Minimal Site Def for SharePoint 2007 / WSS 3.0

If you are looking for a plain Site Definition to start your project, then here it is. I have created a WSPBuilder project in Visual Studio 2008 (Targeting .NET Framework 2.0). The Sitedef is based on TeamSite but does not include the usual lists and has only the SharedDocumets library included.

For most WSS or SharePoint 2007 based web application projects where one does not need Publishing features, this Sitedef can be used as the base to start with.

To further reduce the clutter, only one configuration and one module are included. You can easily rename the template to your project name by changing the following -

1. In ONET.XML
Change the Title to your project Title (for example - "My Project"). This need not be same as the Site Definition name and can have spaces.

2. webtempPlainSite.xml file can be renamed to webtemp.xml

3. Under SiteTemplates folder, "PlainSite" folder can be renamed to the name of your project. This will be the new name of the Site Definition. (for example "MyProject")

4. In the renamed webtemp.xml change the name attribute to reflect the new Site definition name (folder name)

You can download the Minimal SiteDef in .zip format from here.

SharePoint 2010 Technical Preview Released

Good news, the SharePoint 2010 Technical Preview has been released. Here are the direct links where you can learn more -
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/2010/Sneak_Peek/Pages/default.aspx
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/2010/Sneak_Peek/Pages/IT-Pro-Video.aspx
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/2010/Sneak_Peek/Pages/Get_Ready.aspx
I still haven't downloaded it and tried coz it's 64-bit and right now i do not have a 64-bit box.

MOSS 2007 SP2 Update available

MOSS 2007 SP2 Update is now available. Installing this update will fix the 'expiry bug' that became a big showstopper in SP2. You can read this story at the Official Sharepoint Team blog or read this KB article which provides the download link -

KB article is here - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971620

STSADM Technical Reference for SharePoint 2007 in Silverlight

Microsoft has come out with a Silverlight based application that provides useful technical reference for all the commands and options in STSADM command line tool -

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/cc948709.aspx (MOSS 2007)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/dd418924.aspx (WSS 3.0)

Show-Stopper bug in MOSS 2007 SP2

A bug in the recently released SP2 of MOSS 2007 causes a licensed installtion to 'expire' after 180 days as if it were a trial version. Once this happens users cannot access the sharepoint sites running on the affected server.

More details are here -

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2009/05/21/attention-important-information-on-service-pack-2.aspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971620

It also applies to Search Server 2008, Project Server 2007 and Forms Server 2007.

The fix for this, right now, is to run "Convert License type" in the Operations tab in the Central Admin.

MSFT is currently working on a Hotfix for this that should be out very soon!

SharePoint.Microsoft.com - Makeover

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com (microsoft.com/sharepoint) has got a total makeover with Silverlight navigation and javascript  divs. Usability of the site is amazing and the information is arranged very well.

The official announcement was made on May 20 and you can find the post here - 

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2009/05/20/sharepoint-on-sharepoint-launch-of-new-sharepoint-website.aspx

Great Job!

SKU Rocks

My dearest friend and ex-colleague Senthil Kulandai runs his own SharePoint blog at - http://skurocks.wordpress.com/.

He's a prolific blogger, master programmer and a great guy! You can find lots of useful articles and tit-bits on SharePoint & .NET there.

Keep rocking SKU!

SharePoint Features in Visual Studio 2010

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/VisualStudio/Sharepoint-Development-with-Visual-Studio-2010/

First look at some of the tools coming in Visual Studio 2010 around supporting SharePoint as a platform.