Archive for the ‘General’ Category

SharePoint Designer 2013 – How to modify List View web part filters and parameters

Date:May 30th, 2014 Author: Tags: , , ,
Category: Filter, FilterPoint Web Part, General, SharePoint Development, SharePoint Ideas Comments:18 ;

SharePoint Designer is especially useful for things like setting up complex filters and parameters for List View web parts like ‘wildcard’ searches and ‘before or after a date’ filters.

In SharePoint Designer 2013 (SPD 2013) the “Design View” was (controversially) removed so now it’s a little harder to use as you have to wade through some X/HTML soup. There is also a bit of a wicked bug that’s going to trip you up as well so in this post I am going to give a few tips on how get to the Parameters and Filters options in the ribbon menu.

SharePoint Desinger 2013 - Filter and Parameters

Note –this post is NOT a tutorial on how to use SharePoint Designer (its complex and worth a whole book in itself) but just a few tips for those already familiar with using SPD on how to do use the 2013 version. It won’t put back all you’ve lost, just allow you to access the Parameter & Filter options.

Missing Designer View and finding the List View Web Part

When you edit a page the most obvious difference in SPD 2013 is that you don’t get a Design View (the WYSIWYG view that allows you to see how the page will look whilst editing it). Instead you’ve only got the code view and you’re going to have to work through some angle bracket gibberish!

You’re looking for the code that defines the list view – it starts with <WebPartPages:XsltListViewWebPart and ends with </WebPartPages:XsltListViewWebPart> (pink in the pic here).

SharePoint Designer 2013 - how to find List View Web Part LVWP in code view

But save your eyes! Just search (CTRL+F) for XsltListViewWebPart! If the cursor is between the two XsltListViewWebPart tags then this is the same as clicking on the List in the old Design / Split view.

(If there are more than one List View on the page you will have to figure out which is which by the position of the web part in the page or look for the URL listed in TitleUrl, DetailLink or Url)

Getting the List View Tools options to show in the Ribbon

After putting the text cursor (or clicking) in the code that makes up the List View web part the ribbon should show the List View Tools option.

Except… there is a wicked bug in SPD 2013 at the time of writing that means the Ribbon doesn’t update to show the Options menu (unless you’ve turned off Server Rendering).

The trick (given to me by MdMazzotti) is to right click on XsltListViewWebPart then select Tag Properties and then click OK without clicking anythingSPD - Tag PropertiesYou will now have access to the List View Tools > Options ribbon and the Filter and Parameters button (see picture at the top of this page) SPD - Web Part Properties

You can view these steps in a video :-

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How to kill a software developer: 2000 miles of cycling

Date:April 22nd, 2013 Author: Tags: , ,
Category: General Comments:3 ;

Ever see one of those charity events and think "Hey, I could do that. No problem." Then you think about it a bit harder and realise that it’s probably not a very good idea at all?

Well, I saw a charity ride raising money for the Alzheimer’s Society and thought "Hey, I cycle 4 miles to work, I could cycle 230 miles from London to Brussels. No problem." Then something very odd happened: My wife (destroyer of fads and disapprover of good ideas) said "Yes, you probably could." to the surprise and shock of all involved.

230 miles? That’s not too bad?

It works out at 75 miles each day, split over 3 days. But average folk like myself haven’t a chance in hell of getting up even the first big hill without training. 2000 miles of training, to be exact.Charlton Abbots

So every weekend I’ve been panting, sweating, and wheezing dozens of miles across the Gloucestershire countryside, in the hope that at some point I’ll miraculously turn into Bradley Wiggins.

My nice 4 mile commute into work is now a grinding 10 mile loop of hills and back roads, which will get longer and longer until the challenge itself in September, by which point I’ll be regularly doing a commute of 25 miles and a weekend ride of 70 miles!

But… Why?

I’ve asked myself that more than once, believe me. To be honest there are two main reasons: A selfless one and a selfish one.

1. With one in three people over 65 developing dementia, it’s likely we’ll all know someone effected by this awful condition. The Alzheimer’s Society help people with Alzheimer’s and dementia, while also funding research to prevent it in future.

2. It’s been one of my life’s aspirations to do such an event, so I thought I’d get off my bottom and do it.

Where do I donate?

The challenge’s minimum fundraising target is £1250, half of which is due in June. So any help towards that would be greatly appreciated by both me and the charity! Here is my page on Just Giving:Me

http://www.justgiving.com/Stuart-Pegg

If you live in the UK you can also donate by texting "STUU60 £2" to 70070

You can watch and/or laugh at my training progress on RunKeeper:

http://runkeeper.com/user/foriamstu/profile

Thanks for reading!

How to configure email alerts to review Documents in SharePoint

Date:March 13th, 2013 Author: Tags:
Category: General, SharePoint Reminder Comments:2 ;

I am going to walk through an example showing how you can use our SharePoint Reminder software to send out date based email alerts reminding authors to review and update old documents.

Perhaps you’ve got contracts that will expire at a certain time and need to be renewed. Perhaps you’ve got policies that need to be checked for accuracy at least once per year.

Reminder can help with this and many other scenarios requiring you to setup email alerts to be sent on certain dates – and it’s much easier than working with workflow.

Scenario 1 – Email to author asking for a document to be reviewed once per year.

In this simple example we’re just going to send out an email to an author if a document hasn’t been updated in a year.

Start with a standard SharePoint Document Library (or even a normal list with document attachments).

basic-document-library
(These screenshots are from SharePoint 2013 but Reminder can work with any on-premises version of SharePoint and if you’re using SharePoint Online / Office 365 then you can use our Reminder 365 product).

Create a new wiki page (or web part page if you’re using SharePoint 2007) somewhere in the same site. The location is not important as long as it’s in the same site.

Add a new web part to the page (Insert > Web Part > Miscellaneous > Reminder)

Edit the web part and in the toolpane (the settings on the right) configure it like this :-

Set the watch list to Documents (or whatever your document library or list is called)

Set the Email To : Created By

Tip – you don’t have to use the Created By column (who is the first person to upload the document) you could use

  • Use the Modified By column (the last person to edit the document)
  • Add a “Owner” field as a Person or Group field into the document library and set Reminder to send to that
  • Hard code a person or distribution address into Reminder such as “doc-reviewers@yourcorp.com”

reminder-config-watch-list

Setup a subject and message – remember you can include details from the document library such as [Name] and [Modified By] and any other metadata fields from the list. The email will also contain a link to the document record.

reminder-message-subject

Under Send When set the Reminder email to be sent when the Modified field is Overdue by 12 months – this will trigger an email when a document’s last modified date is a year old.
(If someone edits a document half way through a year the alert email will be ‘moved back’ to be a full 12 months since the last modification)
 send-when-modified
 In the Send Email section set this list to be checked at 7am every weekday (or whatever makes sense to your organisation).  send-when

And that’s it! In a years’ time the person who created the document will get emails like this – notice the ‘mail merge’ of information from the document library / list being put into the subject and message

document-review-email

Scenario 2 – Email to an Account Manager to ensure a contract is renewed.

Building up on the previous example we’re going to

  • Add an Owner field into the document library as who initially uploads a document may not be the person who is later responsible for it.
  • Add a Review Date field – just sending an email in a year’s time isn’t precise enough for our well organised office!

So add these fields using Library > Create Column

  • Owner is a Person or Group Field
  • Expiration Date is a Date and Time field and defaults to a Calculated Value of [Today]+365 so by default documents are due for review 1 year after they were created, but this can be changed

(Note – you can use [Today] in default values and filters, just not calculated columns!)

It will look something like this :-

modified-document-library
The setup for Reminder is almost identical to the previous example but

Email To : Owner

Subject : The document [Name] is due for review on [Review Date]

Send When : Review Date is Due Soon within 5 days.

 

review-date-due-soon

And you’re done! 5 days before the Review Date comes around an email will be sent to the Document Owner.

Further ideas

  • You can have multiple Reminders for different time periods, e.g.
    • The first email 6 months after it was created, the second 24 months after or
    • One email 2 weeks before a review date saying “Due Soon” and another email once the Review Date has passed by a month saying “Overdue – get on with it!” – let the  computer be the team nag!
  • Email CC – perhaps the ‘due soon’ email can go to just the document owner but the “overdue” email can be cc’d to the team leader
  • Dynamic Review Dates – perhaps HR documents need to be reviewed every year, but health and safety documents very 2 years. You can set different rules and emails by setting up Views to filter different types of documents and setup different Reminder web parts for different views.

Download the free 30 day trial and get started today!

Reminder web part is now compatible with SharePoint 2013

Date:March 7th, 2013 Author: Tags: , ,
Category: General, SharePoint Alert, SharePoint Reminder Comments:0 ;

Our Reminder web part (which gives date based “Due Soon” and “Overdue” email alerts) is now compatible with SharePoint 2013 as of version 1.8.0

If upgrading from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013 simply perform the upgrade then install the latest version – your old settings and license key will be picked up. Full instructions for upgrading Reminder to SharePoint 2013 are in the online manual.

SharePoint Reminder - date based email alerts

Reminder is the last of our commercial web parts to be made SharePoint 2013 compatible.

The Ultimate Flexible CRM solution for SharePoint

Date:March 5th, 2013 Author: Tags:
Category: FilterPoint Web Part, General, Highlighter, Partners, PivotPoint Web Part, SharePoint Reminder Comments:0 ;

The Ultimate Flexible CRM Solution for SharePoint

SharePoint is the platform millions of organizations use to manage various facets of their businesses.  However, in many cases, SharePoint’s built-in functions do not provide the ease of use and advanced functions that users need to work efficiently and effectively.

Some SharePoint consulting firms will recommend custom-built web parts to provide the necessary functionality required.  Before going this route, companies would be wise to evaluate pre-built applications and web parts to save significant time and money!  Evaluating and sourcing the right products however can be an overwhelming task – and falling prey to vendor hype a common outcome.  This is particularly true with CRM technology (Business/Customer Relationship Management).

Benefits of a 100% SharePoint- based CRM application:

A system that is designed to be highly configurable and evolve with the business’s ability to embrace change is the key to a successful implementation and a higher than average level of user acceptance.

  • Single point of user login where all business related information is stored
  • Maintenance of  sensitive customer data inside a controlled environment
  • Leverages existing technology investment

sharepoint-crm-dashboards

manage-leads-in-sharepoint

sharepoint-crm-outlook-plugin

Designed exclusively for SharePoint, SharePoint CRM by LookOut Software revs SharePoint up with dynamic, flexible and powerful features out of the box – yet is easy to personalize, scale, and upgrade as needed.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, LookOut Software partnered with one of the top Web Part developers in the industry to provide powerful, yet optional, enhanced functionality for its CRM application.

Pentalogic’s Filter Point, Pivot Point, Highlighter and Reminder  web parts enhance and further empower SharePoint CRM with easy to use, flexible and comprehensive interactive Charts, Graphs, Filters, Alerts and more.

Some examples:

filterpoint-sharepoint-filtering pivotpoint-sharepoint-crm-charting
highlighter-sharepoint-color-coding reminder-mini-workflow-sharepoint-crm

SharePoint CRM and Pentalogic’s simple- to-use and effective add-on web parts combine to create the ultimate Flexible CRM Solution for SharePoint.

SharePoint Community Partner

Date:February 12th, 2013 Author: Category: General Comments:0 ;

Mark over at Collboris has setup a SharePoint Community Partnership group for companies and individuals who are experts and active in the SharePoint community in some way – and we’re privileged to be invited to join.

(Collaboris produce some interesting Policy Management software for SharePoint – for companies that need to distribute paperwork and policies and ensure they have been read and acknowledged)

If you like our free tools or products, show your appreciation with a quick click to give us an upvote!

The goal of this list is to make a definitive reference of SharePoint blogs, products, conventions, and communities. Just click the tags to show each category: The most popular (by votes) will rise to the top of the list.

http://list.ly/list/32f-sharepoint-community-partners

How to learn SharePoint

Date:January 24th, 2013 Author: Tags:
Category: General, Training Comments:0 ;

SharePoint is a HUGE product. Add to that the Microsoft upgrade treadmill (e.g. SharePoint 2013) and even though I’ve been working with it for nearly 8 years now I am still finding new things.

Perhaps the most common question you see in forums (StackExchange, Microsoft Community Groups, Linked In groups or plenty of other places is “How do I learn SharePoint?”. And this isn’t just restricted to Developers – its power users, end users and everyone else in the spectrum. And its not just individuals – as Veronique eloquently points out – many companies install SharePoint and then… then… wonder “We’ve got SharePoint, Now What?”.

So where do you start? Some would argue that depends if you’re a developer, power users, user or admin – and whilst that’s true to some extent if you’re a developer you really need a good grounding otherwise you will spend days recreating something that’s already built in if only you knew it existed! If you’re an administrator how are you going to set policies for something you don’t know inside-out?

Mark at Collaboris has put together some lists of resources using that you can vote on using a cool service called list.ly. As votes are cast the best content should surface to the top – How to learn SharePoint and where to get training.

In addition to that if you’re a developer you obviously need to start with a solid grounding in ASP.NET. After that you are not short of places to start but two that spring to mind are Bjorns (who never afraid to be opinionated!) – What is a SharePoint developer post and Stuarts 10 things developers should know about SharePoint

Check out this list of SharePoint resources and vote for your favourites!

FilterPoint web part is now compatible with SharePoint 2013

Date:January 22nd, 2013 Author: Tags:
Category: Filter, FilterPoint Web Part, General Comments:0 ;

Our FilterPoint web part is now compatible with SharePoint 2013 as of version 1.3.2.

You can download and install the latest version here.

If upgrading from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013 simply perform the upgrade then install the latest version – your old settings and license key will be picked up.

PivotPoint web part

This page will be updated as our other web parts are made SharePoint 2013 compatible

PivotPoint web part is now compatible with SharePoint 2013

Date:January 17th, 2013 Author: Tags: ,
Category: General, PivotPoint Web Part Comments:0 ;

Our PivotPoint web part is now compatible with SharePoint 2013 as of version 2.4.0.

You can download and install the latest version here.

If upgrading from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013 simply perform the upgrade then install the latest version – your old settings and license key will be picked up.

This page will be updated as our other web parts are made SharePoint 2013 compatible

PivotPoint web part

SharePoint 2013 Compatibility

Date:November 21st, 2012 Author: Tags:
Category: General Comments:0 ;

Now that SharePoint 2013 has reached the RTM milestone we’re hard at work making sure our web parts are compatible with SharePoint 2013. We’ve been through this process before (Pentalogic sold its first SharePoint product in 2005 and we have experience working with SharePoint 2003, 2007 and 2010) and don’t expect any problems.

This work will be completed over the coming months and updates posted on this blog and the SharePoint 2013 compatibility page with links to upgrade instructions.

As part of this process we will no longer be supporting SharePoint 2003 for Planner and Reminder but intend to continue supporting SharePoint 2007, 2010 and 2013 for all our products.


SharePoint 2013