Long time no blogging

It's been ages since i have not blogged here, meanwhile the winds of change have swept through SharePointland and most residents, including myself, have switched to 2010. SharePoint 2010 is here with Visual Studio 2010, InfoPath 2010 and Office 2010.

Over the last year i have had the good fortune of getting to work on all kinds of SharePoint projects involving InfoPath 2010 (lots of SharePoint Workflows), Visio 2010 and TFS 2010 as well.

My friend, Arno Nel (SharePoint MVP and founder of SharePointMagazine.net has given me a blog site on
http://vijay.spoint.me where i will be blogging about SharePoint 2010.

So let's hope that I find enough time and stuff to blog about SharePoint 2010 and all the new exciting stuff that's happenning in the Microsoft space!

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.

Good Site for New Developers

Here's a cool site for Developers who are new to SharePoint -

http://www.microsoft.com/click/SharePointDeveloper/

MOSS 2007 Stand-alone Training Kit

Microsoft has released a Free MOSS 2007 Training Kit that includes Tutorials, Videos, Code-samples and more.

This is the description posted on the download page -
The Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Training Standalone Edition is designed to help you learn how to use the features of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. The Training topics lead you step-by-step through beginning to advanced features, including Collaboration, Business Processes and Forms, Portals and Personalization, Search, Business Intelligence and Enterprise Content Management

The Stand-alone version of the Kit can be downloaded here -
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=7BB3A2A3-6A9F-49F4-84E8-FF3FB71046DF&displaylang=en

There is also a server version of the same, which allows the kit to be hosted on a website.

Microsoft Search Server 2008

Microsoft has recently launched the Microsoft Search Server 2008 and Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express { Free Edition} . This product enables enterprises to implement enterprise wide search.
So if an organization need just search then this is the product to go for. There is no need to buy Office Server 2007 Enterprise which originally came out with the search functionality.

More about the features here -
http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch/serverproducts/searchserverexpress/features.aspx#si

Quite a move from Microsoft - it sure does know how to create products out of features and functionality - nice lesson in innvoation and selling.

Microsoft DreamSpark

Microsoft is giving out its latest Developer tool to students free-of-cost to encourage them to take up programming at a young age and to initiate them into the cutting edge technologies as well.
The download bundle includes -
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
Microsoft Xpression Studio
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
XNA Game Studio

Currently it is available only in United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium. Soon other countries will be added. We being one of the countries with the largest talent pool in IT will benefit immensly from this program.

As they say - "good programmers start early" lets hope our youngsters get started on these cutting edge tools and go on to become talented programmers and architects.

Any student can participate in the DreamSpark program and download the tools here -
https://downloads.channel8.msdn.com/

SharePoint, WSS and Office Screencasts

I found some nice screen-casts for SharePoint 2007, WSS 3.0 and Office 2007 Screencasts here :-
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905382.aspx

The same are also having links here -
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=BD5C77B0-F556-4136-8730-1D7FEEAE0A42&displaylang=en

Most of these are by Ted Pattison of Ted Patisson Group - http://www.tedpattison.net/

Screencasts are a fun-way to learn - Happy Learning

More than 200 Case Studies on MOSS 2007

I was just browsing the Case-studies site and found that it has more than 200 case studies on MOSS 2007 at this link -
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/search.aspx?ProTaxID=1902

You can also find a small list of TOP 17 MOSS 2007 Case studies on the SharePoint Products and Technology Team Blog -
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/05/03/top-17-case-studies-for-microsoft-office-sharepoint-server-2007-and-several-new-moss-based-web-sites.aspx

If you'd like to search for Industry specific case-studies then please filter based on industry on the Microsoft Case-studies website (Link is given in the previous post).

Some Useful links

Lots of people keep asking me about links to Demos, Case Studies and Licensing information for SharePoint 2007. So here are some links that you might find useful -

SharePoint Product Demos - http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/prodinfo/demos.mspx

Latest SharePoint News - http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/news.mspx

How to Buy SharePoint 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/howtobuy/default.mspx

Microsoft Case Studies Website - http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/

SharePoint 2007 FAQ - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/HA101655351033.aspx

Pricing of SharePoint 2007 - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/FX102176831033.aspx?ofcresset=1

SharePoint 2007 Editions - http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/editions/default.mspx

SharePoint 2007 Products Comparison Downloads - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA101978031033.aspx

www.SharePoint-Videos.com

Here's an excellent website that has over 2 dozen videos (screencasts) that demo most of the common tasks we come across in SharePoint 2007.

http://www.sharepoint-videos.com/

These are targeted at all types of SharePoint users - End Users, Developers as well as Admins. Each video is about 10 mins in length and can be downloaded easily to your computer. Please note that these are for personal use only.

Happy SharePointing!

Technet Virtual Labs for SharePoint Available!

Virtual Labs for learning SharePoint 2007 and WSS 3.0 are now available here -

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb512933.aspx

It's a powerful way to get trained by presenting a virtual machine workstation inside your browser. No need for a SharePoint box at all! All you need to do is have an MSN or Hotmail id and say "Yes" when it prompts to install the MS Virtual Machine plugin for your browser! There is a lab manual included which gives step-by-step instructions on how to go about the tasks. It has a nice interface with the VM workstation on the left and a pane on the rightwhere the instruction text is displayed. You can even close your lab session and resume later.

The only nag is the number of forms that it throws at you before the VM interface is displayed. Overall its a great way to learn and one gets a ready made box with all the features installed!

Happy Learning!

Community Kit for SharePoint

At last a nice looking template from Microsoft - The Community kit for SharePoint. The Community Kit for SharePoint allows us to create a community site with all the features such as Blog, Wikis, Discussion boards and the usual stuff found on a Team Site.

The template is a free download from the codeplex site -

http://www.codeplex.com/CKS

Online Demo of the community kit based website -

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/sharepoint/cks/uge/default.aspx

Community Kit home is here -

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/sharepoint/cks/default.aspx

SharePoint Blog coming up

I will be hosting a SharePoint 2007 (MOSS 2007) and WSS 3.0 blog here instead of the trivia blog soon!