel: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 218 characters.

This limitation includes the three characters that represent the drive, the characters in folder names, the backslash character between folders, and the characters in the file name.
Workaround:
Make sure that the path of the file contains no more than the maximum number of characters. To do this, use one of the following methods.

1.   Rename the file so that it has a shorter name.
2.   Rename one or more folders that contain the file so that they have shorter names.
3.   Move the file to a folder that has a shorter path name.

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 issues, Thank you.

01 May, 2011

How to configure Document expiration policy



As per microsoft-An information management policy is a set of rules that govern the availability and behavior of a certain type of important content. Policy enables administrators to control and evaluate who can access information, how long to retain information, and how effectively people are complying with the policy.
                    In SharePoint Server 2010, each policy is a collection of instruction sets for one or more policy features. Each policy feature provides a specific kind of content management functionality. You can assign a policy to a content type or to a list.


Major improvements in SP2010 as compare to SP2007 are:


-We can apply expiration policy in sevral stages as Deleting draft versions,deleting previous version,deleting the record, deleting the content type,deleting the folder,deleting the list\library etc...


How to set this expiration policy:
1. To create an Information Management Policy, login as someone with administrator permissions.
2. Navigate to your document library (in my case,suppose-Shared Documents)
3.Navigate to library tab
4. Library settings
5. Information Management Policy Settings


Note: make sure what excately your requirements are as the document library are based on content types so if you apply any policy then it will be applicable for all the content types which are of similar type.


6. Based on 'Note',if you have any doubts then click on 'Change Source' and you will understand as what i am talking about.


Still thinking right ??? What does that mean ??? Don't Worry-Here we go


When you will open that configuration page then you you will see the retention schedule.  Select the libraries and folders radio button. You will receive a warning alert stating the content type retention policy will be ignored. Click ok...


7. now configuration options are available
8. add a retention stage link
9. Now set the policy period as per your requirements and click ok
10. As per the policy that we will set, the documents will be expired without any problems...


Most Important: There is one policy collection per site collection; this collection can contain any number of policies. Each policy contains any number of policy items, and each item encapsulates settings information for and points to a single policy feature. Multiple policies can contain a policy item that points to the same policy feature. Each policy feature can employ any number of policy resources to assist its operation. Each policy feature employs its own collection of policy resources; policy resources are not shared between policy features.


You can assign only one policy to a given content type or SharePoint list. However, that policy can contain any number of policy items.


If you have any confusion/queries/questions regarding the above mentioned steps then please let me know...I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues...

20 April, 2011

Closed Web Parts

The Closed Web Parts gallery is a collection of Web Parts that are available to a specific Web Part Page but not visible on the page, whether you are browsing through or designing the page. Each Web Part Page has its own Closed Web Parts gallery. Through this gallery, a Web Part Page author can, for example, create a collection of recommended Web Parts for users to add to the Web Part Page.

Ticket submitted: One of my user was playing with the webparts :-) Dont know why ? In that playing, he closed all the webparts that were present on that page..and now the request is-How to get those webparts back ??

Note: web parts can be removed from a site home page by using two methods:
-Webpart can be closed by clicking the X button
-Deleting the web part


How to open a closed Web Part/ How to Restore Closed Web Parts
1. Site Actions- Edit Page
2. Click Add a Web Part
3. Click Advanced Web Part gallery and options
4. Click Closed Web Parts
5. Drag closed web part onto the page


One thing- I would like to share over here is performance.When we closed any webparts/n-number of webparts- we assume that those are closed/removed from the page but actually they are not...When we try to hit the page, page will take some time to reder the webparts which are open as well as which are closed. So now the webparts comes into the picture which are customized. if we closed any such webparts (example-content query webpart) everytime the page was opened it wouldn't display but it would still run its query.

I would like to share good information on this which is explained by Wictor Wilen(http://www.wictorwilen.se/Post/Why-you-should-not-allow-users-to-Close-Web-Parts.aspx)

One more thing-if you wants to Remove a webpart completely from a page then here are the steps:
1. Site Actions - Edit Page
2. Click the edit button in the chrome dropdown
3. Choose Delete - Ok


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 issues...

13 April, 2011

SharePoint 2010 Out-of-the-box Webparts

Web Parts are reusable components that display content on Web pages in SharePoint 2010. Web Parts are a fundamental part of the team site experience.

Web-parts are sections which can be inserted into Pages in SharePoint sites. These sections are UI Widgets whose typical uses are:
  • Displaying items from Lists/Libraries
  • Providing Access to Features in the SharePoint platform (e.g. Search)
  • Displaying content defined in the Web-Part's settings (e.g. custom content or an iFrame)

List of SharePoint 2010 Web Parts


Lists and Libraries:
Announcements -Use this list to track upcoming events, status updates or other team news
Calendar -Use the Calendar list to keep informed of upcoming meetings, deadlines, and other important events
Links - Use the Links list for links to Web pages that your team members will find interesting or useful
Shared Documents – Share a document with the team by adding it to this document library
Site Assets -Use this library to store files which are included on pages within this site, such as images on Wiki pages
Site Pages –Use this library to create and store pages on this site
Tasks – Use the Tasks list to keep track of work that you or your team needs to complete
Team Discussions –Use the Team Discussion list to hold newsgroup-style discussions on topics relevant to your team



Business Data
BusinessData Actions
Business Data Connectivity Filter
Business Data Item
Business Data Item Builder
Business Data List
Business Data Related List
Indicator Details
Status Lis

Content Rollup
- Content Query
- HTML Form Web Part
- Picture LIbrary Slideshow Web Part
- RSS Viewer
- XML Viewer

My Information
- My Calendar
- My Contacts
- My Inbox
- My Mail Folder
- My Tasks

Media and Content
- Content Editor
- Image Viewer
- Page Viewer

Navigation
- Categories 
- Site Aggregator
- Sites in Category
- Summary Links
- Table of Contents

Search
- Advanced Search Box
- Dual Chinese Search - Used to search Dual Chinese documentand items at the same time
- Federated REsults
- People Refinment Panel - This web part helps the users to refine people search results
- People Search Box
- People Search Core Results
- Refinement Panel - used to refine results
- Related Queries
- Search Action LInks
- Search Best Bets
- Searhc Box
- Search Core Results
- Search Paging
- Search Statistics
- Search Summary
- Search Visual Best Bet - displays visual best bets 
- Search Federated Results

Performance Point
- PerformancePoint Filter
- PerformancePoint Report
- PerformancePoint Scorecard
- PerformancePoint Stack Selector

My Information
- My Calendar
- My Contacts
- My Inbox
- My Mail Folder
- My Tasks

Content Rollup
Categories –Displays categories from the Site Directory
Content Query – Displays a dynamic view of content from your site
Relevant Documents – Displays documents that are relevant to the current user
RSS Viewer –Displays an RSS feed
Site Aggregator – Displays sites of your choice.
Sites In Category – Displays sites from the Site Directory within a specific category
Summary Links – Allows authors to create links that can be grouped and styled
Table Of Contents – Displays the navigation hierarchy of your site
Web Analytics web Part –Displays the most viewed content, most frequent search queries from a site, or most frequent search queries from a search center
WSRP Viewer – Displays portlets from web sites using WSRP 1.1
XML Viewer – Transforms XML data using XSL and shows the results

Please let me know in case of any questions or queries so that we can discussed the same and try to resolved it as soon as possible,Thanks