SharePoint Reviews Articles

SPC09 Recap and My SharePoint 2010 Top 5 List

Mike Ferrara — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:09:00 +0000

The four day SharePoint 2010 reveal-athon is over, and I'm back to a boring and completely regular MOSS 2007 lifestyle. Okay, so it's not that dramatic, but I am definitely feeling a desire to switch completely over to 2010 for just about everything relating to SharePoint. There was tons of great content on display during the SharePoint Conference in Vegas last week. I'll be pouring over the on-demand sessions for weeks I'm sure, so this is only the beginning for the 2010 learning process.

There are some good resources popping up on the net about everyone's favorite features about 2010, so I won't spend time competing with them. I'll even link them below, but I do have my own personal top 5 list that I'd like to share with you...

Visit us during Microsoft’s SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas

Mike Ferrara — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:38:00 +0000

In just a few short days, SharePoint Conference 2009 (SPC09) will finally be upon us. Not only is this the biggest and most important SharePoint conference on the calendar, but this year's conference signifies the lifting of that pesky SharePoint 2010 NDA. We've all been salivating at the tidbits of information and screenshots that have been shared so far by Microsoft, so next week will be a bit overwhelming. The conference recently sold out, and there will be an expected 7,000+ attendees crammed onto the strip! If you've got an "STSADM rules!" coffee mug or a 12 hive shortcut on your desktop, then you're probably going to be at this conference.

With the massive amount of information that will be available during the conference, Mark Miller from EndUserSharePoint.com (EUSP) will once again be offering a platform for live blogging. During the Best Practices Conference a couple of months ago, many of us were able to live-blog the sessions for those that were not able to make it. This year will be no different except that Mark's got over 150 people signed up to blog! If you can't make the conference, then make sure you stay glued to his site and twitter. The appropriate hashtag for the conference is #spc09, so make sure you're following it. As usual I will be taking photos and video and posting them on our flickr and youtube feeds, respectively.

If you were lucky enough to grab a conference pass, then please add us to your list of people to meet. Inna Gordin and I will be all over Mandalay during the conference, so please DM us on twitter (@mikecferrara, @innagordin) if you'd like to meet up. If you're looking for extracurricular activities while you're out there, then check out the activities signup page below on EUSP. There's plenty to choose from there, but I'm going to rep the event that I will most definitely be at, #ShareMNF! If you're a football fan, then join Matt Gowin and I at the Hard Rock Casino at 5:30PM PST for Monday Night Football. Although the "official" SharePint event will be held on Sunday night, there will be many a SharePointer sharing a pint every other night during the conference. ShareMNF will be no different!

All the relevant links for the conference can be found below. We hope to see you there!

Quick links:

Metalogix Selective Restore Manager Pro Gets Top Marks

Mike Ferrara — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:35:00 +0000

(Rating: 5 out of 5)
For server administrators, backup and restore processes are essential in production environments. This is obviously no different for SharePoint farms, but out-of-the-box (OOTB) features for backup and restore are certainly lacking in WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007. The Selective Restore Manager Pro from Metalogix is one such product that aims to fill the void left by Microsoft ...

TunnelPoint: The BDC for SharePoint in the Cloud

Jaap Vossers — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:39:00 +0000

(Rating: 5 out of 5)
TunnelPoint is a hosted service provided by Zevenseas. It connects external services (for example SOAP web services) to SharePoint List data in your SharePoint Site. TunnelPoint uses the built-in SharePoint SOAP web services exposed by your SharePoint environment to read and write list data. Really, all you need to do is log in to TunnelPoint using your TunnelPoint account and use the web interface provided to configure which external services should map to which lists in your SharePoint site ...

View the Best Practices Conference Live Stream Archive

Mike Ferrara — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:40:00 +0000

If you read my last post on Best Practices Conference 2009, then you probably followed the live streaming coverage as provided by EndUserSharePoint.com. That content was fully archived, and is now viewable online. Please take the time to check it out, as the live blogs are full of great content from the conference.

If you enjoyed this as much as I did, then you'll be pleased to know that the same offering will be available for the upcoming SharePoint Conference 2009 in October. Most of the conference will be dedicated to SharePoint 2010, so be sure to watch this space for more info.

Stay Connected With Best Practices Conference 2009

Mike Ferrara — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Best Practices Conference 2009, or #BPC09 if you're in the twitterverse, is finally upon us. This morning, Arpan Shah opened up the conference with his keynote speech, and a good portion of it was spent on a live SharePoint 2010 demo. Check out our BPC keynote stream on Flickr to see some of goodness.

KWizCom's Cascading Lookup Plus, the "Cadillac" of All Cascading List Products

Mike Ferrara — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:06:00 +0000

(Rating: 4 out of 5)

One column type missing from SharePoint that I've always found useful is the cascading list. Not only is a cascading list a staple field type on most web forms, but it is a big favorite with end users. It magically narrows down your choices on the next column once you've made a selection from the previous column! Big deal right? We've seen these things for years on the web, but Microsoft just did not feel comfortable with making these an out-of-the-box option. Luckily for us, we've got options from 3rd party developers...

August Monthly Giveaway + 30% Off Coupon Code for O'Reilly.com!

Mike Ferrara — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:12:00 +0000

We've had a recent drought in our monthly giveaways (July), but I'm here to cure that with a brand new giveaway sure to be enjoyed by all! The good folks over at O'Reilly have donated a free title to our prospective monthly winner, and they've even thrown in a couple of choices for the winner as well. Rather than giving away a specific book this month, you'll be allowed to pick from the list below AND choose it in print or digital format! So if you're one of those bleeding edge techies sporting a Kindle 2, then grab a digital version instead of the caveman-like printed version.

You'll be able to choose from these fine SharePoint titles:

Essential SharePoint 2007, Second Edition

By Jeff Webb

If you're considering the vastly improved 2007 version of SharePoint, this concise, practical and friendly guide will teach you how to get the most from Microsoft's latest information-sharing and collaboration platform. Essential SharePoint 2007 demonstrates how your business can use SharePoint to control documents, structure workflow, and share information over the Web using standard tools business users already know -- Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.

SharePoint for Project Management, 1st Edition

By Dux Raymond Sy

Microsoft SharePoint is perfect for project management, but most companies don't understand it's power. This hands-on book demonstrates how SharePoint can help you organize and manage complex projects -- a decidedly more productive way to use this popular collaboration software. You'll learn how to apply common and practical project management concepts in SharePoint, and build a Project Management Information System (PMIS) that can efficiently coordinate communication and collaboration among team members.

SharePoint 2007: The Definitive Guide, 1st Edition

By James Pyles, Bob Fox, Christopher M. Buechler, Murray Gordon, Michael Lotter, Jason Medero, Nilesh Mehta, Joris Poelmans, Christopher Pragash, Piotr Prussak, Christopher J. Regan

For any organization that wants to use Windows SharePoint Services to share and collaborate on Microsoft Office documents, this book shows administrators of all levels how to get up and running with this powerful and popular set of collaboration tools. SharePoint 2007: The Definitive Guide provides a detailed discussion of all Sharepoint features, applications and extensions. You learn how to build Sharepoint sites and site collections, along with ways to administrate, secure, and extend Sharepoint.

SharePoint Office Pocket Guide, 1st Edition

By Jeff Webb

With this handy reference as your guide, you can reap all the benefits of SharePoint--Microsoft's amazing information-sharing tool. It shows you, in plain language, how to construct a web site where individuals from all over can capture and share ideas. Learn how to upload documents, edit content, send alerts, track work items, add new team members, and much more.

So how can you win? Simple! Just post a quick review of any one of our 400+ products, and you are automatically entered into the giveaway. And don't worry if you have recently posted a review. We'll add your name if you reviewed a product during the month of July, and if you've submitted multiple reviews, then you'll be entered for each unique review submitted within the giveaway time period. O'Reilly was also kind enough to give SharePointReviews.com readers a 30% off coupon code to any book in their online catalog! This code is good until 12/31/09, and you can redeem it online by using the code SPR3D during checkout.

Be sure to get your reviews submitted by 11:59PM on August 31st, 2009 to be eligible for the giveaway.

Field Level SharePoint Security for Help Desk at Wisag

SharePoint Reviews Team — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:47:00 +0000

Business Case Study: The German company Wisag needed a help-desk solution. They implemented SharePoint and KwizCom's List Forms Extension Feature and gained field level security.

Wisag (www.wisag.de) is one of Germany’s top one-stop solution providers for facility management with over 40 years of experience. Their service portfolio encompasses everything from cleaning and security to electrical engineering and building maintenance. It is essential to ensure short response timeframes for their customers ...

Room Manager for SharePoint by ACAR - Intuitive and Simple to Use

Tony Rockwell — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:36:00 +0000

(Rating: 4 out of 5) Have you been looking for a tool to help you manage your conference rooms in SharePoint? There are not a lot of 3rd party tools available and ACAR has created a tool that may keep others from jumping on this bandwagon. ACAR describes the product this way: “Room Manager Suite for SharePoint is an easy to use room scheduling software solution for SharePoint. It is simple and powerful. Consists of a set of web parts which makes room reservation simple for end users.”

SharePint - A Happy Hour For SharePoint Pros

Mike Ferrara — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Chances are if you are reading this post, then you know full-well what SharePoint is all about. But you may be thinking that I let a crucial typo make it through the editing phase of this article, as the title clearly says SharePint. You’ll be pleased to know that this word does actually exist in the SharePoint community, and it represents a very cool social experiment of sorts that has gained increased popularity. I recently had the opportunity to exchange a few emails with the founder of SharePint, Andrew Connell, and his pint-sharing cohorts, Marshall Butler and Andrew Woodward, about the history of this idea.

Ok so what exactly is SharePint? Well, it’s pretty simple actually. After a rigorous day of sessions at your favorite SharePoint conference or a brisk meeting with your local SPUG attendees, the willing and able will sojourn to a predetermined location to share a pint of their favorite ale, lager or brew. Andrew considers this to be the "happy hour for SharePoint professionals", and it has certainly become that over the last two years.

In 2007 at the SharePoint Connections Conference in Las Vegas, Connell started the first SharePint event at the Coral Reef Bar in Mandalay Bay. Ever since then, SharePint events have popped up all over the globe with the same goal in mind. To provide a place where like-minded SharePoint professionals can kick their feet back and get to know each other on a more personal level. There are a few basic "rules" that govern the SharePint events, but they only serve to isolate the gathering from any official obligations. They are:

No vendor support.
No marketing agendas.
No one owns SharePint. Anyone can start their own SharePint event and recruit others to join.
No members-only jackets required
You may only drink Guiness. (Okay, I made that up)

So now that you're thirsty to experience a SharePint event yourself, I'm sure you're wondering how to find out where these events take place. Well there are a few places you can go to keep up on current events. The most up-to-date source for SharePint information is on twitter. Go figure! You can follow the SharePint account on twitter, managed by Marshall Butler, and also follow the #SharePint hash tag for current rumblings by attendees and organizers. Andrew Woodward also has some great SharePint-related posts on his site, like this one on general SharePint info and this one on SharePint logos. Last but certainly not least, Andrew Connell is planning to launch a SharePint site sometime very soon. The only information that I currently have is that it will be a centrally-managed place for SharePint information and event planning. This should prevent multiple events at the same conference from sprouting up, and it will allow everyone to see where all the current events are located.

Okay so you're up to speed on what SharePint is, and now you know where to look for future SharePint events. But what about some proof that SharePint really exists and isn't some underground Kool-Aid drinking cult? It just so happens that I've got a clip from one of the most recent SharePint events at the Miracle of Science bar in Boston during SPTechCon 2009! You'll even see a couple of the guys in this video who attended the very first SharePint event in 2007.

Enjoy the clip, and don't forget to follow the SharePint twitter account!

SPTechCon Wrap Up

Mike Ferrara — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:52:00 +0000

SPTechCon has come and gone, but I'm already looking forward to next year's event in San Francisco! Although the weather in Boston was a little depressing, the location was great and the hotel was excellent. Many thanks to Ted Bahr from BZ Media for putting together a great conference!

I had the pleasure of attending a lot of great workshops and sessions while at the conference, and I highly recommend visiting an event like this one if you are a SharePoint professional. Not only will you learn a lot, but you'll more than likely be able to participate in one of the fabled SharePint events! There are photos and video somewhere documenting this phenonmenon, but I think they are being held for future bribes!

Another reason that you need to make at least one conference per year is that you'll be able to tour the expo floor and see live demos of the latest 3rd party SharePoint products and technologies from the vendors themselves. Check out the full listing of exhibitors and sponsors from Boston SPTechCon here.

Just about every product from the conference is featured here on SharePointReviews.com, and you can browse the directory to read the latest reviews for these products. If you are a vendor, and you do not see your product listed, then please fill out our submission form to get it listed.

Lightning Conductor Extends Built-in CQWP Functionality

Jeremy Caney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:04:00 +0000

(Rating 3 out of 5)

Lightning Conductor effectively wraps the built-in Content Query Web Part (CQWP) from Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 in a user-friendly interface. Whereas the CQWP requires that the user modify either the Web Part Definition XML file or the ItemStyle XSL file to accomplish common tasks (such as adding fields or converting data types), Lightning Conductor wraps this functionality in user-friendly controls exposed via the tool pane ...

SPTechCon Pass Giveaway Winner

Mike Ferrara — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:38:00 +0000

I'd like to congratulate Susan Henry for being the lucky winner to the coveted SPTechCon pass! There were a lot of great submissions for the drawing, and we are very thankful for all the time spent in submitting product reviews.

This will not be the last giveaway that we do, so stay tuned!

Make sure you're following us on twitter to find out when new giveaways drop.

SharePoint Awards 2009 by Guest Blogger Andy Dale

Andy Dale — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:21:00 +0000

As a SharePoint Consultant at Office Talk every day we seem to be contacted by a company promoting their latest SharePoint Add-on. Many of these don't quite add up, but others I like so much that I knock on our Marketing Manager's door and tell him that we must sign a reseller agreement with this company.

SharePoint Reviews has become a great site for reviewing these SharePoint applications, but I decided as the football season has finished that I would make my own SharePoint Awards for 2009.

Here they are:

1. Best SharePoint Information Site 2009
Winner – SharePoint Reviews

Not just mentioning them because this is their site, but I have to pay tribute on what a great start they have made and how quickly they have become the source for all SharePoint Products.

2. Best SharePoint Webpart Provider 2009
Winner – SharePoint Boost

Creating easy to install and use webparts as if they are going out of fashion

3. Best SharePoint Administration Tool 2009
Winner – ControlPoint from Axceler

Finally a way of really managing all those user permissions across all of your servers and sites. Oh, and very useful for moving complete sites.

4. Best Website built on SharePoint 2009
Winner – Cadbury

Chocolate and SharePoint have never tasted so good.

5. Best SharePoint Training Package 2009
Winner – CBT Clips

Still the best solution to show End Users how to use SharePoint.

6. Best SharePoint Offline Solution 2009
Winner – Colligo Contributor from Colligo

Allows SharePoint to be with you even when the network isn’t. Don’t forget to download the free reader on the right.

7. Most Useful SharePoint Webpart 2009
Winner – Batch Check-in from SharePoint Boost

Lets us finally get rid of the ‘Checked Out’ annoyance after we have move lots of documents.

8. Favorite Free SharePoint Webpart 2009
Winner – Google Search Webparts

Keep your users in SharePoint as they Google away.

9. Most Fun Free Webpart 2009
Winner – Picture Puzzle Widget from Spring Widgets

Spring Widget have lots of snazzy free webparts including cat clocks with moving tails.

10. Biggest SharePoint Mess-up 2009
Winner – Microsoft for 180 day expire error on SP 2.

So those are my awards please feel free to add comments either agreeing with my list or ripping them to pieces.

Andy Dale
SharePoint Blog http://aboutsharepoint.com

We hope you enjoyed checking out Andy's rewards for 2009, and we appreciate the fact that we were voted his best informational SharePoint site for 2009. The goal of this site will always be to provide the most relevant information for 3rd party SharePoint applications and solutions without any marketing spin. The support that we've received from the community has made this site what it is, and we want to thank each and every one of you for donating your talents and experiences.

- Mike

SPTechCon Pass Giveaway on Friday June 12th

Mike Ferrara — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Around this time on Friday, June 12th, we will be drawing 1 lucky name out of the proverbial hat for a free SPTechCon pass! If this is news to you, then go here to learn more about our free SPTechCon giveaway. This pass is worth about $1500, and this year's conference is sure to impress. Check out the lengthy schedule of classes for proof.

One thing that I wanted to make mention of is that we will be drawing until we find someone who can actually attend. If you win and can't go, then we will draw again. Also, if we can't contact you within 2-3 days of your name being pulled, then we will need to draw again. The conference is coming up quickly, so we want to make sure that the winner has enough time to arrange for travel.

Remember, all you need to do is write a simple review of one of our 400 odd products featured on the site, and you'll be entered automatically.

Deadline is 12PM EST on Friday, June 12th. Get those reviews in!

Be sure to follow @SPReviews, @innagordin, @mikecferrara, and #SPTechCon for the most up-to-date information regarding this event and giveaway.

Displaying Data More Efficiently with Quest Web Parts for SharePoint

Didier Danse — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:05:00 +0000

(Rating: 4 out of 5)

SharePoint implementations are currently growing. This is because IT teams can leverage scalability possibilities offered and also because end users can completely configure or create applications. Out-of-the-box SharePoint forms are quite simple and cannot be configured without some customizations (using Microsoft SharePoint Designer) or development (with Visual Studio)...

Migrate data from Lotus Notes to SharePoint with Quest Notes Migrator

Didier Danse — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:46:00 +0000

(Rating 4 out of 5)

A few years ago some big companies started to consolidate their Microsoft environment and decided to use SharePoint as their collaboration platform. Without data, software is nothing, so migration phase is really important. There are tools that are available in the market for migrating data from a Lotus Environment to a SharePoint environment...

SPTechCon Pass Giveaway!

Mike Ferrara — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:17:00 +0000

Yes, you heard right. We are giving away a FREE SPTechCon pass for 1 lucky SharePointReviews.com contributor. The conference is being held from June 22nd - June 24th in Boston, and it will be featuring an excellent lineup of speakers that you do not want to miss!

Entry into the giveaway is simple! All you have to do is contribute to our site in some way. This could be a user review, article, forum post, or expert review. There is no weight being applied either. An expert review counts the same as a user review. Plus, you can increase your chances of winning very easily. Let's say you wrote 5 reviews for 5 different products. You've just entered yourself 5 times into the giveaway! My times table prowess tells me that you'll be multiplying your chances by 5 if you do this. And if writing a little user review takes about 10 minutes to do, then you're looking at a massive 50 minute commitment. I spend more time waiting for Outlook to load in the morning, so this should be a piece of cake!

The first thing you need to do is register on our site. Then navigate to the product directory and submit a user review. With almost 400 products to choose from, it won't be hard to find one that you've used. Although we aren't judging the quality of the review, please make sure that you are offering something of value to our readers.

So, you don't want to write a review? No problem! Head over to our forums and post something interesting. Although reviews/articles will not be judged for quality, forum posts will. For instance, you won't get an entry for posting a picture of your server room. Honestly, no one cares about your neatly managed cables.

Lastly, we've retroactively entered any contributions from May 1st into the giveaway. So if you've made a contribution since then, then you've been entered!

The conference is right around the corner, so start contributing!

Email me if you have any questions.

P.S. We are not responsible for covering your travel expenses. And no, I will not be sharing my hotel room with you.

Axceler ControlPoint wins Best of TechEd 2009

Mike Ferrara — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Today SharePoint Reviews would like to congratulate Axceler for their Best of Tech-Ed 2009 award for ControlPoint. This year's Tech-Ed conference in LA featured 11 product categories, and Axceler won in the Productivity & Collaboration category.

A total of 35 finalists representing all product categories were selected by the Windows IT Pro editorial staff. Attachmate Reflection 2008, Idera SharePoint Admin Toolset, K2 Blackpoint, and the Site Administrator for SharePoint by Quest were the other product finalists in the Productivity & Collaboration category. With over 170 products and services competing for the "Best of" awards, all finalists deserve our praise.

Check out all of the Best of Tech-Ed 2009 winners.