Andy Dale SharePoint Blog

How To Quickly Copy and Paste Sites on Office 365

2017-07-04T10:08:00.001+01:00

Many of us know how useful the Site Template is for replicating a site in SharePoint, but it can take quite a bit of time and always leaves loads of templates behind in the Solutions section.

So yesterday I found an easy and painless way to create copies of sites. I tried using the 'Content and Structure' section in Site Settings.

Now, first thing I found was that you couldn't paste a copy of a site in the parent site or a subsite. So I had to think of a workaround. The answer is to create another site at the same level before I did the copy.

So then I could use the Action 'Copy' when the Site I wanted to copy was highlighted in 'Content and Structure'. Then when the tree of sites to paste it in came up I choose the other site at the same level. I had made this site to have permissions just for the Admins so users didn't see this work around.

Then when the tree of sites to paste it in came up I choose the other site at the same level.

I had made this site to have permissions just for the Admins so users didn't see this work around.

I then renamed the Site and changed URL of the pasted one. I changed it to what the Site would eventually need to be called.

Then I copied this new pasted Site (with new name and URL) back into the original Site. I decided to leave the original pasted copy in the Admin Site (the one I created to get the copy working) as a Backup in case anything goes wrong with the Site in future.

If only Aston Villa could duplicate our best players so easily. Although I am not sure I could cope with two John Terry's!

SharePoint New Site or New Page

2015-08-19T10:11:00.001+01:00

Which ever version of SharePoint you use the question soon comes up 'Sites or Pages?'. I used to be a 'Sites' man. The main reason being the following;

1. You can add unique navigation (both Quick Launch and Top Nav)
2. You can add unique permissions
3. You can use site templates
4. You use varying Site features

As I get older and get involved in more varying SharePoint Projects my view has changed. Perhaps with newer version of SharePoint customising of pages have become easier. Maybe the clever way you can now use the Term Store (Managed Metadata) to set the navigation has made me re-think. But now I think about creating new pages before I create sub-sites.

The main reason is that you can guarantee that very soon somebody is going to want to either use a column from a list on this new area (Lookup column) or to access a view of data in this new area. So creating a New Page in the Site gives you much more flexibility for using the information.

Now (with my wiser head on), the only two reasons for creating a Subsite are either, if you need added security or require unique navigation. If it is navigation then consider hiding the Quick Launch (or Current Nav) and adding a Links webpart instead.

Need SharePoint work? Give Frank a call on 0121 368 0055

SharePoint Re-ignited

2015-06-11T18:04:00.002+01:00

2015 has been a year when suddenly SharePoint has again gone BOOM!! I'm still trying to understand quite why. It has unexpectedly fought back against Google Docs. Maybe I shouldn't write that on a Blog that is hosted on Google Blogger.

Last year, I had my doubts (my sleepless nights, not only about Paul Lambert's tactics) that SharePoint was going to survive. So many organisations were looking at Open Source alternatives and seemingly moving away from Microsoft's SharePoint. We considered for the first time that Action SharePoint Limited (trading as Office Talk) might have to diversify and consider more general Information Management systems. Instead of being 100% SharePoint. A pity because we're SharePoint fanatics and really believe anything is possible with SharePoint. But then it all changed. The moon of SharePoint rose again. Bigger, stronger, better and cheaper.

Maybe Office 365 and people finally realising, that actually 'the cloud' is a pretty cool idea (I'm 48 now far to old to get away with saying 'cool'). Google Docs is totally in the cloud, but people are still hooked on Microsoft Office. So Office 365, with SharePoint being it's star, already has the advantage. With monthly subscriptions, even for lonely single users, SharePoint suddenly is affordable. SharePoint 2013 works now (pretty well) on all devices and even the Microsoft online support is now written in language that people who didn't study computing at Cambridge or Oxford can now understand.

Unnoticed in the background, more major companies have been moving their Websites to SharePoint and it's become a one-stop solution for them. The penny suddenly dropped that they don't need a website, an Intranet and a Document Management system. They can combine them into one and save lots of pennies.

It is now much easier to style your SharePoint sites (HTML and CSS are not too challenging) to get the exact branding your Marketing Department craves. Teams and departments are all starting to work together more and be more transparent. SharePoint is starting to be at the heart of all decisions.

Instead of thinking we have SharePoint what can we do with it, companies are now thinking we need a new system can our existing SharePoint do it? The answer the majority of the time is, yes it can. Simple Workflows written with the free SharePoint Designer can achieve very impressive quick results and cost savings.

As a SharePoint Consultant I love the way now (with SharePoint 2013) with my Workflow knowledge I am able to say yes to so many projects. My stand answer when somebody give me a challenge or shows me a Flow Diagram is now, confidently, 'Yes SharePoint can!'

This is sounding like an advert for SharePoint, but that's not what I am trying to say. I am really just delighted that SharePoint is now getting to play the lead role in many organisations (including the NHS, Public Sector and small private businesses) when in the past it was just treated like a extra with the occasional walk on part.

SharePoint has really come of age and I believe people are ready to embrace it. Maybe we just now have a generation who have grown up with SharePoint. I have been using it now for 12 years.

My slogan for this blog is really for everyone to think 'Yes SharePoint can!' What ever Project, task or challenge you face please ask first can our existing SharePoint do this?

Wow, that was a bit of a rant in the end, but if you want to know more about exactly how you can re-ignite your SharePoint please contact me by emailing andy.dale@office-talk.com or visit the Office Talk website

About the Villa then...
I suppose my blog wouldn't be a normal Andy blog without some Villa Chat and only ten days after Wembley some of the wounds are still a little raw. But it was a fantastic experience. I felt part of a truly Global Event. Thank you BBC for bring back the wonder of Cup Final days gone by. Admittedly many of the programmes I recorded I have not been able to face watching yet, but still thank you.

We are still in the Premier League and I had two magical visit to Wembley. I get the feeling that with the incoming New Owners that Aston Villa like SharePoint are ready to rise again.

'Just 14' the book I want you all to read...
Away from SharePoint my other two passions are Aston Villa and writing fiction. So I am really excited that I have combined these passions to produce my latest novel 'Just 14'.

I can't miss a chance to promote it so here is the front cover and if you click on it you can pre-order a book that I am very proud of.

andydalewrites.com

SharePoint 2015

2015-01-06T10:59:00.002+00:00

Happy New Year to you all and let’s hope that 2015 is a great year for both SharePoint and Aston Villa. More about my hopes for ‘The Villa’ later, but first to SharePoint in all the various forms.

In the last twelve months the SharePoint projects I have worked on have included; SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2013. Not only that, I have been involved in server side SharePoint and cloud-based SharePoint. So many different varieties, but all pretty similar and with the same challenges. As we reached the end of 2014 (where are all the years going?) more and more companies seemed to be moving to Office365 and hence the use of SharePoint has been rapidly expanding. This I can only see growing further in 2015. Great news for SharePoint consultancies like Office Talk (well, I am allowed to advertise my own company in my blog). Other SharePoint consultancies are available, of course.

But beware the SharePoint road is not an easy one and it does require expertise, resources and patience. Very similar to what the Villa currently need.

One of the most fascinating (and often depressing part) about being involved in SharePoint projects is returning to see how systems have progressed after a year or two. The sad thing is that many haven’t changed much at all. SharePoint whether it is being used as an Intranet, Document Storage System, Electronic Forms System, Website or just an Information Store has to keep evolving and changing. I know, I am a fine one to speak as my blog has remained fairly static in the last year.

So how do companies move their SharePoint forward as we start of 2015. A time when some of us make New Year Resolutions (Oh, one of mine is to drink less alcohol which is one of the reasons I am taking part in ‘Dryathlon’ this January in aid of Cancer Research. Please feel free to make a donation to encourage me to go alcohol-free for the whole of January at https://www.justgiving.com/RAcodryathalon/ ). So I thought it was be good to suggest some SharePoint Resolutions for 2015 to hopefully help companies move forward with existing or new SharePoint systems. So here they are;

Improve Management Buy-in

Greater SharePoint Expertise

More End User Involvement

The problem with all New Year Resolutions is they are only achievable if you break them down into mini resolutions. Like my drink less is helped by having my mini resolution of being dry throughout January (is there really still 25 days left?). So let me break down the SharePoint ones;

Improve Management Buy-in

a) Discuss SharePoint at all Senior Management Meetings

b) Make SharePoint the preferred company system

c) Have a budget for SharePoint

d) Include an aspect of SharePoint usage in all employee objectives

e) Use SharePoint for main distribution point of internal company information

Greater SharePoint Expertise

a) Create a role responsible for SharePoint

b) Provide relevant training for people responsible for SharePoint

c) Have a Support contract with an external SharePoint company (again I mention Office Talk)

d) Make sure all documentation of all parts of the SharePoint system is up to date

More End User Involvement

a) Set up a SharePoint User Forum

b) Add a Feedback section or discussion groups to your SharePoint

c) Add SharePoint to New Starter Inductions

d) Create Super SharePoint Users in each part of the organisation

e) Include a Social section in your SharePoint

f) Offer End User Training to all staff

So those are my SharePoint thoughts as we start 2015 a year when just maybe I will finally see the Villa win the FA Cup for the first time in my lifetime. Well, I can dream.

It has been a difficult few months for Villa fans. Only seeing us score 12 goals in 22 games this season and lately we have quite rightly been labelled the country’s most boring team, but I see progress. Small steps, yes, but definite progress. We have started to keep the ball more and actually pass to one another. Our defence is becoming one of the tightest in the league and players like Okore, Sanchez and Westward are just getting better each game. Then we have the return of the beast that is Christian Benteke and suddenly things are starting to look brighter. So like SharePoint I think the Villa just need three things;

Expertise – A goalscoring midfielder and a winger who can cross a ball

Resources – A bit more money to spend on these new playerrs

Patience – From the fans as we continue the slow building process

If you wish to leave any comments about SharePoint (or the Villa) please feel free. If you would like any help with SharePoint or Paul Lambert wants any Villa advice please email me on andy.dale@office-talk.com or call Office Talk on 0121 368 0055.

Happy New Year,

Andy Dale

Office 365 Rejuvenates SharePoint

2014-09-05T16:52:00.000+01:00

Apologies that it is four months since my last SharePoint blog, but my passion for SharePoint has now be reinvigorated (big word for a Villa fan) by the sudden phenomenal explosion of SharePoint in the UK. It would be easy to blame my lack of blogging on the poor performances of Aston Villa, the UK recession or being regularly stuck on the M25, but I think the real reason is I just got bored of SharePoint.

I had been a SharePoint fan since my first exposure to the joys of Document Management Systems at Chemical Site in Wolverhampton back in 2002. For years I rode the SharePoint bandwagon and was so impressed that in 2008 I even bought my own SharePoint company. But there were issues and things that although could be partly fixed with third-party tools (or just turning it on and off again) just weren't right. SharePoint for however impressive it was had it's limitations. Branding wasn't quite right (with some obscure HTML), cost was simply too high in today's market and as for Microsoft trying to get us up in the 'cloud' (let's try to forget about BPOS) it was a disaster.

But suddenly my passion is rekindled and the reason is Office365 and the joy of working with SharePoint 2013. It now is really available up in the famous 'cloud' and to even the smallest company. From less than 5 employees to over 50,000 Office365 takes information to a whole new level. I love the fact that I can just get my iPad out and connect straight to a customer site to fix an issue they might have (with the right security, of course) or even on my smart phone when I am eating my KFC at the motorway services. With a small bit of CSS knowledge I now find I can easily change the colours and look of sites to match the customers corporate colours. Instead of having to prepare my excuses and take a sharp intake of breath before telling them how many days this would take. Yes, I am excited again by SharePoint and see a future where everyone (even Mac users) will be SharePoint converts.

Office365 of course is much much more than just SharePoint, but the ease in which in just a few minutes you can start building your own document management system, intranet and external facing Website is certainly eye-opening. Although, you might still need help of SharePoint companies like 'Office Talk' to really give you take-off.

Over the next few weeks my blog will show you some of the quick wins you can get with your Office365 and SharePoint 2013. They will include;

1. Running a PowerPoint Presentation inside a SharePoint Web Part.
2. Styling your dynamic navigation bars.
3. Removing left-hand navigation on your Home Page
4. Hiding the Edit Toolbar option
5. Styling the PromoLink tiles
6. Adding icons to indicate external links
7. Adding live content with customised RSS feeds
8. Colour code calendar entries by type of appointment
9. Add comedy videos to your SharePoint
10. Automatically creating actions in individual task lists from Meeting Minutes.

SharePoint is back in a big way and the Villa are third in the league so life is pretty good. Of course with games against Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea up next the Villa might not keep gaining fans but SharePoint certainly will.

On the plus side though playing Liverpool means an excuse to play my favourite video again of the legend who is Mario Balotelli.

Happy SharePointing.

Try Office365 now free of charge at Office Talk.

Andy Dale's SharePoint Famous Five

2014-04-28T10:40:00.000+01:00

Even after working with SharePoint for over ten years I still find myself learning new things. So in today's blog (yes, I know first one for six months. See Official Apology at the end) I will reveal five tricks that I have recently discovered.

Versions of SharePoint come and go, but they don't basically change that much. Ok the way t looks might change and new features are added but behind the scenes it is all still pretty similar. All of these tricks work from 2010 onwards and most of them in 2007 also.

So here are my SharePoint Famous Five

1. Add a print form option to any list item

i) Simply Edit page for Display Form (List - Form Web Parts - Default Display Form)
ii) Add a Content Editor Web Part
iii) Click 'Edit Source' to get to HTML
iv) Paste in code

2. Quickly Customise your Forms

Use the icon in the List/Library ribbon 'Customize Form' (sorry it is American so the 'z' stays). If you have InfoPath Designer installed on your local PC this button takes the form into InfoPath and lets you change it. Add tips, columns, hide fields and add submit/save buttons.

Your users don't need InfoPath to see and complete the form. Great way of avoiding need for extra Content Types.

3. Use SharePoint Designer workflow for automatic numbering

Many people try to use ID numbers in calculations to add automatic numbering and soon find it starts to fail.

Instead add a simple workflow with SharePoint Designer Workflow that when an item is created fills in the reference number field with the ID value plus 1. Use 'Update Field in Current Item' as the action.

Word of advice though when creating new workflows for SharePoint 2013 use 'Platform Type' as 'SharePoint 2010 Workflow'. This works while for some reason 2013 Workflow doesn't.

4. Tag documents to help you find them

Probably like many of you I find the Like\Tagging function that suddenly appeared in 2010 a bit naff. With Microsoft just trying to bring 'Social Networking' into the Corporate world. Yet 'Tagging' can be helpful. Tags can be filtered by in a search. On the left-hand side filters on Search Results pages is the option to show only items that have a tag. So why not tag that important document now.

5.Future-proof Searching

Sometimes other users aren't as quick at checking documents as you. So you are searching for a document you know is nearly finished but in your Search it frustratingly doesn't find it. Don't worry because at the top of Search Results page is the famous 'Alert' icon. So click it and ask to receive an email when a new item is added to this search criteria.

So when the document is checked in (providing it meets the Search criteria) you will be notified.

I hope you find at least one of these five tricks useful. Please share them around so other people can find out new things about SharePoint.

Of course calling these the 'Famous Five' means I have to include a 'Famous Five' video so here is one from my childhood;

Official Apology

I confess it is over six months since my last blog. Many apologies for this and no it is not due to the abject failures of Aston Villa Football Club this season. Main reason has been that I have been very busy in my spare time creating a new system based on SharePoint 2013 (and Office365) called 'Surgery365'.

Sugery365 is a complete online management system for a whole range of medical surgeries ranging from Chiropodists to Dentists. It includes full appointment booking, patient records, treatment notes and patient receipts. We are very excited about the system at Office Talk and are aiming to launch it in September. Anybody interested in finding out more about it please drop me an email to andy.dale@office-talk.com

About the Villa

Despite the recent depressing run of results I do believe that the Villa will avoid relegation but maybe only on goal difference. Really is squeaky-bum time.

Andy Dale SharePoint Award Nominations 2013 Extension

2013-10-02T10:11:00.000+01:00

I start this week's SharePoint Blog with some sad news. Maybe it was the holiday season or maybe interest in SharePoint is finally start to wane, but for the first time we have not received a full set of nominations for my annual SharePoint Awards. But here is some good news, I have decided to extend the nomination period for a further 2 weeks (closes now Sunday 13th October at midnight). Don't worry if you have already nominated as these have already been saved.

Here are a reminder of the rules for nominations and the categories this year;

Nominations Open Until 13th October for SharePoint Awards 2013
We have revamped the categories and this year there are just these six;

1. Best Overalll SharePoint Product (It must work on both 2013 and 2010. No price restriction)

2. Best SharePoint Budget Product (Under £750 or $1000)
3. Best SharePoint Administration Tool (Permissions, Backup, Migration, Reporting etc)
4. Best SharePoint 2013 App (Must work on Office 365 Enterprise as well as onsite SharePoint)
5. Best Free SharePoint Information Source (Could be Blog, Twitter feed, Website, Videos etc)
6. Best SharePoint Supplier (Which company go the extra mile, offer the best support etc.)

So a reminder on how you can nominate your favourites this year. Nominations are made by simply leaving a comment here on this post. We don't even mind if you nominate your own product. What we do ask though is that each product is only nominated once per category (so please check first). The comment you leave needs to include the following though;

Which category are you nominating for?
What is the name of Product or Information Source?
Which company offers it?
What is the approximate price (British Pounds or American Dollars, please)?
Which versions of SharePoint does it work on?
In one line what does it do?
What do you like best about it?

Then at the end of October I will short list 4 finalists for each category ready for the voting to begin on November 1st 2013 and run until the end of November. The voting like on 'Strictly Come Dancing' will make up half of the final score. The other half will come from a panel of SharePoint Experts.

So it is time to get nominating. What are you waiting for?

And finally.....

An interesting week for my beloved Aston Villa. On Saturday we sensationally beat Manchester City in an unforgettable game. Well done to Paul Lambert and the Villa players for somehow stealing all three points. Perhaps just rewards after the amazing robbery against Spurs last Tuesday. Now answers please to why this wasn't a penalty?

Andy Dale SharePoint Awards 2013

2013-09-04T15:24:00.000+01:00

Now that the Premier League Transfer window has safely shut and Christian Benteke remains a Villa star it time to launch the 5th Andy Dale SharePoint Awards.

Voting for this year's awards will take place here on this SharePoint Blog during October and close on Halloween Night (31st October midnight UK Time). Before I explain the rules for this year's nominations here is a quick reminder of last year's winners when over 20,000 people cast their votes;

Reminder of SharePoint Awards 2012 Winners

1. Best SharePoint Information Site

Winner – Nothing But SharePoint (End User SharePoint)
Runner Up – SharePoint Pro Magazine

2. Best SharePoint Application

Winner – Sharegate
Runner Up – Colligo Contributor Pro

3. Best SharePoint Training Packages

Winner – Combined Knowledge
Runner Up – AIIM

4. Best SharePoint WebPart

Joint Winners – Kaldeera Advanced Forms and – Quick Poll Web Part by Amrein Engineering

5. Best SharePoint WebPart Provider

Winner – SharePoint Boost
Runner Up – Bamboo Solutions

6. Best SharePoint Management Tool

Winner – DocAve Software for SharePoint
Runner Up – Metalogix Migration Tool

7. Favourite Free SharePoint Product

Winner – Colligo Reader for SharePoint
Runner Up – SharePoint Designer 2010

8. Best SharePoint Blog

Winner – Joel Olson
Runner Up – Andrew Connell

Nominations Open Until 30th September for SharePoint Awards 2013

This year we are changing the format to try find the real Premier League SharePoint Products.
We have revamped the categories and this year there are just these six;

1. Best Overalll SharePoint Product (It must work on both 2013 and 2010. No price restriction)

2. Best SharePoint Budget Product (Under £750 or $1000)
3. Best SharePoint Administration Tool (Permissions, Backup, Migration, Reporting etc)
4. Best SharePoint 2013 App (Must work on Office 365 Enterprise as well as onsite SharePoint)
5. Best Free SharePoint Information Source (Could be Blog, Twitter feed, Website, Videos etc)
6. Best SharePoint Supplier (Which company go the extra mile, offer the best support etc.)

So how can you nominate your favourites and how do we make it fair? The idea is that over the next three weeks nominations are made by simply leaving a comment here on this post. We don't even mind if you nominate your own product. What we do ask though is that each product is only nominated once per category (so please check first). The comment you leave needs to include the following though;

Which category are you nominating for?
What is the name of Product or Information Source?
Which company offers it?
What is the approximate price (British Pounds or American Dollars, please)?
Which versions of SharePoint does it work on?
In one line what does it do?
What do you like best about it?

Then at the end of September I short list 4 finalists for each category ready for the voting to begin on October 1st 2013. The voting like on 'Strictly Come Dancing' will make up half of the final score. The other half will come from a panel of SharePoint Experts.

And Finally.....

If you are a regular reader to my SharePoint Blog you will probably be expecting a funny video. Well, this week I am going to be a bit naughty and promote one of my own YouTube videos. Sorry it isn't a SharePoint one but I hope it will make you smile.

For those you don't know when I am not following the mighty Aston Villa in my spare time I am a published writer and quite proud of my latest series of children's books 'King Derek and the Wonder Wizards'. So with a whiff of Jackanory nostalgia here is 'King Derek and the Purple Wizard'.

Let the nominations begin. Good luck to all the SharePoint companies.

SharePoint Designer Workflow Tips

2013-07-25T16:52:00.001+01:00

SharePoint without Workflow is like 'Cheers' without Diane. Good but not brilliant. Workflow really brings SharePoint to life allowing many mundane information processing tasks to be automated.

As a SharePoint consultant with Office Talk I have helped many companies create a whole range of Workflows with the help of the 'free' SharePoint Designer.

These have included;

1. Project Bid Request Systems
2. Holiday Approval Systems
3. Automatic Document Disposals
4. Patient Appointment Systems

5. New SharePoint Site Requests
6. Purchase Order Systems
7. New Employee Setups

With only a little training writing quite complex Workflows with SharePoint Designer is fairly straightforward, but here are 10 tips that might help.

Office Talk do provide SharePoint Designer Training.

1. If the Workflow includes changing any fields that the current logged on user is unable to change then in SharePoint Designer add an 'Impersonation Step' and place all the Workflow inside it.

2. If the Workflow only refers to one Content Type then make sure that your first condition removes any of the other Content Types.

3. Change SharePoint Farm Workflow configurations on your server. By default only 15 concurrent Workflows are allowed but this number can easily be changed to at least ten times their original values Find Out More

4. The addition of a 'Pause for Duration' is often needed to save the current information on changes Workflow has made to any field. A setting as low a 0 minutes can be used. It saves the recently changed fields.

5. Use the 'Approval Comments' field to add text that will stop Workflow from looping if it is set to run on 'Change'. (eg 'Approved Automatically' then first condition is Approved Comments does not equal 'Approved Automatically')

6. Use the 'Information Management Policy' to automatically start Workflows using one of the Date fields. Warning though 'Calculated' fields cannot be used. If you need to use a 'Calculated Value' then your Workflow will need to include the step to copy calculated value to a Date field.

7. Add a variable (Date) to your Workflow that will allow you to manually enter a date to test that Workflow is correctly started on the appropriate date.

8. If you have a number of Workflows that need to be run sequentially then change the Workflow Timer Service in Central Admin to run every minute. This means the Workflow will start in at the most one minutes time.

9. If you need a Workflow to continually run then try creating the workflow twice and varying the length of the pause at the start. Every time one of the Workflow finishes the other will then start if they are set to start on 'Change'.

10. When setting Workflows to send emails always use the Text box to insert all the text and fields you want. Don't forget to include a field value in the Subject again by using the text box.

Hope these tips will help you when you start to use SharePoint Designer to create Workflows. But if you need any assistance then Office Talk are very happy to build these Workflow for you. Just give Frank a shout on 0121 3680055.

Outside of SharePoint a sad event this week for the death of the brilliantly funny Mel Smith. So I shall end with a video of Mel at his best.

SharePoint 2013 Training Videos

2013-07-18T14:31:00.001+01:00

Welcome to this week's SharePoint Blog with just a hint of football chat.

The new football season is only four weeks away and what a Premier League season is promises to be. The 'Special One' is back at Chelsea, Sir Alex has finally gone and Arsene Wenger is about to take the padlock off his wallet. Bring it on!

Down at Villa Park, slipping under the radar, Paul Lambert has been a very busy man shopping more than my ex-wife used to. He has been busy buying young potential from all over Europe. Now, I have to say that not one of his six signings (many full internationals) were names I had ever heard of but then I hadn't heard of Christian Benteke this time last year. But despite my lack of knowledge of these players I am still very excited. The reason is the media of video and the amazing YouTube. Within seconds of the transfer news that Villa were chasing Danish superstar Helenius all Villa fans were YouTube searching and what they found they really liked.

So maybe another goalscoring gem has been unearthed, but what about SharePoint? Well, Office Talk are delighted to now be able to offer the full range of the latest SharePoint 2013 training videos.Over the last six years Office Talk have had many happy customers who have purchased CBTClips for SharePoint. They are a set of short video clips (no more than 5 minutes) showing the end user how to perform basic SharePoint tasks. A video can say so much more than a manual. It is like the Helenius video shows Villa fans so much about the forward they have purchased. We know what kind of shooter he is, how good a header, his pace, goal celebration and that he is built a bit like Peter Crouch.

Video is very much the media of twenty-first century so it makes sense to you it to back up your SharePoint End User Training. These SharePoint CBT Clips are also a great addon to any Help Centre. Where users can search for the help they need and then watch a video that shows them exactly what to do. Over the past twelve months Office Talk have created 'Help Centres' on SharePoint for a range of companies. If you would be interested in us creating one for your environment please give Frank a call on 0121 368 0055.

If you haven't already check out these brilliant CBT Clips for SharePoint by visiting http://www.office-talk.com/index.php?id=187

Youtube is great for cute animal videos as well as potential Villa signings and SharePoint so let me leave you with two of my recent favourites;

1. The Baby Pandas on the Slide.

2. Cute Cats and Kittens

Ten Things to Find Out on First Day at New Job

2013-06-27T12:50:00.001+01:00

Starting a new job can be stressful and very much a case of going into the unknown. These are the ten things that I believe you need to find out on your first day at a new job;

1. Where the toilets are?

2. Is there a vending machine or coffee club?

3. What do people tend to do for lunch?

4. What do you do if you cut your finger off?

5. Who is in charge of paying you?

6. Where can you park your car that doesn’t cost a fortune?

7. Where are the main meeting rooms?

8. Who is your boss’s boss?

9. Where do you save your files to?

10. How early can you leave in the evening and still look conscientious?

Next week the famous Aston Villa report back for pre-season training and as they prepare to return to the top six, where they belong, have signed five new players. All five are in their early 20’s and from various different European countries. They must be petrified as they prepare for their first day but at least there will be others there in the same situation, even if they don’t speak the same language.

So what do you do when you want to find anything out? If you are like me you ‘Google’ it (Ok other Search Engines are available, but I still always Google first). I suspect that on average I google over ten times a day. It really is my first port of call. Just an hour ago I googled ‘what to clean fabric car roofs with’. I know, I could have walked upstairs and got the handbook out that came with the car, but the first thing I did was google.

So why are we half way through my SharePoint blog and I haven’t yet mentioned SharePoint? Well, that is because if the company you are starting working at has SharePoint the answers to all the ten questions might be nearer than you think. So the first question to ask is, ‘do you use SharePoint?’ If so get the web address and using the Search box like Google try to find the answers to these questions.

Many companies now use SharePoint as an Intranet as using it as a Document\Records Management System. So you just might get lucky. If they do have SharePoint, but this type of information isn’t there then there will be lots of opportunities for you to shine by suggesting how it could be enhanced.

If you are a Human Resources, Personnel, or Recruitment Department (or whatever the latest trendy name is for looking after staff) then it is worth seeing how you can make best use of your organisations SharePoint system. Office Talk, the SharePoint Specialists, are always happy to come and offer you advice, or training, on how SharePoint can maximise the availability of information in your company. Just give us a call on 0121 3680055.

Now, to buy my 34^th consecutive Villa season ticket online. Villa Park is one place that I do know like the back of my hand.

Benefits of Office 365 Enterprise

2013-05-01T16:22:00.001+01:00

We seem to spend so much of our lives waiting. Children excitedly waiting for Father Christmas, Villa fans waiting for the next FA Cup triumph and businesses waiting for a truly affordable portable SharePoint solution. Well, Villa players have more important priorities at the moment, the elves have only just started making this year’s Christmas toys, but Microsoft have only gone and cracked it. Office 365 Enterprise really is what we have all been waiting for.

Office 365 is the ‘cloud’ based solution from Microsoft which includes Email, Instant Messaging, Live Meetings and storage. But the bit that really excites us at Office Talk is SharePoint 2013. Not only using it for Document Management and internal Team sites, but also to run the company Web Site. Yes, I know there have been many false dawns (no, I am not talking about Villa FA Cup runs), but Microsoft really have now given us FULL SharePoint capability. This is SharePoint without the Server. It has to be tried to be fully believed.

Like many of you Office Talk despaired with the limitations of BPOS and tried to hide our disappointment with Microsoft Online. But now pushed by the competition of the all-powerful Google (with their Google Docs and Google Mail) Microsoft have produced an absolute gem. The Office Talk engineers are a doubting lot, but after spending three months testing and trying to break Office 265 Enterprise edition the only conclusion is a big thumbs up.

So what are the benefits of Office 365 Enterprise then? Here are the things about it that makes me smile;

1. It really does include a fully working SharePoint Farm. With My Sites and User Profiles.

2. It comes with a Web Site powered by SharePoint and easy to configure. Including setting SEO optimisation.

3. You buy it per user and pay monthly. So even the smallest company can use it.

4. It comes with storage, a Sky Drive, for each user. Now I really can store my files securely and not have to panic about backing them up.

5. It works on my smart phone and my iPad. I even get it working on my old Blackberry.

6. It lets me create files straight in SharePoint without the need to having Office installed locally. Brilliant on the iPad.

7. It doesn’t need extra SQL licenses or SharePoint Internet licences or any complicated licencing calculation

8. You can easily add your existing domains. A couple of tweaks of ‘Go Daddy’ and your existing Website address can now be used for your email on Office 365.

9. No need to buy client copies of latest Office applications these can be freely downloaded as part of the monthly subscription.

10. Best to have ten benefits so I shall re-echo that it is FULL SHAREPOINT 2013. Central Administration and all.

So, you can see how excited we are about Office 365 Enterprise, but please don’t take my word for it, but try it out yourself. After all I was excited when I heard they were bringing back ‘Catch Phrase’.

To try Office 365 Enterprise with no questions asked or credit cards required please visit the Office Talk website. http://www.office-talk.com/index.php?id=186

As for the Villa I remain confident of Premiership survival. I think we require 40 points though to remain in the top flight. So we might have to beat Wigan on last game of the season.

STOP PRESS : Villa 6 Sunderland 1 - Maybe next season the FA Cup if we keep Benteke.

Changing Network Shares to SharePoint Libraries

2013-03-06T22:37:00.000+00:00

Yes, I know have been very quiet this year, but I am determined to get back to weekly SharePoint Blog writing. I could blame the worry of the Villa’s Premiership safety or the excitement at publishing my first threebooks, but in truth SharePoint has just gone a little crazy lately. With different the versions around the UK now stretched from 2003 to 2013. Office Talk now has customers on 4 different versions of SharePoint and that isn't even including WSS and Foundation.

Despite so many versions of SharePoint and it approaching its troublesome teenage years people still ask ‘What Does SharePoint Do?’ The answer is really whatever you want it to do. Well, maybe not make the perfect cup of tea or help Villa climb to safety, but when it comes to storing information it does the lot. It can be a reporting tool for your database systems, it can content manage your website, it can create surveys on what should the venue be for this year’s Christmas Office Party or it can add automation to any paper system. I am sure we could list over 100 polite uses for SharePoint, but the top one for most size organisations is ‘Document Management’.

Whether it is Private or Public Sector they all want to have a system for storing their ‘Controlled’ documents. The type of documents that legally shouldn't be deleted, the type that need some level of security, probably the sort that needs to keep old versions and be have an audit trail. As SharePoint puts a big tick in each of these boxes it is the tool that the majority of organisations turn to. The only issue is that they have had electronic documents for the last twenty plus years and they need a way to get these into SharePoint.

Often organisations have very large shared network drives that contain lots of valuable documents. Now uploading into SharePoint is not quick but can be done. The popular Explorer View is always and easy solution, but there are drawbacks. The major one being that you lose the author name and date created straight away. It turns into the account used to do the upload and today’s date. It is as if the past never existed and there wasn't life before SharePoint. But we need to Time Travel back to get the original properties.

So how can we keep the original properties from the Network Share and take them into the Document Libraries? Many Office Talk customers already know the answer but for the rest of you I will let you into the secret…….

It is DocKit from Vyapin. Over the last three years DocKit has been Office Talk’s biggest reselling product. To find out more and try it out just visit the DocKit page on the Office Talk website.

If only the Villa could convert their recent good performances into Premiership points as easily. With ten games left I have calculated that they will get ten more points before the final game. I have also estimated that Wigan will get eight points before the last game. So if I am right the Villa will go to Wigan for last game of the season two points ahead. In the words of Sir Alex, ‘it’s squeaky bum time’.

Oracle to SharePoint List without the need for Lucky Pants

2013-01-10T17:02:00.001+00:00

Before I write about a fantastic discovery for linking any version of Oracle data into a SharePoint List I think I should apologise for the lack of recent Blogs.

Yes, it has been far too long since my last SharePoint Blog, but I aim to publish more frequently in 2013. Especially as this is my 10th Anniversary Year. I have been involved with SharePoint now since I first became a fan in 2003. Yes, like the other consultants at Office Talk we have now worked on SharePoint 2003, SharePoint 2007 (when they called it MOSS), SharePoint 2010 and now the exciting new SharePoint 2013.

So why have my SharePoint blogs disappeared over Christmas? It is not as some of you might think that I have gone into hiding as the Villa defence has gained more holes than in a lorry load of polo mints. No, lack of blogs is probably more to do with a case of Festive Man Flu and a touch of fictional book publishing. To find out what books I have been writing please visit andydalewrites.com, oh and tell all your friends.

Back to the challenge of getting Oracle information into SharePoint. Now, at first this might seem easy 'Out of the Book' using the BDC, but the more you look into it the more challenging it becomes especially if you have a version of Oracle older than 11. It really is time to get your developers hat on. Even SharePoint Designer refuses to help you. Instead you will need Visual Studio and quite a bit of knowledge. It is nearly as difficult as getting the Villa to defend a corner. So after telling your manager you can import data from Oracle straight into the new super SharePoint you are left frantically Googling to try to find help. But fear not because Office Talk have the answer.

Office Talk are resellers of the brilliant SharePointboost products and one of these is a real hidden gem. It is called simply 'SharePoint Data Connector'. It just links the tables entries in Oracle, or SQL, with the entries in a SharePoint list. So simple and can be configured in minutes. All you need is the logon details from the database. It can even go both ways. You can set 'Database to SharePoint List' or 'SharePoint List to Database'. With the Oracle though you will need to install a client copy of Oracle to the SharePoint server, but this is painless and doesn't require any downtime.

So we have solved the challenge of Oracle to a SharePoint list. Now, if only fixing the Villa defence was that easy. I am still confident that the famous Aston Villa will be at Wembley in February though.

SharePoint 2013 is about to wow us all, or is it?

2012-10-31T14:41:00.000+00:00

It might only seem like a few years since we were all being amazed by the Millennium firework displays, but in two months time we reach the year 2013. No idea how that happened, but SharePoint is going to celebrate by reinventing itself for the fourth time (well, it's worked for Dr Who). Yes, SharePoint 2013 is about to wow us all, or is it?

So what is in the new SharePoint 2013 version. then? Here is my personal top ten changes.

1. Managed Navigation - The old navigation is still there but Microsoft have given us an alternative that allows us to use more 'Friendly' URLs. Also they have included a clever edit button on the navigation bar so it is easier to get to. If, of course, you have the permission.

2. Device Channels - This lets you create and use different Master Pages and Page Layouts depending on which mobile device you are using. It allows for the 'young trendy' people with iPhones, iPads and other handheld devices. It finally moves SharePoint away from the PC.

3. Design Manager - You can now design Master Pages and create 'branding' from within SharePoint. SharePoint Designer might have been upgraded to SharePoint Designer 2013 but it now has an entirely different job to play.

4. Content Search Web Part - A new Web Part that replaces the 'Content Query Web Part'. Making it easier to search and to retrieve required information within SharePoint. Also moves away from the frustrating XSLT.

5. Composed Looks - Finally SharePoint have repaired the approach for creating themes that SharePoint 2010 got so very wrong. Did anybody really create themes using PowerPoint?

6. Catalogs – To try to manage things centrally you can now create a catalog of products and maybe use this catalog to produce a product web site. You no longer need to create pages for each individual item just stick it in a catalog.

7. New GUI - If you have used Windows 8 yet you will have come across Microsoft’s new big user interface. They claim it is easier to use, snazzier, and well, different (in a good way). Microsoft are planning to use this design as their default UI for SharePoint, Office, Windows, Xbox and mobile devices over the coming years. The error messages are more chatty too almost giving SharePoint it's own personality..

8. Drag and Drop - Within any document library you can simply drag and drop your documents and files. A simple feature, but your users will appreciate it.

9. Shredded Storage - Probably one of the biggest enhancements. It allows SharePoint to send incremental updates to SQL. So if two words in a document change then only those changes are sent not the whole document. You can imagine the space this could save.

10. Apps - I have left it until last because I really don't know what effect Apps will have. But Microsoft like Apple are going App crazy. The App Management Service will allow you (or individual users, scary thought) to install SharePoint apps from the Office Marketplace or the App Catalog. I suppose Office Talk will need to get started on creating Apps for SharePoint. Ideas welcome!

So a few quite major changes, but still a lot of the basic functionality remains the same. Interestingly, the spec. for hardware and software is the same as 2010 so if you are looking to upgrade from SharePoint 2007 it might be worth going straight to 2013. Office Talk will be happy to discuss any upgrade work with you.

The Villa's form continues to be a worry but like SharePoint 2013 the new manager is currently building a new team and making major changes to the way it works. Like any new software upgrade it will take some getting used to. What Paul Lambert needs from his players is hard work and grafters. He can't afford any passengers who just sit back and take the money.

Which brings us to Doreen's Story.....

Nearly Great SharePoint

2012-10-19T14:47:00.001+01:00

Well, yet again the England football team failed to deliver with a disappointing draw in Poland. They might be ranked 5th in the world but they really still aren't great. A bit like some SharePoint projects. They promise so much but can be a total washout.

The Microsoft SharePoint bandwagon continues to smash through all sizes of UK companies and shows no sign of slowing down. Some organisations might call it their Intranet or given it a trendy name like ‘The Hub’, but most are already using one of the many versions of SharePoint.

Businesses often select key people in the organisation to form a ‘SharePoint Project Team’ and very soon these people become fans of SharePoint. They pass their enthusiasm on to directors and managers convincing them that SharePoint will give them great savings and revolutionise the way employees work. Man-hours will be reduced, Rain Forests will be saved and morale will rise.

SharePoint goes live the SharePoint Project Team and IT Department congratulate themselves, the future looks rosy and there is even a triumphant double page spread in the company magazine. Then six months later somebody notices that nothing has really changed. The problem is the everyday employees in the various departments haven’t really started doing anything differently. Paper forms are still being sent around the office, out of date telephone lists are still pinned on noticeboards, room bookings are still made by ringing lots of peoples, Training Records for one employee are still being stored in multiple locations and ‘Near Misses’ are still just noted by a large sigh of relief from the Safety Manager. So why hasn’t SharePoint streamlined all these standard internal systems?

The answer is probably that the employees just haven’t got the time to replace the way they have always worked with automated systems on SharePoint because they are too busy filling out paper forms and taking phone calls.

What companies really need is somebody to have done all the donkey work for them. Must companies have the same functions (Safety, IT, HR, Finance, Purchasing, Training, Reception, Projects etc.) and all have to do many of the same routine jobs. Jobs like report IT problems, record employee details, submit Expense claims and control the access of visitors.

The secret is that somebody has done the donkey work for them. The UK SharePoint specialists Office Talk have been selling a bundle of 10 SharePoint Templates since 2009. It is available for all versions of SharePoint since 2007 (including the free ones!) Office Talk’s pack of 10 SharePoint Department Templates which available ready to use for just £199.95 per company. It really is that missing ingredient to make SharePoint great and to help make the time savings that that the SharePoint Project Team promised.

[To find out more about the Office Talk 2010 SharePoint Template Bundle visit http://www.office-talk.com/index.php?id=151]

Change Doesn’t Always Take Time (Migrating SharePoint)

2012-09-05T15:46:00.000+01:00

I have to start this week by telling you how amazed I am at how well Metalogix SharePoint Migration tool is performing on my current SharePoint project.

Regularly readers will know that I have often been doubtful about tools that claim to migrate from SharePoint 2007 to 2010. Well, I was wrong. The latest Metalogix version does really work once you have mastered all the many little switches you can turn on or off and finally managed to connect to both environments using the Metalogix Web Services connector. So it is possible to painlessly transform your SharePoint 2007 system into the new sexier 2010 with it’s jazzy ribbon and overall more powerful features. Without getting some very strange results. Unfortunately for the Villa migrating a whole football team is not so easy.

Yes, you might have noticed with only one point from three games the Villa are not exactly setting the world alight under new manager Paul Lambert. My phone keeps receiving so called funny jokes at my beloved Villa’s expense; like ‘Villa has just signed Lenny Henry. It is the only way they will be staying in a Premier next season’. But I am not worried because I can see the team is being transformed with nine new players being bedded in and an exciting passing style now being incorporated. It takes time and unlike Metalogix’s Migration software cannot happen overnight.

So why am I suddenly such a great fan of this Migration software? I have found through trial, error and the fast response of their support centre that it is possible to get a near perfect upgraded site. All you do is copy the original site and then paste it where you want on the new 2010 (you can include all subsites in one go) then you sit back and watch as it churns along. Sadly, it doesn’t estimate how much time it is going to take so it is a bit of guess work but normally time to go and make a cup of coffee. At the end you will find some little frustrations at first glance, like the Alerts haven’t come over or the navigation is wrong. But these can be very quickly remedied by copying site again and then choosing ‘Paste Special’. This lets you just copy and paste the Alerts or the Navigation over what you have already copied. Another option that is great is the incremental copy option. So you can migrate all your sites one night and then another night migrate any changes that might have been made to your original sites since migration because somebody didn’t read the email that went out. The software even changes any links to the old system to the new one.

Perhaps I have made everything sound just a touch too rosy though because even with Metalogix there are a few cons. Firstly, it isn’t a cheap package although we at Office Talk will always try to be the cheapest resellers of it. But it will save you many many man days and a lot of frustrations. That is when you finally get all the settings correctly set and this isn’t easy. The cost is also calculated on how much data you have to migrate. Two important starting points here is to make sure first that that machine you install on in the 2007 is able to browse to the 2010 SharePoint and visa versa. You may well have to tweak the Hosts files to get it to work. Secondly, I recommend installing the management console for Metalogix on the 2010 App server. Then install the Metalogix Web Services Agent on ALL of the 2010 Web Front End Servers. Then also install the Metalogix Web Services Agent on ALL of the 2007 Web Front End Servers and the 2007 App server. When you connect the Web Apps on the Management Console I recommend forcing it to use Metalogix Web Services not to leave it to automatically choose. Oh, one last point is if possible try to have an account that is a Farm Admin in both environments to use to connect with as this will make your job a lot easier. But once you have got all of the above working it really is plain sailing.

So if you want to find out more about this software or even try it out just click here. If only Paul Lambert could try his signings out first. But in Paul Lambert we trust and we just hope he can be the success that he was at Norwich City.

If you do try Metalogix out, or have used it before, please leave me a comment. Also comments on the Villa’s new signings would be good, but please no more relegation jokes, it is only September. I shall leave you with the old favourite. What’s the difference between a triangle and Aston Villa? Answer : A triangle has three points.

Olympic SharePoint

2012-07-25T15:46:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of posts lately but the SharePoint world has suddenly gone crazy. It seems that every company is moving to or wanting to find out more about Microsoft SharePoint. So the SharePoint consultants at Office Talk have been extra busy. Maybe it is a sign that the recession is finally coming to an end or maybe more likely that companies are seeing SharePoint as a way to save their business money in the long term. Any costs that can be reduced are always good. Which brings me onto the Olympic Games, but lets forget all the money and the issues with security and just enjoy the amazing spectacle that is going to hit Great Britain for the next two weeks.

I really am excited and can still clearly remember how excited I was seven years ago as I ate my lunch in a car lay-by waiting for the announcement of who would host the 2012 games. It seems a long time ago now and certainly a lot has happened in my life since that day in 2005. I wasn't even a SharePoint Consultant back then. In fact I was in the middle of leading a SharePoint 2003 project as an IT Manager. Now we have seen version 2007 come and go and then the all ribbony SharePoint 2010 version being such a massive success. Now we are about to see the beta version of 2013 launched. SharePoint has just gone from strength to strength and really is Microsoft's Gold medal winner. But if SharePoint was in the Olympics (I mean entering as I know it has a key roll to play in the organising and managing of the Olympics) what event would it enter? I think it would be a classy runner, a long javelin thrower, a very good pole vaulter and a successful long jumper (as in jumping a long way not a jumper that has been stretched in the washing machine. Although my jumpers are more likely to shrink in our washing machine). But perhaps in each of these events SharePoint would make the podium but not take the gold. Because although SharePoint is an excellent Document Management System, superb Electronic Forms System, terrific Reporting System and wonderful Intranet it probably isn't the best at any of these. You could, with enough pennies, go out and buy a better system for each of these individual operations. But where SharePoint does take the gold is it does all of these operations really well. So if it was in the Olympics it would romp away to Olympic gold and smash all World Records in the Decathlon. It would be like a supercharged Daley Thompson completely unbeatable.

So if I am saying that SharePoint is 'A jack of all trades, master of none', why is it such a vital business tool? The reason I believe is because of it's simple to use common platform. It uses the standard familiar Microsoft Office applications and all parts, be it Lists, Libraries, Picture Libraries, all work the same way. Employees don't need to attend several different training courses because every part works the same way. Once you have mastered creating a view and setting up a custom list you are on your way to becoming a SharePoint expert. With only having one system your IT support and maintenance costs will quickly shrink.

At Office Talk we encourage all our SharePoint clients to offer training to all their End Users as part of rolling out SharePoint. Just a two hour course and get them quickly using some of the more advanced SharePoint features, but as we all know we quickly forget what we have learnt. Olympic athletes train for hours each day. I don't expect you would find Tom Daley getting on to the Olympic diving-board having not trained for three months. So Office Talk are currently promoting a set of short SharePoint 'How to Do' videos that can be there for a permanent reference for your SharePoint End Users whenever they are trying to remember how exactly they managed to do something they tried in the Training Course. Obviously I wouldn't recommend this for Tom Daley on his diving-board as I am not sure performing a tucked reverse two-and-a-half somersault would be achievable whilst carrying a laptop. But for SharePoint short videos (CBT Clips) are ideal.

To find out more about purchasing this award winning set of short SharePoint videos (available for 2007 and 2010) please email marketing@office-talk.com or visit our website http://www.office-talk.com/index.php?id=108

Now I will close this week by being totally bias and wishing the very best luck to everyone representing Great Britain during the Olympics and Paralympics (even if you are a so called Plastic Britons). Let's keep hearing the Queen's favourite song and see plenty of gold medals dangling on Stella McCartney vests.

Rule Britannia !!

Euro 2012 Meets SharePoint

2012-06-06T20:01:00.001+01:00

This June there is no excuse for your SharePoint to be dull your End Users to be bored. Because Office Talk have created the SharePoint Template that everyone has been asking for.

We bring you The completely Unofficial Euro 2012 SharePoint Template. So why not join in the fun and let your End Users see exactly how flexible and brilliant SharePoint really is.

Claim your free Euro 2012 SharePoint Template simply send an email entitled 'Euro 2012' to marketing@office-talk.com or just leave your email address in a comment below.

Office Talk are backing Roy's Boys for glory this summer, but this free template is available to ever one. so don't miss out order yours TODAY !!

How to order a meal or use SharePoint?

2012-05-29T13:24:00.000+01:00

Before I suggest how you can make life easier for your SharePoint End Users I would like to share with you an event that happened to my family last Friday night which made me decide on today's topic.

You see, in the UK at the moment (well when I started writing this) we are having a heatwave. This means we have left our coats at home for a week, had to mow the lawn several times and my baldy head is very red. So on Friday night like many other families we decided to head for a nice country pub for our tea. After finding no room at several inns we finally settled on a pub where the waiting time for a table was only half an hour. So we got some drinks and waited. After only about 20 minutes the lady at the desk shouted over 'Table for Dale' and then showed us to our table and handed us each a menu. All seemed to be going well and we each chose what we wanted from the impressive looking menu. Then we waited.

Ten minutes passed and still nobody came to take our order. Twenty minutes and my stomach was rumbling, but still waiters and waitresses walked straight on by. Half an hour and I decided to change what I was going to order, but still nobody came to the table.

After forty minutes I began to look around and wonder why other people, who had come after us, were now being served their food. It was then a worrying thought entered my head. I stopped a passing waiter carrying a plate with a large fish on and asked, 'Excuse me, is it table service here?'. The answer, as I had feared, was a, 'no, you have to order at the bar, mate' and the waiter left shaking his head.

So we had waited hungrily for over 40 minutes because nobody had told us that orders had to be placed at the bar. I complained, a little, to the lady who had seated us and she did apologise for not saying, but pointed to some really small text at the bottom of the middle page of the menu (hidden behind a custard stain) that did say 'Order at Bar'.

So why did this get me thinking about SharePoint? It was because I was thinking about the poor End User who sits there in front of these great looking sites and while they can read lots of information they don't really know what they are supposed to do. They know they can upload documents, but do not quite know how to do this. They don't know that you have to open a document library first. Or they want to edit a document but they don't know they need to check it out first. There might be a picture on the site that they want to change or they might have heard about setting Alerts but don't know how to set one up.

Ideally End Users will have been given some initial SharePoint training but they will soon forget. I have to admit that I had been to that pub last year, but had forgotten that you had to order at the bar. So how can we help our SharePoint End Users to know the basics of what to do? Without them sitting around for over 40 minutes waiting for somebody to tell them. The best way is to put information on the site with instructions. If you have used SharePoint Designer you will know you can easily add Hover-Over bubbles or Help Straplines to your sites.

Office Talk have found that many customers try to get round this problem by creating short video clips of how to do basic SharePoint functions. Tools like the popular Contasia Screen Capture are great and fun to use, but can take weeks of work and never quite reach the professional standard you were looking for. So the cost of producing these internally can be quite expensive. The advantages of doing them yourself is that any corporate branding you might have used or anything unique to your site comes across, but is it really worth it. One of the leading SharePoint products that we at Office Talk resell is 'SharePoint CBT Clips'.

SharePoint CBT Clips are available for either SharePoint 2010 or 2007 version and are a super set of around 75 little video clips (about 3 minutes each) that show the End User exactly what to click on to do all the basic SharePoint jobs. Some of the classic ones like 'Working with List Data', 'Sending a Link to a Document', 'Recovering Deleted Items' and 'Connecting to Outlook' are all there. The great thing is the files are small and can easily be stored in SharePoint allowing the End User to access them directly through their SharePoint Site.

Now, I have worked in an IT Helpdesk and I know that giving the End User direct access to the information doesn't mean some of them won't still call the IT Helpdesk straight away but at least if you have the SharePoint CBT Clips the Helpdesk staff can just quickly send back a link to the exact video.

It really is a money saver. Oh dear this post is turning into an advert, but I am really impressed with these short clips and Office Talk are currently selling a Corporate Licence (which allows you to put all 75 on a SharePoint Server) for only £1350. It really is a way to dramatically reduce your training costs.

To find out more about, or purchase a copy of, 'SharePoint CBT Clips' please drop an email to our Marketing Manager Frank Faulds .

In next week's post I will be bringing you a free SharePoint Template to keep track of all the groups in Euro 2012 and let you back Roy's Boys in Poland and the Ukraine. This year let's go one better than 1996 and reach the final.

How do you pick a Villa manager or SharePoint Consultant (Take 2)

2012-05-22T19:11:00.000+01:00

This week I am going to be lazy as the sun is out and republish a blog from September 2010 because yet again the Villa are desperately seeking a manager.

So I am returning to my post that compared choosing a Villa manager with choosing a SharePoint Consultan. Main difference being though you don't have to pay SharePoint Consultants millions if you ever have to sack them. This year though Liverpool, the Baggies and possibly Chelsea are also looking for a new boss. So here is the revised blog advice on how to pick a new football manager or a SharePoint Consultant. Ok I am slightly biased as I am a SharePoint Consultant at SharePoint Specialists Office Talk, but this still doesn’t stop me making myself available to Villa owner, Randy Learner, if he wants to give me a call. Hopefully Randy is not aware of my performance on Championship Manager last week when I was sack as Villa boss after just seven games. My odds of getting the Villa job are quite low though with younger names like; Ole Gunar Solskjaer, Paul Lambert, Roberto Martinez and Roberto (I won Champions League) Di Matteo in the hunt. Perhaps I should stick to being a SharePoint Consultant.

So if you are starting a SharePoint Project what should you look for when you are interviewing possible SharePoint Consultants? I have put together a six point checklist that might help;

1. Do they have Knowledge in your business, or organisation area? In the same way I believe that Villa should look for a manager who has experience in the Premier League it is important that your SharePoint Consultant has worked on a similar project to yours.

2. Do they speak your language? If they talk in too ‘techie’ speak will they really be able to communicate successfully with your Project Team. Maradona (who was in the betting last time) might have been a brilliant footballer but he doesn’t speak English. That might be have been ok for the England national team but not the great Aston Villa.

3. Do they have SharePoint Connections? Are they well known in the SharePoint community and are they able to help expand your SharePoint with knowledge of business enhancing add-ons. In football the new manager needs to be able to attract new signings and it is useful to have contacts.

4. Are they Qualified? What Microsoft and SharePoint qualifications does the potential SharePoint Consultant hold? Managers in football now need the appropriate coaching badges to be able to manage. Oh dear, that goes against my application for Villa job. Perhaps my MCSE could stand for Managing Coaching Soccer Excellence.

5. Are they Available? How soon can they start working on your SharePoint. You don’t want to think that nobody else wants them but also you don’t want to have to wait seven months before they are available. With football some top managers who aren’t available can become available if you offer enough money as compensation. Please nobody say Steve Bruce.

6. Are they Affordable? It is important that the SharePoint Consultant is within your budget. You will be surprised at the differences in rates for Consultants in the UK. There is the argument you get what you pay for so if it seems too cheap ask yourself why. Also are they clearly stating how many days are involved in the SharePoint Project? Football teams (apart from Man City) are also feeling the financial pinch at the moment. Lack of money to spend was believed to be a key factor in Martin O’Neill leaving Villa. Randy Learner will certainly think about money when he makes his appointment. Maybe he should stick with Kevin McDonald and my all-time favourite player Gordon 'Sidney' Cowans.

If you consider these six questions you should find a SharePoint Consultant you can work successfully with. If you are located in UK and are looking for a SharePoint Consultant why not contact frank.faulds@office-talk.com to see if Office Talk can help. The future for Aston Villa is very bright if they make the right managerial appointment. If Randy Learner reads this SharePoint blog my advice would be either to see if former Villa idol David Platt fancies being a Premier League Manager.

Avoiding SharePoint Relegation

2012-05-01T12:43:00.001+01:00

Two games to go now and for Villa fans it really is ‘squeaky bum’ time as we try desperately not to be relegated from the Premier League. Many fans have blamed the manager, others have blamed the owner and I blame the demise of my lucky pants.

No, there are lots of reasons for the appalling performances of the great Aston Villa this season and ideally they will start to put these right in the summer. Hopefully ready for another season in the Premier League. The Premier League without AVFC is unthinkable.

It isn’t just football teams that can flop though. SharePoint environments can also hit some pretty rough patches. My blog this week is going to compare how to prevent your SharePoint hitting the rocks with trying to avoid relegation from the Premier League. Many companies invest heavily in SharePoint with key members of the business forming a dream project team. SharePoint is launched with a big fanfare and everything is rosy. A little like a Championship team winning promotion. Reading and Southampton are celebrating now but for their managers the hard work has only just begun. Keeping their teams in the Premiership is the real challenge. With SharePoint the real challenge is getting users to use SharePoint and then keeping them using it. It is not as easy as it sounds.

Based on my 32 years of watching Aston Villa, my 7 years of SharePoint Consulting and my 8 years of playing Championship Manager I have drawn a list of six things that are needed to keep SharePoint working and to avoid relegation.

These are;

1. Management
2. Training
3. Investment
4. Planning
5. Reliability
6. Freshness

I have numbered them 1 to 6 but I think they are probably all of pretty equal importance. But let’s start with Management.

1 Management
SharePoint like a football team needs somebody who is in charge and takes ownership. They need the full backing of the Board but they also need to be accountable. Despite what Microsoft might claim SharePoint won’t look after itself. It isn’t a project that once started you can walk away from. It needs a manager or a management team. There might have been very few successful management teams in football (I can only really think of Clough and Taylor) but in SharePoint Management Teams can work.

2. Training
You might know how SharePoint works and might happily create custom lists and fancy views, but can all the End Users do this. In football even the best players need training and so it is in SharePoint that everyone needs some form of training and most importantly refresher training. It is worth setting up a designated Training Area where users can try new SharePoint tricks out. I have no idea what the Villa players have been doing in their training sessions this season. If you would like any onsite SharePoint training please visit the Office Talk website.

3. Investment
If you are using SharePoint you will need to continually invest in it and the money doesn’t stop after Go Live. As with a football club if you don’t invest in it your SharePoint will standstill or end up being relegated to the scrapheap. You need to invest in training, backup solutions, support and SharePoint Add-ons. I would strongly recommend having a SharePoint budget. But then as somebody who works for a company who just does SharePoint I would. If only Randy Learner would invest more money in Aston Villa perhaps the future wouldn’t be so bleak.

4. Planning
Maybe this should have been earlier but you need to have a plan. What would you like to do with your SharePoint, how are you going to develop it and will you be upgrading it? You always need to be reviewing and thinking what you can do next with your SharePoint. Football teams need to have a plan of how they are going to play and ideally a plan B when it doesn’t work. Football owners also need to have a plan of what they want from the team. Do they want trophies or a healthy balance sheet?

5. Reliability
Your SharePoint system needs to be relied on. It needs to be working most of the time and contain the type of information the End User needs. In the same way football teams need players they can rely on. Players who will put in above average performances most weeks instead of players who are brilliant every five games but disappear for all the others. Regular Health Checks can help your SharePoint be reliable.

6. Freshness
Perhaps some Villa players have been at Villa Park too long and become too comfortable. New signings may have freshened things up and kept things moving forward. In SharePoint freshness is vital and the need for continually updating content is so important. There is nothing more soul destroying than when as a SharePoint Consultant you are involved in an exciting launch, but return a year later to see exactly the same content and the Home site. Wolves were relegated this season with many of the players that had played for them in the Championship three years ago.

So those are my six pointers to avoiding SharePoint or Premier League meltdown. I feel that if you get those six right not only will you start to climb the table but your SharePoint will grow and grow.

So I need to now start thinking, what I can do as a fan to help the Villa beat Spurs on Sunday and keep them in the Premiership. Maybe my lucky pants need one last outing.

SharePoint Award 2012 Winners and a Relegation Fight

2012-04-02T21:34:00.000+01:00

After an amazing month of voting the winners of the SharePoint Awards 2012 are now ready to be announced. I can't quite believe the tens of thousands of votes that were cast, but now we have the combined the votes with the verdict of our expert SharePoint panel to determine the eight winners. To find out who the winners and runners-up are click here to visit SharePoint Village. But first let me show you a way to get your users using SharePoint.

One of the most frequent conversations at any workplace is of course football. So why not add a bit of football excitement to your SharePoint. Being a Villa fan at the moment means that the only excitement we get is a relegation fight. Unfortunately like the start of April last year I am left working out all the permutations of the Premier League relegation fight. So I have again turned to SharePoint to help me to keep track of what could be a very poor season for the mighty Aston Villa.

As Manchester City continue to press the self destruct button and hand the trophy to the other team in Manchester my thoughts are at the other end of the table. Although it is still a good chance to see Ballotelli trying to put his bib on again.

With Villa now only five times clear of the relegation zone (and without Darren Bent, Richard Dune and sadly captain Stiliyan Petrov) it means that Villa along with 5 other Premiership clubs are left fighting for survival. This really is 'squeaky bum' time.

Last year, one Sunday, after realising the Villa could be relegated I tried to work out the best way to record the relegation battle. At first I tried a complex spreadsheet listing all the fixtures each of the twelve struggling teams had to play but this was far too restrictive. Then it struck me that SharePoint was the ideal tool to produce numerous reports and lists based on the information I had available. So by importing my spreadsheet (it took only seconds as the 'Create List' contains an 'Import Spreadsheet') and creating lots of different views I soon had a Site created that I will be using for the remainder of the season. Now I have had to do it all again. Hopefully there will be a happy ending with the Villa remaining were they belong in the Premiership. It might go to the very last day though but it is sure to be exciting.

As I am quite pleased with the SharePoint Site I have created called 'Relegation Fight' I would like to open it up to the many other slightly worried football fans (it is designed for all the bottom 7 teams;Wolves, QPR, Bolton, Wigan, Blackburn, Villa and Albion).

Screen Shot from SharePoint Site 'Relegation Fight'

To view and follow the 'Relegation Fight' SharePoint Site please visit the Office Talk Hosted SharePoint 2010 site at http://office-talk.net the logon you need to use is demo@officetalk-navigator.com with the password of officetalk. Then click on the final tab on the top menu labelled 'Relegation Fight'

But while the famous Aston Villa try to stop their losing run 9 SharePoint companies are today celebrating being winners at the SharePoint Awards 2012. Congratulations to everyone who has won a Gold Seal in this year's awards.

On the 'Relegation Fight' SharePoint Site I have predicted all the remaining games for each of the twelve teams. If my predictions were to come true then Wolves, Wigan and Blackburn will be appearing in the npower Championship next season. But football is rarely predictable and as Jimmy Greaves was fond of saying 'it's a funny old game'.

So don't forget to keep checking the 'Relegation Fight' SharePoint site;

URL : http://office-talk.net
Logon : demo@officetalk-navigator.com
Password : officetalk

Whatever your team try to follow the words of Corporal Jones in Dad's Army and 'DON'T PANIC!'.

To close this week though I have to send my best wishes to one of my current favourite Aston Villa players Stiliyan Petrov who was diagnosed with acute leukaemia on Friday. Get well 'Stan' we all know you can beat it and want to see you back in the Villa midfield in the not too distant future.

Making Sense of SharePoint Governance

2012-03-23T13:29:00.002+00:00

Whatever SharePoint project you are involved in you are bound to hear the term ‘SharePoint Governance’, but what exactly is it and who needs it?

Basically ‘SharePoint Governance’ is the rules and responsibilities that you put in place to ensure that SharePoint works as your business/organisation wants it to work. For example your company Document Management Policy might state that all documents must have a Document Owner and be reviewed every two years. So your SharePoint needs to somehow enforce that all documents have a Document Owner and are reviewed every two years. This is just one of the many examples of SharePoint Governance.

The problem with ‘SharePoint Governance’ is that these rules and responsibilities can be anything your business/organisation wants them to be. I say a ‘problem’ because you can’t just Google it (or Bing it) and find the exact set of SharePoint Governance that fits your needs. You need to spend time thinking about all the different parts you need to implement. This part is made a lot easier if your business/organisation already have policies and procedures in place. It is fairly straightforward to enforce existing policies using SharePoint the time taken is in reaching agreement on the policies to start with.

I am not really explaining this well so I am going to resort to doing what I often do and explain it in football terms (for my American readers this is the kind of football where only goalkeepers get to use their hands). Imagine a game of football if nobody had ever clearly defined the rules. Well, this is like SharePoint without any governance. Probably great fun but soon it would be totally out of control. Without rules you aren’t controlling how many players are there on each side, how big the pitch is, how long the game will last and what exactly is a foul. It would be like those games in the street that end up forty a side and never seem to end (sounds like American Football!). So you need to have rules. You need to put limits in place as you do with SharePoint. But what good are rules in both football and SharePoint if nobody is responsible for enforcing them?

In football we need a referee (we seem to be gaining more all the time at the moment) to make sure that the players do keep within these rules. In SharePoint Governance it is important to define responsibilities. What is expected of a Site Owner or who is responsible for a certain Site Collection? So if it helps to understand what ‘SharePoint Governance’ is remember it is rules and responsibilities and think of football rules and refs.

Of course there is a lot more to SharePoint Governance really and I recommend you read the excellent white paper ‘The Five Pillars of SharePoint Governance’ that was written by Chris McNutty Quest. The link is http://i.zdnet.com/whitepapers/Quest_WPA_Five_Pillars_SharePoint_Gov_US_KS_v2_Final_1.pdf . Also a very useful article on SharePoint Governance is written by Pentalogic http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/10/what-is-sharepoint-governance/

I started by saying “..what exactly is it and who needs it?” well, I have mentioned what it is, but who does need it? The truth is that all SharePoint environments needs some level SharePoint Governance but how much really depends on two factors. Firstly, how many users you have. Secondly, how important your information is. Truth is if you have less than 5 users you don’t need that many rules and responsibility is not so important, but if you have 100,000 users and critical business information then the rules and responsibilities are vital. So I am saying the amount of SharePoint Governance you require is proportionally linked to number of users and importance.

Let me take you back to my football comparison. If four of you are playing football in the park then you might need some basic rules (i.e. the jumpers for goalposts each end are nearly the same distance apart) but you don’t usually need a ref. However, if you are playing in the Champions League Final with billions watching and millions of pounds at stake then you need every rule clearly defined and multiple people responsible for ensuring all these rules are enforced. Not only rules of the game but rules of advertising, rules of television rights and many other rules have to be sorted. So this is like a multinational SharePoint environment with the highest value information. If this is the case a very considerable amount of time needs to be devoted to ‘SharePoint Governance’.

It is important not to get too bogged down with ‘SharePoint Governance’ when you are starting your SharePoint project though. It can develop and change as your system develops and changes. When William McGregor, the famous son of Aston Villa, founded the English football league in March 1888 he did not think about crossbars, floodlights, shirt sponsors or Mobile Telephone Broadcasting rights; these things all came slowly during the next 124 years. Maybe William should have included a rule that a team in claret and blue from Birmingham must always be in the top division.

Hope this blog answered the questions of what ‘SharePoint Governance’ is and who needs it. If you wanted any help on deciding on how to define rules and responsibilities for your SharePoint then please don’t hesitate to contact Office Talk.

Just two notices to end with this week. Firstly, voting in the Andy Dale SharePoint Awards 2012 has been phenomenal but closes on 1st April 2012. If you haven’t voted yet in any of the eight SharePoint sections please vote now at http://sharepointvillage.com/?page_id=7456 .

Lastly, the sale of our pack of 10 SharePoint Department Templates continues to go well and I would like to make you all aware that until the end of April these are available at the stupidly cheap price of £199.95. So don’t miss out visit http://www.office-talk.com/index.php?id=151

Ten Rules of SharePoint Navigation

2012-03-12T16:23:00.000+00:00

Ten Rules of SharePoint Navigation

[If you are visiting this SharePoint blog to cast your vote for this year’s SharePoint Awards please see the blog dated 5^th March for information on the finalists and then click here to vote. But why not read this week’s blog about SharePoint Navigation whilst you are passing?]

One of the important things to remember in any SharePoint implementation is to make it as easy as possible for the user to navigate. I am sure, like me, when you drive one of the most annoying things is lack of signposts. When you are unsure which way to go and come to a T junction you expect a signpost showing you where each road will lead you. I am still very wary of Sat Navs because I always think what if the Sat Nav is lost itself or suddenly goes out of range. So I like a good old fashioned signpost. The same is also true for me within SharePoint where despite the modern way being to use the ‘Search’ I still favour simple navigation. The Search in SharePoint is good and has advanced a lot since the early versions of SharePoint, but still it is prone to finding excessive amounts of results and relies on the author having used the correct terms in the document.

So I want to share with you a few basic rules I use when creating navigation within SharePoint. These aren’t defined ‘Best Practice’ just a few rules that have helped me over the years. Now, before I list the rules let me just clarify the terms used for navigation in SharePoint. If you are using Windows SharePoint Services, SharePoint Foundation or a Team Site on SharePoint Server navigation comes in two parts. These parts are called ‘Top Link Bar’ and ‘Quick Launch Bar’. They can be accessed by Site Actions – Site Settings. Very simply ‘Top Link’ is along the top and ‘Quick Launch’ along the left-hand side. It is though possible using SharePoint Designer or different Page Layouts to change the position of these around. You might be the kind of person who likes their ‘Quick Launch Bar’ on the right of the page. We are all different.

Microsoft don’t make it easy though, because for SharePoint Publishing Sites they change the rules and rename the ‘Top Link’ and ‘Quick Launch’. They package them together under the term ‘Navigation’. I suppose they are now thinking more about Websites than basic collaboration sites. But then to make it even more confusing they call what we know to be the ‘Top Link Bar’ the ‘Global Navigation’. I suppose the idea is that this is the navigation that everyone sees. Well, as long as you don’t stop using navigation from parent site. The side navigation that we called ‘Quick Launch’ is on Publishing sites called ‘Current Navigation’. I suppose the idea is that this navigation just refers to the current site you are on. Although, yet again you can select ‘Display the same navigation items as the parent site’. Well, I hope that all made sense. Now we can get on with my rules (for these rules I will call them ‘Quick Launch’ and ‘Top Link’;

1. Never have an item listed in both the ‘Top Link’ and ‘Quick Launch’ navigation.

2. Try to have a consistent ‘Top Link’ throughout your sites. Inheriting from Parent site wherever possible.

3. Never have more than eleven items in the Top Link Bar. If you have to scroll right you have too many.

4. Try and make the names of the items on the Top Link Bar a similar size (probably no more than 20 characters including blanks) and consistent with terms used in your organisation (for example use common names for departments of products).

5. In Quick Launch bar use meaningful headers. Change the standard headers like ‘Libraries’ and ‘Lists’. Headers need a URL though so a cheat I often do is to add the URL of the Home page of the site so clicking on it doesn’t take you anywhere.

6. Order the Headers in the Quick Launch Bar so the section that will be used the most is at the top. Try to keep these headers and the order of them consistent on other sites.

7. Move the links in the Quick Launch to under the appropriate Header.

8. Add links to the Quick Launch that go to different Views and also links that open New Forms. To find the URL for a new form just open a form, right-click and copy the URL until the end of the NewForm.aspx. In SharePont 2010 copy url for 'All Items' view and then replace the part all%20items.asox with Newform.aspx.

9. Keep the labels for the links on the Quick Launch meaningful but short. They should not wrap over more than two lines.

10. If you have to scroll down the page to see all the Quick Launch items then there are too many.

Example of SharePoint Site using Andy's 10 Navigation Rules

As I have stated these are just my guidelines and rules that I myself stick to. Yes, I do mention them in my SharePoint Training session and workshops for SharePoint Administrators and I am more than happy if anybody wants to use them. If you would like to discover more about my onsite Training courses in the UK please email frank.faulds@office-talk.com

The SharePoint Awards 2012 are certainly going well with staggeringly over 5000 votes cast in the first week. If you haven’t yet cast your votes please read the list of finalists in the post below.

I shall end this week’s post with something I have never done before. I am going to congratulate Villa Manager Alex McLeish on helping Villa win against Fulham last Saturday and going along way to keeping us in the Premier League. His substitution might have been greeted with cries of ‘You don’t know what you are doing’ but when substitute (and future star) Anders Weimann scored the winner with the last kick it had Villa Park rocking. Maybe , just maybe there might be a future at Villa Park for Mr McLeish.