Why use Microsoft Access?

 

The Purpose of Access

Access is probably the most underused product in the Microsoft Office suite. Part of the reason for this is that many people think of Access as strictly a business application that should only be used by experienced programmers and database developers. This couldn’t be further from the truth, especially since more recent versions of the software are easier to learn than ever. To get a better idea of the versatility of the application, take a look at this article that explores the purpose of Microsoft Access.

 

Access vs. Excel

The very term “database” may seem frightening to some people, but actually, most people use databases in some form every day. Do you use an address book or contact list with your email application? Have you ever entered a budget or shopping list into an Excel spreadsheet? These are all examples of databases.

 

Still, even though Excel might be considered a database application  of sorts, most are more comfortable with the spreadsheet program than with Access. And, to be honest, Excel works just fine for many smaller, basic database tables. When is it better to use Access? That answer really depends on the user, but don’t be scared away just because you think Access will be too hard to learn.

 

Switchboards

As a database grows, it can get to be a little cumbersome to have to navigate through multiple tables, forms, and queries to find the exact one you want to view or modify. This problem can become even worse if several data entry operators who have limited technical knowledge of the software are using the database. One solution to this problem is to create switchboards in Access in order to make the entire database easier to navigate. This special type of form makes it a lot easier for users to locate other objects and perform specific tasks.

 

Just a few thoughts on why you might start to use access on a regular basis.

Top 3 reasons why SharePoint 2013 is perfect for the End User

1. User Experience

The first noticeable improvement in SharePoint 2013 is the user experience. The look/feel is very clean and modern with the implementation of metro design principles. New improvements for the mobile experience are the ability to design sites to display on different device channels such as smartphones, tablets and desktop. My favorite improvement is the “Drag and Drop” feature which allows you to drag files from your desktop and upload to your SharePoint document libraries, is now supported. This does not require ActiveX and is cross browser supported!

2. Collaboration

Improvements to collaboration has given users the ability create discussions two ways using new templates called Community Site and Community Portal. These templates allow users to collaborate more fully because they can integrate social media feature such as mircoblog, newsfeeds and distributed cache services. These improvements to collaboration make it easier for users to stay informed about what’s going in the organization

3. Workflows

In SharePoint 2013 the workflow platform is completely different than in 2007 or 2010. A new service is required to run these 2013 workflows called the Workflow Service Manager. There are a lot of enhancements to the workflow design interface and experience. My favorite addition is that “True stages” section has been added, which means that the workflow does not have to run only top to bottom order anymore. Loops can be created and “Go To” transition actions enable you to specify, based on conditions which stage you want to be processed next. You can set the loops to run a certain number of times, expressions and conditions.

If you are uncomfortable with these changes, the 2010 workflow platform has been carried forward too. You can keep the 2010 workflow experience by not installing and configure Workflow Manager. Working with SharePoint 2013 workflows will take some time to get used, however having the new capabilities will be worth it.

Also check out https://www.nothingbutsharepoint.com/sites/eusp/Pages/SPC12-Five-Improvements-in-SharePoint-2013-for-End-Users.aspx for more.

Creating SharePoint Master Pages from scratch?!

It seems like it is more of a common question these days from students in class. They always ask

"my boss wants a custom page, will you teach me how to do that?"

The answer for SharePoint is It Depends... This is typically covered in a few of the SharePoint Designer classes that I instruct, but mainly, it is up to the user to figure out and deploy. Yes, there are a ton of resources available to help a user, but overall, there is one that is better than the other. If you browse to http://startermasterpages.codeplex.com/ you will see that you can download the basic pages for free and edit the parts in and out.