webpart dropdown is missing

We all knows that Web Parts are server-side controls that run inside the context of site pages in SharePoint. Whatever the list and libraries that we create and worked on-we can add all of them as webparts on any page as per our project requirements.Ultimately we can playaround with the webparts and display the view to the users as per our requirements, we can replicate the original list/libraries as it is on any page as a webpart. so basically webparts functionality is of vital importane in SharePoint and great to deal with !!

When you go to a document library or list in SharePoint, you see a dropdown in which you can select a different view or create a new view .But sometimes we face the situation that we cannot see a webpart dropdown to change the view settings/create a new view.

This problem is very common in terms of webparts and we generally neglect the problem and resolved it by creating a new view. Now you will ask me a questions that if i dont see a webpart dropdown then how i will create a new view ? You are abolutely correct !!!
But the answer is very simple that we can tweaked the URL and jump of to the 'create view' page.

Coming back to the main problem now:
What are the reasons that the webpart view has been disappeared ?
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• You added a second document library webpart on your page, but this would be quite obvious because you would see two webparts, one with a dropdown and one without it.
• You closed the webpart and added it again, leaving the closed webpart on the page, but hidden. This one is difficult to detect, because you can only see the webpart without the dropdown.

Resolution:
------------------------
-Simply delete the second webpart from the page or you leave it on there (but without the dropdown).

OR

-Adding the closed webpart by editing the page.

How to add a closed webpart by editing the page:-
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1. Go to Site Actions and choose Edit Page from the dropdown.

2. Choose Add a Web Part.

3. Add the bottom right of the menu, choose Advanced Web Part gallery and options.

4. A menu will appear on the right side, choose Closed Web Parts.

5. From the menu, under Web Part List, choose the list that you have closed.

6.Two webpart will appear, one with the view and the one without. Just close the webpart of the one without view dropdown in the edit mode.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the mentioned information then please let me know..
I would be more than HAPPY to HELP U as well as RESOLVES UR ISSUES...

save site as template is missing

Resolving sharepoint issues is always a challenge but when we will resolve any issue then we realised that how simple it was !!

As i mentioned in my last post, i am working in SharePoint support right from the beginning and still accept the new challenges as soon as new issues comes to my end.so here we go:

One of my user raised a ticket with us that "he is not getting some option under look and feel"<--title of the ticket.

Contacted user and discussed the issue:He was working on subsite and went to save a subsite as a site template which is present under "Look and Feel"

Infrastructure configuration:

------------------------------------

SharePoint Version: MOSS2007

Client Machine: Windows XP with SP2

Browser: Internet Explorer: 7.0 (IE 7.0)

Troubleshooting did on this issue:

--------------------------------------------

1. Checked my personal site and user production site in terms of master pages used/any customizations inside the master pages/customizations on Default.aspx

2. compared the number of features (site collection features as well as site features) for user's production site and my personal site

•  Got the clue that the only the difference between my personal site and his site is "Publishing Infrastructre" site collection feature is activated. hmm..intresting !!

Used some sharepoint basics and provided a WORKAROUND:

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Just append _layouts/savetmpl.aspx to your site link and you will get that normal window of "Save the site template"

Now the issue has been resolved as the user confirmed that it is the same thing that he is looking for and told me to close the ticket.

Its always good when the user confirmed to close the ticket and we are satisfied to provide the exact resolution that he was looking for...thats a magic of Support :-) as how we handles a ticket and set user expectations-too GREAT:Right ?

OK-Now the time comes to dig into the issue and find out what exactely the reason behind this.

Analysis Done:

-----------------------

If you check the “include content” when you save site as template, the site template will Includes all of the design information about the site, such as

• Lists within a site.
• Web Part Pages within a site.
• custom pages within a site.
• Theme or borders applied to a site.
• customizations to the Quick Launch bar.
• Site content (list and document library contents — optional).

Site templates do not include the following items:

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• Security settings, such as a list of users or groups with permissions to the site from which the template was created.
• Web Part customizations made through Modify My Web Part instead of Modify Shared Web Part.
• Web discussions from the original site.
• Alerts from the original site.
• Web Part assemblies that were added to the original site.

 and most important-I found this:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2492356

I hope that everything has been answered in the above mentioned information but no restrictions--If you have any queries/questions regarding the mentioned information then please let me know...

I would be more than HAPPY to HELP U as well as RESOLVES UR ISSUES :-) Cheers

  

edit in datasheet is missing in sharepoint

I have a simple list which allows users to enter their timesheet for work they've done. The site administrator has reported to me that he is unable to see the "edit in datasheet view" menu option. I'm also no longer able to see the menu option either.

Troubleshooting Done:

1. Office Repair: If are any office issues then we can run the office diagnostics and check any corruptions are there or not.
2. manually unregister and register the owssupp.dll with regsvr32 (FYI:Path:-Office 12 folder)
3. we need to track that this issue is machine specific/user specific.
4. which kind of browser is used by that machine where the problem resides. troubleshooting purpose:we can check the behaviour in chrome/Firefox.
5. If its a problem with all the users then Central Administration is the only option by which we can fixed this issue.

Resolution:If the property is missing for everyone then the most likly problem is that ‘client integration’ is turned off.

Exact steps:
1. Go to Central Administration
2. Application Management
3. Authentication Providers
4. Select the secpific zone
5. Client Integration
6. Select Yes
7. Save

Once the Enable Client Integration option is enabled you will see those options for integrating with client application options on Sharepoint lists.

Note: If you are using Internet Explorer 8.0 (IE 8.0) then its altogther an different issue becuase of following reason:
Missing menu items in SharePoint can be caused by IE8 working in Standards Mode, instead of Quirks Mode, depending on whether or not there is a DocType available to make a mode available. But several hotfixes are available for different types of missing menu items.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know..
I would be more than HAPPY to HELP U as well as RESOLVES UR ISSUES

connect to outlook is missing on sharepoint

I am using MOSS 2007 with sp2 and outlook 2007. I want to connect outlook express through Lists>option>connect to outlook but I am missing link connect to outlook option. The lists are tasks, survey, calendar. I can see the link connect to outlook on other option like documents. As far as I can see this is not an issue with the MOSS server but a client problem.

Must require:
1) Microsoft Office 2003/2007 should be installed on the machine
2) SharePoint Services Support feature should be installed in the clients Office
3) Web application should be windows based and not a form based authentication because Client integration is disabled by default when you use FBA

Additional Data/Reference:
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The survey list doesn’t have “Connect to Outlook” option by design. The option is present only in the following:

 1. Calendar: Schedule projects, appointments, and milestones. View the SharePoint Server 2007 calendar next to your Outlook 2007 calendar, or overlay both calendars to see all items at once.

2. Task List Assign: project duties and track them to conclusion. Team members can see all tasks in the Outlook 2007 Tasks window, or can view tasks assigned only to them in the To-Do Bar. 

3. Document Library: Use document libraries to preview, search, and open team documents. Team members can edit documents online or offline.

4. Discussion Board: Discuss topics with team members. E-mail discussions require participants to find and sort messages, but Discussion Boards isolate messages for easy tracking.
 5. Contact List: Stay in touch with team members and important people outside the team. As one member adds contacts or edits them, the entire team gets the new information.

Troubleshooting Done:
--------------------------------
1. Office Repair: If are any office issues then we can run the office diagnostics and check any corruptions are there or not.

2. Manually unregister and register the owssupp.dll with regsvr32 (FYI: Path:-Office 12 folder)

3. We need to track that this issue is machine specific/user specific.

4. Which kind of browser is used by that machine where the problem resides? Troubleshooting purpose: we can check the behavior in chrome/Firefox.

5. If its a problem with all the users then Central Administration is the only option by which we can fixed this issue.

6. SharePoint STSSYNCHANDLER:Connect to Outlook to synchronize lists

Reff: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms456225.aspx / http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2007/03/26/searching-the-visible-moss-2007-code-for-activex-references.aspx

Multiple Resolutions:
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1. Try to enable the add-on called “SharePoint Stssync Handler” in Internet Explorer go to Tools, Manage Add-Ons and look for add-ons called “SharePoint Stssync Handler” if disabled,Enable it. If enabled, disable it restart IE and re-enable it.

2. If you are using multiple office versions on the same machine then as per Microsoft recommendations-Please keep the core version only.

what is mean by core version? If you are using Office 2003 and some components of Office 2007 then office 2003 is the core version.

Remove the additional components and reair the office installation completely and restart the computer.

3. SharePoint Services Support feature should be installed on the machine. Control Panel-->Microsoft Office-->Change-->add the components

4. Enable Client Integration Option: Central Administration -> Application Management -> Authentication Providers (Under Application and Security)

In the Authentication Provider’s section, go to the particular web application and select the Membership Provider's Zone, and check that you have enabled the Enable Client Integration Option. Once this option is enabled, you will see those options for integrating with client application options on SharePoint lists.

My Resolution:
----------------------
-My customer was using a custom list and he has converted a custom list into calendar view. "connect to Outlook" will never be present in the custom list.

-Created a out-of-box calendar view and transferred the items by using content & structure to the newely created calendar list.

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

I would be more than HAPPY to HELP U as well as RESOLVES UR ISSUES...

The server block is not well formed

Recently we had resolves one good issue. Our team was transferring the documents from one library to another by means of explorer view/webfldr view. All of sudden when we switched the view from explorer to All documents, we received the following error message:

An error occurred during the processing of /Governance/KateDocuments/Forms/AllItems.aspx. The server block is not well formed.
Troubleshoot issues with windows SharePoint services.

Resolution:Issue has been resolved with the help of http://blog.brainlitter.com/archive/2010/11/09/fixing-%E2%80%93-the-server-block-is-not-well-formed.aspx

Sean Wallbridge has mentioned a very detailed description regarding the causes, root cause and perfct resolution which works in our issue too and issue has been resolved..
Three cheers to Sean for posting the valuable information with all of us, Thanks again..

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

This page is accessing information that is not under its control. This poses a security risk. Do you want to continue?

One of my user raised a issue with us that he is getting some pop-ups while accessing sharepoint sites. its actually a warning message in the internet explorer as mentioned below: "This page is accessing information that is not under its control. This poses a security risk. Do you want to continue?"

One thing will be sure that this is a machine specific issue and some settings will be wrong in the IE. its takes some time to replicate the same issue on my test machine and resolved it too. Please refer the following steps regarding the same:

Resolution:
1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. On the Security tab, click Internet, and then click Custom Level.
4. In the Security Settings list, change Access data sources across domains (under Miscellaneous) to Enable.
5. Click OK to close the Security Settings dialog box.
6. Click Yes when you receive the following message:
Are you sure you want to change the security settings for this zone?
7. Click OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know.
I would be more than HAPPY 2 Help you as well as resolves your issues, Thanks

The file may not exist, may be in use, or the Web server is temporarily busy.

Yesterday, we received another ticket which is based on Office issue in collaboration with SharePoint.

Excel Version: Office 2003
SP Version: SharePoint 2007

Some users are receiving the following error message when they are trying to save and check-in a document
[File name and path] cannot be accessed. The file may not exist, may be in use, or the Web server is temporarily busy.

This is a very strange issue becuase it has multiple resolutions so its very difficult to conclude regarding the one perfect solution.

Some Observation:
This behavior occurs because only one user at a time can make changes to a document that is stored in a document library in SharePoint. A user must check out a document from the document library before that user can make changes tothat document. If a document is checked out by one user, other users have read-only access to that document. Other users cannot change thatdocument or see the changes that are made to the document until that document is checked in. After the document is checked in, another user can check out the document and make changes to it.

By design, This behavior occurs for documents that are stored in document libraries, including shared Excel 2003 workbooks and other document types that support an option where multiple users canmake changes to the document at the same time.

Resolution that i had applied for my ticket:
1. Start
2. Programs
3. Microsoft Office
4. Open any blank office excel 2003
5. Help
6. Expand the double arrow/options
7. Detect and Repair
8. Excel will run for few moments and repaired if corruptions are there
9.  Once it gets complete then please close the excel and open the sharepoint site in a new explorer

Some more resolutions that you may try:

Resolution#1:If its Office 2007 then please try this:
1. Start
2. Programs
3. Microsoft Office
4. Open any blank office word document
5. Office ribbon (on the top)
6. Word options
7. Resources
8. Run Microsoft Office Diagnostics

Resolution#2:A fix was release in September (August updates)http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956064
or cumulativehttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/957022

Resolution#3: It seems to 'always' happen when it is a document library that requires check out to edit. Try to uncheck this option and check the results

Resolution#4:
Check if the user has multiple domain accounts. If he is using one domain account for the machine/Desktop and second domain account for the sharepoint site then also you will face this problem. Make sure, the logged in domain account is already added on the sharepoint site.

Resolution#5:If somebody is using a inbuilt SQL version of SharePoint then make sure that you have enough storage available so that you can do the check outs and remaining procedures, Thanks

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know...
I would be more than HAPPY 2 HELP YOU as well as RESOLVES your ISSUES :-)

MVP Award Renewal for 2011-2012:SharePoint Server

Today I was honored for the second time with the Microsoft MVP award. It’s great to be recognized for my efforts in the SharePoint community over the past year.

Microsoft does the awards on a quarterly basis now to spread out the workload of reviewing people but the end of the year seems a good time to reflect on things especially since the award is given for the community work done in the "previous year.

Many thanks to my lead "Abhishek Kant" and everyone at the MVP Award program who keeps this all together and moving.
if your interested in learning more about the Microsoft MVP Program check out these official program links: Becoming an MVP

Thanks to everyone who – directly or indirectly – contributed to this renewal.
Thank you Microsoft, and thank you the Microsoft MVP program and foremost – thank you, the SharePoint community!

Excel Services cannot load the workbook that you requested.

When I am trying to Publish an excel to SharePoint using excel services I am getting the error message

File Not Found

Excel Services cannot load the workbook that you requested.

Usually if the file contains something that can't be published through excel services you would get a different error.

Generally the excel error messages highlights something so that we can take appropriate actions but the above message does not indicate anything. If you have a excel file which consist of 158 Tabs and the size present in MB's (Size of my excel file:11MB) so it is very difficult to find out which tab is causing the problem.

I did some testing and found out that this issue occurs because of large file size.

Troubleshooting carried out in the following manner:

Original File size: 11.0 MB         Result: Not Working

File Size: 8.92MB                        Result: Working

https://SharePoint2007/personal/amol/Shared%20Documents/Metrics%20Replica-8.92MB.xlsx 

File Size: 9.22MB                        Result: Working

https://SharePoint2007/personal/amol/Shared%20Documents/Metrics%20Replica-9.22MB.xlsx 

File Size: 9.45MB                        Result: Working

https://SharePoint2007/personal/amol/Shared%20Documents/Metrics%20Replica-9.45MB.xlsx 

File Size: 9.94 MB                       Result: Working

https://SharePoint2007/personal/amol/Shared%20Documents/Metrics%20Replica-9.94MB.xlsx 

File Size: 10.01MB                       Result: Not Working

https://SharePoint2007/personal/amol/Shared%20Documents/Metrics%20Replica-10.01MB.xlsx 

By default, Excel Services allows loading a file whose size <= 10MB on the server. 

When you add a QT with >= 3500 records, the file size grows > 10 MB and following alert appears: "Excel Services cannot load the workbook that you requested." when you try to load that on the server.

Resolution:

Go to Central Admin Page 

Select the SSP link/Shared Service Provider

Click on Trusted File Locations

Select the trusted location where your site is, and set Maximum Workbook Size = 100 MB (also set "session time out" and "Maximum request duration" = 3000 or more to make sure that server has enough time to process the workbook during load and before time outs).

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

I would be more than HAPPY 2 HELP U as well as RESOLVES UR ISSUES, Thanks

Data validation greyed out

We have received a strange ticket yesterday which is based on Data Validation. I have a spreadsheet that already has "drop down" arrows on every cell in a column data to select from. 

I was able to find the data that is supposed to be used for the "drop down" menu and that the data name range assigned to it.

The problem I'm having is that when I go to the menu bar and select Data, the Validation option is greyed out.

How can access the data validation menu when it is greyed out? The entire file is unprotected.

I have started my troubleshooting and firstly i saved the file to my desktop and checked the same option-still greyed out. So now one thing will be sure that the SharePoint is not in the picture. There is something is missing by means of Excel functionality or some options has been deactivated in that same excel spreadsheet.

Spend 40 mins to find out the root cause and resolution too :-)

Please refer the following options and your issue will be resolved:-

1.   Saved the Excel spreadsheet to your desktop.

2.   Open the spreadsheet

3.   Select Review (6th Tab from the left)-options are applicable for Office 2007.

4.   Click on Share Workbook

5.   Uncheck the option named as "Allow changes by more than one user at the same time. This also allows workbook merging"

6.   Click OK

7.   Saved the excel spreadsheet and check the results

8.   Upload to the SharePoint document library and check the results

You will find the option of "Data Validation" is now enable

Hey..Yippee--Expression from the user as his issue has been resolved.

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 J J Thank you.

Working with Sharepoint list

Lists and libraries are stored in SharePoint Sites. A List can be thought of as a collection of pieces of information - all of which have the same properties.

This post will cover the following points:

1)   How to create a list

2)   How to add a column in a list

3)   How to change the name of the list

4)   How to enable folder option in list

5)   How to add a new content type to list

6)   How to transfer the list items from one list to another list

7)   How to set alerts on list

8)   How to set the versioning on the list

How to create a list

1. In the top link bar, click Create.
2. On the Create Page page, click Tasks.
3. In the Name box, type the name for the list as per the project requirements
4. In the Description box, type the description that relates to the project objectives
5. In the Navigation section, click Yes to put a link to this list on the Quick Launch bar on the home page. --Click Create

How to add a column in a list

1. Open the list in which you wants  to add a column
2. Click on Settings-->Select Create Column /Settings-->List Settings-->Under Columns-->Create      Columns
3. Type the name of the column as per the requirements
4. Select the type of information that this column will hold
5. Click OK

How to change the name of the list

1. Open the list for which you wants to change the name
2. Settings
3. List Settings
4. Under General Settings-->Title, description and navigation
5. Change the name of the list as per the requirement
6. Click on Save

How to enable folder option in list

1. Open the list on which you are working on.
2. Settings
3. List Settings
4. Under General Settings-->Advanced Settings
5. Please refer the Folder section-->Enable this option "Display "New Folder" command on the New menu?" to YES
6. Click Ok

How to add a new content type to list

1. Open the list on which you are working on.
2. Settings
3. List Settings
4. Under General Settings-->Advanced Settings
5. Please refer the content types section
Make this option ' Allow management of content types?' to YES
6. Click OK
7. Come back to the list settings page
8. Refer the section named as "Content Types"
9. Select "Add from existing site content types"
10. Select the appropriate content type from the available list and click on Add
11. Click OK

How to transfer the list items from one list to another list

lets take the example as List1 and List2

Datasheet View Option

1. Open the two list in two separate explorers
2. Change the view from the Standard view to Datasheet view for both lists
3. Let’s go to the tab in which list1 is currently open-->Copy the number of items that you wants to copy
4. Now let’s go to the second tab in which list2 is open-->Click on that specific cell from where you need to paste the data
5. Paste the data and that’s it-Data will be successfully copied without any issues.

List Template Option

1. Open the list that you want to transfer
2. Settings
3. List Settings
4. Under Permissions and Management-->Save list as Template
5. Give the name of the file as per the requirement, same name for the template too
6. Select the check box "Include Content"
7. Click Ok
8. The list will save to the list template gallery.

If you want that same list within the same site collection but to a different sub site then please follow the same procedure to create the list because you will find the same name that we have used to save the list as template which is a backup of the list that you wants to transfer.

How to set alerts on list

1. Open the list on which you are working on.
2. Actions
3. Select the option named as "Alert Me"
4. Select the number of alert notifications that you want
5. Click OK

How to set the versioning on the list

1. Open the list on which you are working on.
2. Settings
3. List Settings
4. Under General Settings-->Versioning settings
5. Refer the section named as "Item Version History"-->Select Yes
6. Click Ok

How to set unqiue permissions on list

1. Open the list on which you are working on.
2. Settings
3. List Settings
4. Under Permissions and Management-->Permissions for this list
5. Click on Actions-->Edit permissions
6. You will get the prompt that "You are about to create unique permissions"-->Click  OK
7. Now you have a filtering options for the list by which you can add/remove anybody from the list.

Please let me know in case of any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information. I would be more than HAPPY to help you as well as RESOLVES your issue, Thanks..

Excel Cannot Connect to SharePoint List

As I am working in SharePoint support, I come across so many issues on day 2 day basis and always try to share with all of you as soon as the issue gets resolved.

Today, We have received one support ticket in which the user has created a list which consist of few items. When he selects list Actions--Export to spreadsheet--Excel opens up and Displays 'Security' dialog box by giving the option of 'ENABLE' and 'DISABLE'.

When user selects the Enable button then 'Import Data' dialog comes up, and then user clicks OK. As soon as the OK action performs then suddenly it throws an error message: Excel Cannot Connect to SharePoint List

Resolution: 
Generally we start our troubleshooting from the SharePoint side as what is wrong with my SharePoint site, Is there any problem in the SharePoint list,

Does the Office which is installed on the machine is causing the problem?

Is there any site collection feature turned off?

Is there any problem in the SP-Database?

Problem with the IIS?

so things are there by which we can think off but don't waste your time in doing all these things as I have done all these things and the resolution is quite simple which you can implement without any help.

1)   Open the Internet Explorer

2)   Tools

3)   Internet Options

4)   Advanced Settings

5)   Scroll downwards and reach towards the section named as "Security"

6)   CHECK FOR SERVER CERTIFICATE REVOCATION--which is by default checked

7)   Unchecked it

8)   Apply and Ok

9)   Close all the internet explorers (IE) and open your SharePoint site in a new IE i.e. Browser/Explorer

You should be able to export the spreadsheet without any problems/issues.

Please let me know in case of any further queries/questions.

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