I recently ran across a little gem on the TechNet website: “Solutions Using the Microsoft Office System: Learn how to use the Microsoft Office system to solve your business scenarios“This page includes over 40 large Visio diagrams detailing the Microsoft Office system, over 30 of which specifically reference SharePoint as a central topic. The topics include InfoPath and Forms integration, scenarios using SharePoint (such as a Call Center, Intranet Portal, Internet News Site, etc.), Records Management, Business Intelligence, and detailed SharePoint Server topics including: Application Security Backup and Restore Topologies Baseline Site Hierarchies Customization Database Administration Enterprise Content Management Extranet Topologies Inter-Farm Shared Services Search Administration Shared Services The information…

There are several items that need to be part of your SharePoint backup/restore plan. SharePoint Application Files Custom Applications (such as webparts, add-on “features”, etc.) IIS Info Databases If you are performing a complete, exhaustive backup of each SharePoint server, then the first two should be fine (some custom apps will need dlls, etc. on the file system), as well as some of the IIS Info (web.config for each SharePoint application, for example). The remainder of the IIS Info can be captured via a IIS Metabase backup. Remember, changing some items within SharePoint's Central Administration will change the IIS configuration and so this backup needs to be done on a…

Microsoft has released the first service pack for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) . The 'bug' I posted about below titled "Mobile View Doesn't Work on SharePoint ( WSS 3.0) List" does NOT appear to be fixed with the service pack. However, another bug I have encountered is listed in the " Downloadable list of issues that the service pack fixes". The document lists it as " You have a discussion board whose Subject view contains the Reply column. When you click Reply in the Subject view, you receive an "HTTP 400" error." I ran into the problem by putting a webpart view of…

I get the quesiton of how to switch the service account for MOSS and WSS 3.0 fairly often.   There are many reasons why one would want to change the account or the password to the account used for SharePoint. Microsoft has now put up a KB article on exactly how to do it. They even included a sample script!   Check out the KB article here: How to change service accounts and service account passwords in SharePoint Server 2007 and in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0    

    SharePoint 2007 allows for emails to be accepted into discussions, document libraries and lists. To enable this functionality, a few steps will need to be followed. One thing to note: integrating SharePoint with Exchange is NOT needed for this functionality, but if you do choose Exchange, you will get some added benefits.   -SMTP Service You will need to install the SMTP Server Service on the SharePoint server. This is done via add/remove programs, and within the IIS component listing.   -Enable Incoming Email Now, enable Incoming Email from the Central Administration website. It is found by following: Central Administration > Operations > Incoming Email Settings   -SMTP…

I run an instance of WSS 3.0 on a machine at home for testing. I don't use it much because it is so slow unless you are on the LAN. I always knew it was because of SQL, but I didn't really have time to look into fixing it. See, I don't have the option of having two separate drives in the machine. NOTE: You should never run SQL databases on the same HD spindle where the OS is located due to exactly what I was experiencing: slow response. Then I woke-up to the year 2007 and apparently there are external HDDs you can buy…okay, I knew about them; I…

In the SharePoint version 2.0 products, to exclude a directory from SharePoint “control”, you add an Explicit Exclusion to the Managed Paths for the site using the Central Administration Website. You also add Explicit Inclusions and Wildcard Inclusions at the same location. However, in SharePoint version 3.0 products, it is a bit different. You still create Explicit Inclusions and Wildcard Inclusions on the administration page for the site. However, to create an Explicit Exclusion, you just have to create a new Virtual Directory in IIS underneath the appropriate IIS Virtual Server. This is because ASP.NET knows that when you create a new virtual directory, it should not touch it. Pretty…