Determining Workflow Requirements

It seems as of late that there has been a lot of push on workflow development or business process improvement. Often, I am tasked with the creation and the deployment of such activities.  In the past when I have worked with others on the process, there has been a lack of adequate planning or requirement gathering that needs to be done, so enter in my need for project management on such an item.  We are not talking in-depth project management, but just enough to identify what are we doing and why. 

Below is a sample of what I make users complete when requesting a workflow.  This helps me identify the real case and the business perspective.  

Modify the Default Forms

One of the great features of SharePoint is the ability to customize the existing SharePoint item forms. This is a hidden benefit for most users since they never venture on the button that allows for the change to occur.

Often, this is used when adding additional information to a form or when a user wants to connect lists together to filter the results from a web part using the item that is displayed in the form.  See below for the directions to edit the form and best part is they are WEB PART PAGES!  So if it can be done on a web part page, it can be done on a form.

1. Navigate to the list where you want to modify the form.
2. Click on the Modify Form button on the right side of the ribbon.

3. Click add a web part to add additional functionality.

PowerShell vs. STSADM for SharePoint

PowerShell is Microsoft’s next-generation scripting language offering direct access to .NET objects, complex flow and structure capabilities, and an object pipeline that makes passing objects from one command to another extremely easy. As of Spring 2015, the next version looks like it will be #5. 

Using Powershell in SharePoint 2010 and 2013, Almost every aspect can be manipulated using any of the more than 500 out-of-the-box cmdlets or by creating custom cmdlets that can be developed and deployed just like any other core SharePoint artifact.

SharePoint 2010 Management Shell is just a PowerShell instance that loads the sharepoint.ps1 script file.

STSADM is a command line tool used to administer SharePoint. It is easily extendable, allowing developers to supplement the existing 184 out-of-the-box commands with additional commands.

STSADM is still present in SharePoint 2010, but its prominence has been greatly reduced as it is extremely limited. Using STSADM, Conditional logic was difficult to achieve using batch files. If no command was available to manipulate a setting, a custom command would have to be created. And performance was poor because of the inability to re-use objects across command calls.

My recommendation is to learn PowerShell!

Permissions and SharePoint

Recently when I was teaching a SharePoint Site Collection Administrator course, I had a learner that just could not wrap their brain around the idea of collaboration and sharing information.  Often this is the case.  I feel for that SCA because they were tasked with "locking" it down so only certain people were able to access the sites and the libraries creating a nightmare to manage. 

Now, you can use groups and have all the governance and documentation, but that is not what SharePoint is about.  SharePoint is named SHARE Point, not LOCK point, therefore it was designed to be used to SHARE information.  It was rumored to be the codename of "Office Server" but when you look the name describing the product, they hit the Point...

So when using and managing permissions, sit back and think... If I am going to lock it down, should it be in "SHARE Point?"

Publishing a Form to SharePoint 2013



Many times I am asked to demo how to publish an InfoPath form to SharePoint as a Form Library.  This is not a tricky item, but can be confusing along the way.  Feel free to check out the video below. 



 

 

Introduction to PowerShell for SharePoint

Last week, someone asked me about learning PowerShell and how would it relate to their current occupation. 

PowerShell is  a powerful scripting tool that can greatly expedite your admin tasks. If you haven't had a chance to learn how to use it, you might want to make time for it now. Here are some reasons why the effort will pay off (Ten Reasons Why you should learn PowerShell).

Then I began to wonder... I use PowerShell sparingly due to the fact, that I need to learn more about it.  I am good at looking at a cmdlet and knowing what should happen, but when I need to do it on my own, I struggle.  Below is some samples that I like to run through that can help learning with SharePoint. 

1. Open the SharePoint 2010 Management Shell..

2. Type Get-Command, and then press ENTER.
• large number of available cmdlets.

3. Type get-command, but do not press ENTER.
• Cmdlets are not case sensitive.
• Cmdlets always follow the Verb-Noun, also called the Action-Object format.
• For example, the cmdlet to list all processes running on a machine is Get-Process.

4. Type Get-Process, and press ENTER.
• Get-Process returns the processes running on a machine.

5. Press the UP ARROW so that Get-Process appears, but do not press ENTER.
• Windows PowerShell uses command history (the UP ARROW) just like Command Prompt.
• The Noun is always singular: Process, not Processes.
• There are a limited number of verbs, which can be listed with the Get-Verb cmdlet.

6. Type Get-Verb, and then press ENTER
• Scroll through the short list of verbs

7. Type Get-Command -noun SP* | more, and then press ENTER.
• Press SPACEBAR to page through the commands.

There is a ton more, but perhaps this could help you get the ball moving!

SharePoint 2013 Web Parts

Often, I get asked to describe the different types of web parts and provide examples.  I am lazy and have never documented my speech to my students, but thanks to Laura Rodgers, she has them all documented. Laura has gone into great detail about the different types and what is new in SharePoint 2013.

http://www.wonderlaura.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=214

Thanks Laura!

Connecting Web Parts

Often one of the things that people ask most about is the idea of extending the use of SharePoint and making it easier for the end user. This is something that all organizations are troubled with, so you are not alone.  After watching the threads from #SPC14, it is evident that working solutions are needed for the business.

Connecting web parts is an easy way to allow users to see the benefit of uploading items to a SharePoint Library.  It can allow for a user to actually see the items that are related other items on a different list/library. One of the common connections is to link a Task List with a Document Library. When a user uploads an items, they select the task that the item is related to. 

To do this, there needs to be a common field between the apps. In this case, I will be using the Title field from the task list and I have added a look up to the Task list from the Documents. Yes, the task would need to be created in order for the document to be assigned to the correct task. If you have a great project manager, this will not be a problem.

1.       Identify the column that is common across the apps.

 

 

 

 

2.       Open the Default Display Form on the task list

3.       Add the Documents Web Part. You may need to rearrange the order of the web parts. You can do this by dragging and dropping the web part.

 

4.        Click on the drop-down menu that you would use for editing the web part. Select Connections > Get Filter Values From >Tasks. This will pass the Task Title to the documents and filter the list of documents.

 

5.        Complete the selection of the column names

6.        To test out the connection, save the web part and select the task. These are web parts, so you can edit the appearance how you see fit.

 

For more information about Web Parts, come to my SharePoint Saturday Session on April 5, 2014.  There will be new examples and fun to be had!

Spaces in SharePoint ----- NO!!!!!!

It is every SharePoint admins worst nightmare.  A user that uses a space in SharePoint.  Not only in a name of a list or library, but in a view or page and even a column. 

You can use a underscore or a hyphen or you can place it in CamelCase.  You can always go and fix the display name of item or object after it is created. 

 

Here is a blog posting that might help you visualize the issue: http://sarahlhaase.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/you-may-want-to-rethink-your-column-names/

 

To fix a list or library by going to > List or Library Tab > List or Library Settings > Title, Description, Navigation

 

To fix a view > List Tab >  Modify View

 

To fix a column > change the name after the column is created (the internal name is set on initial creation)

 

This will eliminate %20 in URLs and extra characters  on internal column names.

Unlocking a Password Protected Excel File

Aside from being an increasingly useful way to create and collaborate on productivity projects, Google Drive also serves as a convenient file unlocker.

Simply upload the file, then download it, being sure to save it with a different file name. As with most import/export operations between Microsoft Office and third-party alternatives, formatting discrepancies may be an issue.