Tales from the SharePoint World

Curious about Outlook.com?

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:30:00 +0000

If you are wondering about what an account with www.outlook.com looks like, look no more.

This is what the landing page of www.outlook.com looks like

Once you are logged in, you will see the clean left menu navigation, it is very appealing that is a given.

It is easily noticeable that you have your first email as well.

When viewing your email you will get two a navigation pane on top of the email and a sort of happy face, which when clicked will display a messaging panel

Is this encouraging enough to switch from gmail?

Unlinking SkyDrive account from your local folder

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 23:45:00 +0000

In the previous post, we looked at how to Link your SkyDrive locally; but not always will there be a need to link your SkyDrive files to a local folder. In this post we will cover two items

1. Unlinking your SkyDrive account from the local folder

2. Configure sync of files with other devices

Click on the taskbar to show hidden icons and click on the SkyDrive Icon

A menu with options will appear, for the most part they are self-explanatory.

· The Open your SkyDrive folder will display the local SkyDrive Folder

· Go to SkyDrive.com will take you to the online SkyDrive Storage

· Manage Storage will navigate towards your SkyDrive storage so that you can upgrade or manage it

· Settings does offer a couple of extra tabbed options when clicked

o General allows us to
     § Configure the syncing of files towards other devices
     § Allow SkyDrive to start automatically when you sign into Windows
o About
     § Contains more info links

§ Unlink SkyDrive which is what we were looking for, click this option to Unlink you SkyDrive account from the local folder

Once clicked you will see the following screen, welcoming you to SkyDrive. This does not mean that your files have been removed you must do that manually, by going to your SkyDrive local folder and deleting the folders and files.

SkyDrive and SharePoint/Office 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:15:00 +0000

SkyDrive is much more integrated with SharePoint and Office 2013, once you have a SharePoint Installation it will show up in the Start Menu as shown below

If you click on the icon you, welcomed to SkyDrive and prompted to enter your SkyDrive account

The location of your SkyDrive Folder on your current computer will be displayed

Followed by being asked about the configuration for syncing with other devices

Once completed your newly created SkyDrive folder will be displayed

Does this seem familiar to Cloud Storage users? Certainly! That said, your files are available with other devices and for use within Office 2013 that does allow you to access and manage the files directly from your SkyDrive account.

Office 2013–Questions and Installation

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:30:00 +0000

By now there is a lot of interest regarding Office 2013, particularly since its beta release on July 16, 2012.
Lots of questions are on everybody’s mind
· Is it only 64 bits?
· Will it run side-by-side with my Office 2010?
· How long does it take to deploy?
· What do the User Interfaces look like?
The answer to all these questions is to be covered in this blog post; that said, let’s start right away!
The setup file is available in two flavors
· 32 Bit
· 64 Bit
Once you’ve downloaded the setup file that suits your needs, you are given the choice to select the look of Office.

Office 2013 Look

The choices for look are
1. None
2. Calligraphy
3. Circle and Stripes
4. Circuit
5. Clouds
6. Straw
7. Tree Rings

From here on there are not much more steps to complete, followed are some of the screenshots that follow the Office look selection

A quick tour is available if you decide to learn a little more about Office 2013.

Wrapping up the Installation

This step takes a while so feel free to grab a drink or take a break

Ready to start using Office 2013!

You will also notice in your “All Programs” folder the newly added group and icons

Office 2013 User Interfaces

Access 2013

Excel 2013

OneNote 2013

PowerPoint 2013

Publisher 2013

Word 2013

Taskbar Icons

Conclusion

After testing and creating this post with Word 2013, I did notice it is snappier that is predecessor. In Excel 2013 there were a few quirks when entering values and data in Formulas, no error but it was a big sluggish.
All in all, it seems like a worth addition to the Office line.

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Developer’s Compendium – The Best of Packt for Extending SharePoint – Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Developer’s Compendium – The Best of Packt for Extending SharePoint – Book Review

The book is a great way of getting familiar at a high level overview the development capabilities that are possible with SharePoint 2010; chapters from other books have been compiled together in a seamless manner.

The book is divided into ten chapters:

· Chapter 1 – Understanding SharePoint Development Choices

· Chapter 2 – Building an Engaging Community Site

· Chapter 3 – PowerShell Scripting Methods and Creating Custom Commands

· Chapter 4 – Integrating SilverLight 4 with SharePoint 2010

· Chapter 5 – Interacting with Rich Media and Animations

· Chapter 6 – List Definitions and Content Types

· Chapter 7 – Workflows

· Chapter 8 – Introduction to Programming Windows Phone 7

· Chapter 9 – Building SharePoint Pages for Windows Phone 7

· Chapter 10 – Building a Windows Phone 7 Dashboard Application with SharePoint Data

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Developers Compendium: The Best of Packt for Extending SharePoint is an enjoyable book to read and while it does not cover topics in depth it does flow easily and deep enough to provide the reader a good understanding of what can be achieved through development with SharePoint 2010.

The link for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Developer’s Compendium: The Best of Packt for Extending SharePoint is: http://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-sharepoint-2010-developers-compendium/book

Feliz Año Nuevo!

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:45:00 +0000

Les deseo Feliz Año Nuevo para su familia y seres queridos!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:30:00 +0000

Happy New Year to all the readers and their loved ones!

Actualizacion Cumulativa para SharePoint 2010 - Diciembre 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:15:00 +0000

En caso de que tengan algún tiempo libre durante Año Nuevo, la actualización cumulativa Diciembre 2011 para SharePoint 2010 esta disponible para descarga en los siguientes vínculos:

Cómo siempre es por demás recordarles que tengan sus backups preparados y listos en caso de que algún desastre ocurra, de lo contrario no será un buen principio de año.

December 2011 Cumulative Update for SharePoint 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

In case you have some free time during New Year, the December 2011 Cumulative Updates are available at:

As always ensure that you have proper backups in case things go awry, otherwise it might not be such a happy new year.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:44:00 +0000

Merry Christmas!

Feliz Navidad

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:43:00 +0000

Feliz Navidad!

SharePoint Designer 2010 Unleashed – Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

This book is certainly worthy of being part of the SAMS Unleashed series; it starts from explaining the Architecture and components of SharePoint 2010, followed by detailed and clear explanations of how the branding process works in SharePoint 2010, alongside with comparisons against the previous editions of SharePoint. The book covers not only customizations with SharePoint Designer but Administration, workarounds to existing out of the box limitations, InfoPath, BCS and Data Manipulation.

The book is divided into four parts:

o Part I

Consists of six chapters covering quick and architectural overview of SharePoint 2010 that explain the components of the SharePoint 2010 interface; configuration tasks such as configuration of anonymous access and the creation of Site Collections. Details of how navigation works are explained and how they relate to Lists, Libraries, Content and Content Pages. Part I, concludes with customizations at the browser level through Web Parts and a Site look and feel.

o Part II

Begins with the introduction of SharePoint Designer 2010, its usage, user interface, configuration options and administration of sites through SharePoint Designer; continues with the creation of Sites, Content Types in relation to SharePoint Designer and the creation and configuration of Lists and Libraries.

o Part III

Covers SharePoint Designer Editing Features, working with Content Pages within SharePoint Designer, Web Parts and Web Part Pages, Extending Content Pages, Page Layouts, Web Part Zones, CSS, XLST, List View Web Parts, Master Pages and Themes.

o Part IV

Begins with Data Sources, the different types of Data Sources, overview of BCS, introduction of External Content Types, associating External Lists, manipulation of data with ASP.Net Data Controls, overview of the different types of SharePoint Views, which view should you use, XSLT List View Web Parts, Data View, Data Form Web Parts, Configuration and Customization of List Forms, jQuery, how InfoPath can be used to customize List Forms, creation of workflows, types of workflows, Site Workflows and concludes with the creation of custom List Actions.

SharePoint Designer 2010 Unleashed has something for all SharePoint 2010 roles from administrators, IT Pros, Developers to Architects; and targets beginner and intermediate levels as well; the author does a great job at providing workarounds for issues that are not easily resolvable. The 1500+ pages are evidence that a tremendous amount of effort was involved during the writing process, which includes the Service Pack 1 updates. SharePoint Designer 2010 Unleashed is certainly worth the investment in time and money.

Compatibilidad de Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview hacia previas versiones

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:15:00 +0000

Todo desarrollador con unas versions de Visual Studio de experiencia ha tenido que ya sea abrir un project de otra version previa o convertir uno a una version previa. Esto esta por cambiar, al menos eso es lo que indica el Product Highlights for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview, si esta mejora es publicada en Visual Studio 11 RTM estas tareas tediosas de conversions podrian ser cosa del pasado. Mientras la majora solamente funciona con Visual Studio 2010, no seria una mala idea si lo extienden a versions previas de Visual Studio 2010.

Mientras tanto, si esta llega a suceder o no estaremos utilizando los pasos indicados en este blog posting: Convirtiendo un proyecto en Visual Studio 2010 hacia Visual Studio 2008.

Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview backward compatibility

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Any developer with a few Visual Studio versions of experience has at any point in time had to open an old project or in Visual Studio or back convert it. The Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview has a new improvement which is backward compatibility; if this works as stated in the Product Highlights for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview and is kept all the way through RTM we should be looking at less issues with backward compatibility and the tedious task of converting a project to an older version.

Until this improvement is released we still will require to look at the process as listed in another blog post: Converting a Visual Studio 2010 Project to Visual Studio 2008.

Sandboxed Visual Web Parts

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:20:00 +0000

Hasta el momento la única manera de desarrollar Sandboxed Visual Web Parts era con la ayuda de el Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Power Tools. Con limitaciones pero es possible, ahora Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview ha hecho disponible las siguientes mejoras

· Sandboxed Visual Web Parts

· Soporte mejorado para Sandboxed solutions

· Publicacion Remote

· Nuevos diseñadores para Listas y Content Types

· Nueva Plantilla para Site Column Items

· Nueva Plantilla para SilverLight Web Part

· Soporte para ALM ( Application Lifecycle Management )

· Soporte para debugging de JavaScript e Intellisense

Todos los detalles estan disponibles en Product Highlights for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview.

Definitivamente son mejoras esperadas!

Sandboxed Visual Web Parts

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:15:00 +0000

Up until now the only way to be able to deploy Sandboxed Visual Web parts was to use the Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Power Tools. Yes, there were some restrictions while doing so.

The Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview adds the following improvements

· Sandboxed Visual Web Parts

· Improved support for Sandboxed solutions

· Remote publishing

· New designers for lists and Content Types

· New Site Column Project Item Template

· New SilverLight Web Part Project Template

· Support for ALM ( Application Lifecycle Management )

· Support for JavaScript debugging and Intellisense for JavaScript

All the details for these improvements are available at the Product Highlights for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview.

These are certainly welcome improvements!

SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 August Cumulative Updates released!

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:20:00 +0000

August Cumulative Updates for SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 are available for download at:

If you would like to read the all the details of each of the Service Packs they are available at:

Planeación de Capacidad y Almacenamiento para SharePoint 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Actualmente existen various recursos para la Planeación de Capacidad y Almacenamiento de SharePoint 2010 Capacity entre ellos:

La abilidad de planear para cada proyecto es bastante particular y puede resultar mas compleja de lo que inicialmente se estima, afortunadamente me tropecé con una Hoja de Trabaja en Excel que fue creada por Tihomir Ignatov at Microsoft. Es sumamente efectiva y util en el proceso de planeación de capacidades y almacenamiento para SharePoint 2010.

La pueden encontrar en: http://tihomirignatov.blogspot.com/2010/12/sharepoint-2010-capacity-planning-and.html

SharePoint 2010 Capacity Planning Tool

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:48:00 +0000

There are some great resources for SharePoint 2010 Capacity Planning and Sizing such as:

Being able to plan and size can be a much larger task than originally imagined, to that effect happened to stumble upon this worksheet created by Tihomir Ignatov at Microsoft. It is self and helps greatly at planning for SharePoint 2010.

It is available at: http://tihomirignatov.blogspot.com/2010/12/sharepoint-2010-capacity-planning-and.html

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000

La utilizacion de intranets es bastante comun hoy en dia, pero no siempre son facilmente o rapidamente adoptadas por los usuarios. Lograr que los usuarios utilicen los sitios de SharePoint requiere de plantillas, utilerias, slides, etc.

Microsoft ha lanzado un sitio exclusivamente para este fin www.iusesharepoint.com, muy bien sitio y contenido.

Driving SharePoint Adoption

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Even though intranets are a common item nowadays in every company, they are not always adopted that quickly nor easily. Driving the adoption requires a variety of tools, templates, kits, etc.

Fortunately for us Microsoft has launched today the www.iusesharepoint.com site which does assist greatly in this effort. The site contains a variety of resources that really become useful in this particular task.

WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 April 2011 Cumulative Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:00:00 +0000

The April 2011 Cumulative Updates has been release for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, they are available for download at:

As always exert precaution and test before you apply them in production.

Enjoy!

SharePoint 2010 April 2011 Cumulative Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:30:00 +0000

The April 2011 Cumulative Updates has been release for SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint 2010, they are available for download at:

As always exert precaution and test before you apply them in production.

Enjoy!

Training Kits updated in April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:42:00 +0000

The Training Kits that have been updated in April 2011 are listed below:

Windows Azure Platform Training Kit
Identity Training Kit

Recently released:
SharePoint And SilverLight Training Kit

Febrero 2011 Cumulative Update para SharePoint Foundation 2010 y SharePoint Server 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Doug Ortiz) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:15:00 +0000

Estas actualizaciones estan disponibles para descarga en los siguientes vinculos