SharePoint FAQ and How To?

Overview

SharePoint is a virtual team collaboration tool that can assist organizations in storing documents, sharing information, and coordinating project work. 724 Internet Solutions SharePoint service is intended for use by organizations to share documents and to pass on archived documents to future generations of students.

Key features of SharePoint include:

  • A Shared Documents folder that can be used to share and archive documents.
  • The shared documents folder also supports versioning, which may be of assistance to organization leaders collaborating on a project.
  • Shared Contacts and Tasks lists.
  • Picture libraries.
  • An Events module for posting deadlines for events and activities.

Creating new document libraries

Document libraries are like folders. Organizations may want to have separate folders for various events, activities, or responsibilities. NOTE: You can also create sub-folders within a document library. However, only document libraries will be listed on the front page of your SharePoint site, so you need to create a new document library to get the convenience of a link from the front page.

To create a new document library:

  1. Login to your SharePoint site and click the Create link at the top of the page.
  2. Click the Document Library link (shown at right).
  3. Enter a name for the library in the Name field.
  4. If you do not want this library to show up on the front page, select No for Display this document library on the Quick Launch bar?
  5. If you would like to use document versioning, select Yes for Create a version each time you edit a file in this document library?
  6. Click Create.

Copying files & folders to a SharePoint document library

If you have files and folders stored on your computer or a network share (G: drive, W: drive, etc.), you can copy them to a SharePoint document library. To do so:

  1. Open the document library (i.e. Shared Documents) you want to copy files to.
  2. Click the Explorer View link (on the left side, below "Select a view").
  3. If prompted whether you want to "display nonsecure items," click Yes.
  4. Drag and drop the files and/or folders you wish to copy to the SharePoint window.

     NOTE: Before dropping the files and/or folders in the SharePoint window, look for a plus (+) symbol below the mouse cursor. If you do not have one, make sure you're dropping the files/folders in the right part of the SharePoint window (shown at right).
     
  5. When finished copying files, click the All Documents link (on the left side, below "Select a view") to switch back to the standard view.

Using document versioning

Document versioning allows you to maintain previous versions of a document. This is useful in case the current version is corrupted, you accidentally delete data from the document, or you just want to see a previous version.

By default, versioning is turned off in SharePoint. To use document versioning, you must first enable it.

Enabling document versioning

  1. Login to your SharePoint site and click the Shared Documents link.
  2. Click the Modify settings and column link in the left menu bar.
  3. Click the Change general settings link.
  4. Select Yes for Create a version each time you edit a file in this document library?
  5. Click OK.

If you have multiple document libraries, you'll need to repeat this process for each document library.

Accessing previous versions of a document

To view a previous version of a document, click the arrow to the right of the file name, then select Version History.

To open a previous version, click the date & time it was modified.

Editing shared documents

Using Check In / Check Out

724 Internet Solutions highly recommends checking out documents before editing them.

This prevents other people from editing the same document that you are working on. This does not prevent other people from viewing documents that are checked out, however.

To check the document out -- click the arrow to reveal the pull-down menu to the right of the file you want to edit, then select Check Out.

Once you've finished working on the document and have saved it, check it back in. In Microsoft Word, click the File menu and select Check In. You can also open SharePoint and click the arrow to the right of the file you have checked out and select Check In.

Editing Documents

To edit a shared Microsoft Office Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document, go to the document library (i.e., Shared Documents). Click the arrow to the right of the file you want to edit, then select Edit in Microsoft Office Word (or Excel, or PowerPoint).

The document will open in Microsoft Office. Saving changes to shared Microsoft Office documents works the same as with any document stored locally on your hard drive. Just type CTRL-S or click the File menu and select Save to save changes.

Adding users

To add users to an existing SharePoint Foundation 2010 site:

  1. Login to your SharePoint site and from the Site Actions drop down near the left top section of the page (right top section for WSS ver 3) , click the Site Settings.
  2. Click the People and Groups link
  3. Click the New from the top drop down menu, then the Add Users
  4. Click the Create button and a windows will pop up.
         ------ If you are adding a new user: click the CREATE button. A new winow will pop up. Enter the email address and display name and click OK.
    ------ If you are adding an existing user: Type the username in the format DOMAIN\username
    ------ NOTE: When typing email addresses, the email address must be a full email address (i.e., jdoe2007@domain.com). The e-mail address must exist as well or it will fail. Finally, click OK to close all windows.
  5. Fow WSS3 sites only, Select a role for the users you are adding -- reader, contributor, web designer, or administrator.
    (SharePoint Foundation 2010 has no ROLE selector)
    • Readers have read-only access to the site. They can view documents, but can not edit them.
    • Contributors can edit documents and add new ones. They cannot create new document libraries or lists.
    • Web designers can edit documents and add new ones and can also add new document libraries and lists.
    • Administrators have full control over the SharePoint site. They can edit any documents in the site, add new documents, document libraries and lists, and can add or remove users.
  6. Click OK
  7. By default, SharePoint will email the users you have added to let them know they have access to the SharePoint site, with a link to the site. If you do not want to send the email, uncheck the box for Send the following email to let these users know they've been added.

Adding a logo

To add your  logo to the front page:

Click the Modify Shared Page link (in the top right corner of the window).

Select Add Web Parts, then select Browse.

Wait for the Web Part List palette (shown at right) to appear. This may take up to a minute.

Left-click Image Web Part, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the Image Web Part link to the spot on the page you would like to insert the logo (either above Links, above Announcements or below Events. A bold, horizontal line will show you the insertion point. The insertion point above the Links section is shown at left. Once you've found your insertion point, release the left button.

Click the Open the tool pane link in the Image Web Part to enter the link (URL) for your  logo. To find the link for your  logo, go to your  web page and right-click the logo. Select Properties. Cut and paste the URL from the Address (URL): field to the Image Link field in SharePoint.

Click OK. Your logo should now appear at the insertion point.

Known Problems and Troubleshooting

There are a few file types and file name characters that SharePoint does not support. These include:

Files with the following extensions:

.mdb, .mwt, .lnk

File and folder names with the following characters:

/ \ : * ? " < > | # { } % & ~

File names with tabs or multiple periods are also unsupported.

If you are copying a group of files and folders and one file or folder within the group is unsupported, you will get an error message. Once you clear the message, SharePoint will copy the rest of the files, but it will not tell you which file or folder caused the problem.

Support Policy

724 Internet Solutions will be happy to assist organizations with basic SharePoint functionality. But, we are not able to support advanced customization of SharePoint sites. For this purpose, see our Developers listing at http://www.724hosting.com/sharepoint/partners.htm.