SharePoint 3.0: Site Users Web Part

The Site Users Web Part can be used to enhance the appearance of a SharePoint site by displaying a list of users who belong to the site. This web part works well on collaborative sites such as project sites or team sites, when the site permissions have been configured with either SharePoint groups or where users are added directly to site permissions access control list of the site.

Environments that also have Live Communication Server have an opportunity to promote IM to their users since the users' precense information is displayed and the context menu allows users to easily spawn IM sessions.

The Site Users Web Part is less useful on sites that have lots of users or when Active Directory groups are being used to provision access to the site. Since the Site Users Web Part does not enumerate user names who are members of Active Directory groups, these display only as group names.

Site Users Web Part Configuration Options:

Show people and groups with direct permissions on this site.
This displays a list of users who have been added directly to site permissions for the site. The person's full name with presence information is shown.

Show people in this site's members groupThis lets you display the names of people who belong to the Site Members, default SharePoint group.
The person's full name with presence information is shown.

Show people in the group:
This lets you select a SharePoint group to display the names of people who belong to that group. The person's full name with presence information is shown.

SharePoint 3.0: Manage Access Requests

Access Requests are a feature of SharePoint that allow users to submit an email, to a SharePoint administrator, requesting access to a resource (site or list) that they are denied access to.

The email to the administrator provides the username, the URL of the resource, and comments directly from the user. The email looks like this:



Resources that inherit security from their parent will automatically inherit the parent's Access Request setting. If you break inheritance at a list, then the list permissions, settings menu will appear and an Access Request menu item will be available. This allows you to set an Access Request email address, different from the parent site. This behavior is not true for list items. If you break security inheritance at a list item, an Access Request menu option does not appear on the list item security settings menu.


Here are some best practices for configuring Access Requests:

* Use a dedicated distribution group for this purpose
* Since each unique site collection can have its own Access Request email address, give the distribution group a generic name so that it can be used accross many site collections
* Definitely don't use a service account's email address because no real person is on the other end to receive the request
* Don't use an individual user's email address, doing so would result in a single point of failure
* If you are maintaining instruction documentation that describes the steps to configure a new site collection in your environment, then add "configure access requests email address" as a step..doing so will be a good reminder to do it.


How to configure Manage Access Requests email address:

* Site Collection > Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings > Advanced Permissions
* Settings > Access Requests



* Set email address, click OK

SharePoint 3.0: Error: Calculated Site Column, Formula Contains a Syntax Error

Description:

When attempting to create a new calculated site column...



...inside the formula, you reference a column name in brackets, such as Year[created]...




...and you are unable to save the new site column, instead you receive an error.

Error:
The formula contains a syntax error or is not supported.
Troubleshoot issues with Windows SharePoint Services.

Solution:

Use parentheses around the brackets. E.g. Year([Created])

SharePoint 3.0: Error: The specified name is already in use

Description:

Site Collection > Site Settings > Site Collection Features

When attempting to activate the following:
Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure
Provides centralized libraries, content types, master pages and page layouts and enables page scheduling and other publishing functionality for a site collection.

Error:
The specified name is already in use. Please try again with a new name. Troubleshoot issues with Windows SharePoint Services.



Solution:

When publishing features are enabled, SharePoint automatically creates a bunch of objects on the site. It is possible that before you attempted to activate publishing on your site, you had already created an object, such as a library, list, site column, or content type using a name that SharePoint uses. With publishing deactivated, SharePoint does not enforce naming contstraints on these names so it is possible for you to create, for example, a library called Pages (creating a future conflict) not knowing that SharePoint will automatically create a Pages library when you activate publishing.

If you can, audit the SharePoint site comparing it with another site that already has publishing enabled to see if you can find a conflict.

If you are unable to locate the conflict, and you need to activate publishing features, you can force the activation by running the following command:

stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishing\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingresources\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingsite\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingweb\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishinglayouts\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename navigation\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force

Links: Foxit PDF IFilter 64 Bit

Foxit PDF IFilter 64 Bit
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/ifilter/

SharePoint Magazine

SharePoint V3: Error: Failed to activate feature 'PublishingPrerequisites'

Description:

Receiving error when attempting to activate the Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure, site collection feature:

Error: Failed to activate feature 'PublishingPrerequisites'





Solution:

- Run IISReset on the front end web servers
Start > Run > CMD > iisreset /noforce

- Activate the feature
Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Collection Features > Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure > Activate

SharePoint V3: Search: “The search request was unable to connect to the Search Service”

Description:

Error: “The search request was unable to connect to the Search Service”

Event Log has errors referencing a corrupt index.


Solution:

* Reset index
SSP Administration > Search Settings > Reset all crawled content

* Perform a full crawl
SSP Administration > Search Settings > Content Sources > Perform a full crawl

SharePoint V3: How to Rename and Migrate a Content Database From a SQL Express Farm to a SQL Server SE or EE Farm

Here are the steps to follow if you need to migrate (SQL upgrade would be a different approach from this) a SharePoint content database from one farm which has SQL Server Express 2005 to a separate farm which has SQL Server SE or EE 2005.

* Verify the number of site collections in the content database you are planning to migrate
- Launch SharePoint Central Adminsitration from the SQL Express Farm
- SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Content Databases > contentdb_old > Current Number of Sites >
The number of site collections will appear. Note this number.

* If the SQL Express Farm is active, notify the users of maintenance

* Stop services
- Control Panel > Services > Stop the following services:
WWW Publishing Service
SQL Server Service

* Copy the data and log files from the source database server's data directory to destination database server's data directory
E.g.
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_old.mdf
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_old_log.ldf

* Rename the data and log files
E.g.
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_new.mdf
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_new_log.ldf

* Attach the databaseSQL Server Management Studio > right click databases node > select "Attach"
-Attach a Database > Click "Add"Browse to the SQL data file > Select contentdb_new.mdf
-Attach Databases > Databases to Attach > Attach As column> Modify the "Attach As" name to contentdb_new
-Attach Databases > Databases to Attach > Owner column > Modify the "Owner" name
-Attach Databases > Database Details > Current File Path > Modify the data file location and name (contentdb_new.mdf)
-Attach Databases > Database Details > Current File Path > Modify the log file location and name (contentdb_new_log.ldf)
-Click "OK"

* Create a new SharePoint web application on SQL Server SE or EE farm
- SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Create or Extend Web Application
- Configure the web application directory location and IIS application pool names according to naming convention
- Name the default content database "deleteme" as it will be deleted in the next step

* Delete the default content database
-SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Content Databases > Click the "deleteme" content databaseManage Content Database Settings for "deleteme" > Click "Remove Content Database" > Click "OK"
-SQL Server Management Studio > Databases > right click "deleteme" database > Click "Delete"
-Check "Delete backup and restore history information for databases"
-Check "Close existing connections"
-Click "OK"

* Configure alternate access mappings for the new web application
- SharePoint Central Administration > Operations > Alternate Access Mappings > Add all of the necessary AAM's to the new web application, make sure the default URL is fully qualified

* Configure DNS
- Active Directory > DNS > Configure the necessary host (a) records or alias records

* Configure IIS Host Headers
-IIS Management > Right Click Web Site > Properties > Web Site Tab > Click "Advanced"
-Add the appropriate host headers to match the alternate access mappings

* Attach migrated content database to the new web application
- Start > Run > CMD > Type the following:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN> Stsadm.exe -o addcontentdb -url http://webapplication -databasename contentdb_new -databaseserver servername

* Run IISReset
- Start > Run > CMD > Type the following:
iisreset /restart

* Verify the number of site collections in the content database that has been migrated
- Launch SharePoint Central Adminsitration from the SQL Express Farm
- SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Content Databases > contentdb_new > Current Number of Sites
You will now see the content database you migrated. The number of sites should match the number of sites in the source content database.

* Perform follow up tasks
- Since the migration is now complete, it is ok to start the WWW Publishing and SQL Server services on the SQL Express farm
- Verify the new web application by navigating the its URL
- Recreate audiences on the new farm's SSP and then re-configure audiences accordingly on web parts used throughout the migrated site collection
- Verify and update hyperlinks throughout the migrated site collection
- Notify users that the web application has been migrated and that it has a new URL

SharePoint V3: Disk Cache

One performance configuration available in MOSS 2007 is BlobCache. Consider caching files on the front end web servers to improve performance. Open the web.config for the web application and review the BlobCache settings.

BlobCache location="C:\blobCache" ...

References:

Configure disk-based cache settings
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/HA101762841033.aspx

Custom Caching Overview
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa589700.aspx

SharePoint V3: Error: The path specified cannot be used at this time.

Description:

When attempting to create a web application, receiving error:
"Error: The path specified cannot be used at this time."

Solution:

1. Central Administration > Application Management > Delete a Web Application: Delete the web application that errored upon creation

2. Start > Run > iisreset /restart
3. Attempt creating the web application again

Links: Microsoft TechNet: White papers for MOSS 2007

Microsoft TechNet: White papers for Office SharePoint Server 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262733(TechNet.10).aspx

SharePoint 3.0: Default Search Relevance by File Type

The Search engine in SharePoint 3.0 considers certain file types more relevant than others. Below is a list of file types in sequence of most relevant to least relevant.

• Web Pages
• PowerPoint Presentations
• Word Documents
• Emails
• XML Files
• Excel Files
• Text Files
• SharePoint List Items

SharePoint V3: Error: No results matching your search were found

Description:

When performing a contextual search (WSS Search) from a SharePoint 3.0 site, no results are returned. Error: No results matching your search were found.





Are you using SSL?
Are you using a network load balancer?
Are there multiple domains in the environment?
Are the web applications accessible from outside the organization?



Solution:

Central Administration > Operations > Alternate Access Mappings

* Ensure that the Pubic URL for the web application if fully qualified

* Ensure that all possible URLs for the web application are configured in the default (or appropriate) zone

e.g.
https://sharepoint.domain.com
http://sharepoint.domain.com
https://sharepoint
http://sharepoint

SharePoint V3 Error: Absolute path information required

Description:

When attempting to create a new web application from Central Administration, Error: Absolute path information required

Solution:

Jai's SharePoint Blog: The dreaded ‘Absolute path information required’ - Some light in the darkness http://sharepoint.jai-world.com/archives/6

Download and run the utility. It is intuitive and effective.

SharePoint V3: How to Delete a Master Page from Master Page Gallery

Description:

When attempting to delete a master page from the master page gallery, error: "This item cannot be deleted because it is still referenced by other pages"

Error from browser


Error from SharePoint Designer



Solution:

* Site Actions > Site Settings > Master Page Gallery
* Windows Explorer
* File > New > Folder > Name Folder
* Copy master page to folder
* Right Click on Folder > Delete Folder
* Delete folder from Recycle Bin

Fundamental Productivity through Cultural and Technical Progress

A decent information taxonomy (referring to the concept of classifying and organizing content such as web site structure, web content, documents, etc.) aligned with the proper technology, in an adaptive culture breeds some real value. When information is consistently produced, named, categorized, and published throughout a work place, workers naturally become more adept at sharing, using, and reusing information.

Research based activities are the most obvious targets for streamlining because there are often lengthy windows of unproductive time associated with research. Consider a technical support analyst's work as an example. Here is a person who spends his or her day solving problems for other people. The job includes receiving and interpreting a problem, communicating and clarifying the symptoms, assessing the potential cause, and applying and testing solutions. Each forward thought process towards a resolution is linked and in some cases limited to the analyst's own prior knowledge and previous experiences.

Imagine if the analyst has access to a knowledge base and colleagues regularly publish solutions to their problems to the knowledge base. Day in and day out analysts are solving problems and taking time to write up detailed articles describing the cause of the problem and the solution. Articles in the knowledge base are all formatted a similar way, with an id number, a title, an author, keywords, a description, and a solution. The knowledge base tool provides search functionality which is tuned to allow filtering on a these structured fields of information. With this type of tool available, the analyst is able to quickly parse through an abundance of prior knowledge and past experiences to find answers quickly.

The idea of being organized and productive is not limited to support analysts. This ideal can be applied to a wide range of occupations and business scenarios.

What does it take to achieve hyper productivity?

Vision; a big picture strategy with an underlying grasp of an organization's detailed business processes.

Leadership; dynamic thought leaders empowered to make decisions about how to manage other people's content.

Acceptance; an acceptance of a the current work place culture as it relates to collaboration.

Inclusion; motivating employees to be excited about being productive can also be challenging, which is why it necessary practice inclusion. Ideas that derive from within and grow organically are far more inspirational than any mandate received via corporate email blast.

Balance; what will work best for all stakeholders vs what each individual stakeholder holds important.

Technology; essential, yes, but most companies who are realizing benefits from a corporate portal, knowledge management system, or collaboration web site may already know that the technology deployment is often times the easiest part.

SharePoint V3: Administrator Reports; Utility

I often get asked about how to obtain useful administrator reports for SharePoint. Here is one inexpensive utility to evaluate:

Admin Report Kit for SharePoint 2007
http://www.vyapin.com/products/enterprisenetworktools/arksp2007.htm

Pros:
- Low cost
- Hierarchical reports
- Can export reports to several different formats
- Reports can save you a lot of time if you try to write in TSQL

Cons:
- Doesn't support rdl publishing to Reporting Services
- Doesn't provide join to AD object enumeration (expand AD members per securable)

SharePoint V3: Search Considerations for Choosing Yes No Column Type

I was working on a search customization a while back, displaying search results in a grid view. I encountered a design decision that required that I step back and change the column type I was using for some of the Yes/No columns in the site collection.

One lesson I learned is that when you are deciding on a which column types to use, especially Yes/No columns, keep search close at mind because it will impact search downstream. Ideally, if your columns will be leveraged by managed properties and used in search scopes to help users fine tune their queries, then keep in mind how users think.

For example, I had some Yes/No columns that I originally set up as Yes/No Checkboxes. I created managed properties for these columns but then realized...nobody is going to search on 0 and 1, they are going to search on yes and no. E.g. Give me all my ice cream sundae options where vanilla ice cream = yes...not where vanilla ice cream = 1.

Anyway, there are at least four common ways to achieve Yes/No in a SharePoint column:

Choice Radio
Choice Drop Down
Choice Checkbox
Yes/No Checkbox

The table below compares each of these:



As a result of doing this comparison, I have been using choice drop down more often than not in lists and libraries where Yes/No values are required for metadata. Even though the Yes/No checkbox may more appealing to users filling out the metadata, I think the drop down wins when you weigh in the search considerations.

Windows Live SkyDrive

I was playing around with my Hotmail account and I stumbled on Windows Live Sky Drive. I have been subscribing to a paid, online file share service because these days it is necessary to keep certain files up there in the clouds for easy access at all times or to always have a place to share photos with other people. SkyDrive is one useful, free tool that I will be definitely using. Maybe I can even phase out my paid service.