Transcript SharePoint Lists

Welcome to the
Minnesota SharePoint
User Group
September 8th, 2010
You Might Need a List If…
Lists: Used, Abused and Underappreciated
Sarah Haase, Wes Preston
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Agenda
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Introductions
You might need a list…
Break
Lists: Used, Abused and Underappreciated
Q&A
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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User Group Goal / Objectives
Develop and support a local community focused on Microsoft
SharePoint Technologies
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Educate user group members about SharePoint Technologies
Transfer knowledge within the community
Communicate best practices
Introduce new products / solutions
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Introductions – MNSPUG Sponsors
Inetium (www.inetium.com)
• Technology consulting company
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
• Practice area focused on SharePoint
Benchmark Learning (www.benchmarklearning.com)
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
• Training on many technologies
Microsoft (www.microsoft.com)
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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www.sharepointmn.com
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Website for user group
SharePoint resource documents
SharePoint resource links
RSS Feeds
Meeting Schedule
Past User Group Presentations
• [email protected]
www.sharepointmn.com
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Social Networking
• Linked In group – The most interactive… includes job postings…
– http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1878792
• Facebook group
– http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=27333305456
• Twitter: @MNSPUG and #MNSPUG
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Upcoming Schedule
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Next Meeting
• October 13th 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
• Microsoft’s Bloomington Office
• Topic: [TBD]
Check www.sharepointmn.com for updates!
• Ongoing Schedule
• 2nd Wednesday of every month
• 9:00 to 11:30 am
• Microsoft’s Bloomington Office
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Local Events
SharePoint Saturday – October 2, 2010 *FREE*
http://www.sharepointsaturdaymn.com
http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/twincities/default.aspx
University of Minnesota – East Bank, Twin Cities Campus
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Conferences
SPTechCon – SharePoint Technology Conference – October 20-22, 2010
http://www.sptechcon.com/
Boston, MA
No SharePoint Conference this year… October 3-6, 2011
http://www.mssharepointconference.com
SPTechCon – Next Spring (San Francisco, CA)
Best Practices Conferences – Next Spring (La Holla, CA)
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Announcements
• SharePoint on TechNet
– http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/default.aspx
– Start here to get to all product versions
• Search on TechNet
– http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/enterprisesearch/default.aspx
– Start here for Search Server and FAST content
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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You Might Need a List If…
http://www.sharepointmn.com
Meeting # 69
68
http://www.sharepointmn.com
Meeting # 69
68
Lists: Used, Abused and
Underappreciated
http://www.sharepointmn.com
Meeting # 69
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Topic Overview:
• 100 Level – End Users
• Lists are used as the core of many things SharePoint
but they are rarely used as well as they can be. Learn
tips and tricks for getting the most of your lists: How
to build them smarter, how to display them more
clearly, and how to use them in your environment for
effectively. Also see how these practices evolve from
2007 to 2010.
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Quick Intro
• Wes Preston – http://www.idubbs.com/blog
– SharePoint Senior Consultant – Inetium
• Microsoft Gold Partner based in Minneapolis, MN
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MVP – SharePoint Server
MCTS - WSS 3.0 and MOSS Configuration
MCTS - SharePoint 2010, Configuration
MCITP – SharePoint Administrator 2010
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Lists (and Libraries)
• Things to take away that you can use NOW
• It’s all about raising the bar. The baseline for end
user knowledge is too low…
• If you use SharePoint, these should be core concepts
• Other concepts build on these for more robust
solutions, dashboards, etc…
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Best Practice #1 – Training
• Users don’t know the baseline capabilities of
SharePoint lists and libraries
– “What’s a view?”
– “What are properties?”
• Too common of an issue
• Easy to mitigate
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Training: Why
• The Bottom Line – Users will be more effective
• Empowered users are happy users
• The more they know, the less time they’ll take to
manage
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Training: Different Audiences
• Executive:
– Understand the capabilities
– Start to align business needs with solutions
• Power Users:
– Decision matrix – when to use which method
– How do I do it?
• All Users:
– How to, tutorials, examples
– Structured and unstructured
– On-demand
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Training: Starter Topics
• (These are just ‘list’ starter topics…)
• 2007 and 2010
– Columns, Properties, Metadata
– Views
– Alerts
• New w/2010
– Validation
– Easier form management
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Training: Options
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Have a Training Plan (governance)
Partners
Train the trainer
Online materials, products
Handout materials
– Home-grown, BrainStorm, etc…
• User groups, Brown bag sessions, Labs
– Internal and regional
• Newsletters, FAQS, Tips and Tricks…
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Best Practice #2 - Use Columns and Views
• Views provide a cleaner, more effective user
experience
• Effective views rely on useful columns to filter and
sort on
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Columns and Views: Why
• Default views, especially libraries are just like file
shares – We can do better
– List by name, date, author
• As libraries fill up, they’re just as confusing as file
shares to navigate
• Out of the box fields can be a step up
– Modified date vs. Created date
– Modified by vs. Created by
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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‘My’ Files and Items
• Different reasons
– Issues or Tasks Lists -> ‘My items’ that were submitted
– Issues or Task Lists -> Items assigned to me
– Doc Libs -> Items created, owned or last modified
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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File Naming -> Properties
• Don’t keep those crazy file naming conventions
– “supermonthlyreport_April_2010.xlsx”
– “Sales_Monthend_2009_09.xlsx”
• Titles may not be indexed the way you think they are
• Implement properties to replace them
– If they’re strict, migration can be scripted
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Groups vs. Views
• Different ways to display the same information
• When to use each method is dependent on the
specific scenario, but there are pros and cons that
might help shape the decision
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Groups vs. Views
• Straight up groups…
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Groups vs. Views
• Separate Web Parts
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Groups vs. Views
Group By
Separate Web Parts
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• Status or Category
• Display different fields
depending on the group
• Different controls if desired
• Cleaner look – no goofy
automatic headings
• Can ‘fake’ headings with
CEWP
Dates
Products
Departments
Can do sub-totals, etc…
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Edit the current view
• Available with List Views on pages
• Use on pages to limit the number of
views displayed for the list
• Better user experience
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Folders
• Users are comfortable with them
• Views can be created to ignore folders
• 2010 allows default values based on rules
– Ease some user input
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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‘My’ Files (and ‘Flat’ folders)
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Best Practice #3: List Task Queues
• Email sent to a single person is not scalable
• Email sent to a group isn’t measurable
• Content submitted isn’t standardized
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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List Task Queues
• Can put a link from
anywhere to ‘Add
Request’ location
• Can still be submitted
via email
• Can still be notified by
email
• Tasks can be assigned
http://www.sharepointmn.com
• Mitigates single person
issue
• More structured than
email
– Can use Views!!
• More options for
automation
• Metrics are easier to
capture
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List Task Queues
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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List Task Queues
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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New Tidbits for Lists in 2010
• External Lists
• Multi-select items
• Much easier to change the forms
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Recap: Best Practices
• Set users up for success – Train them
• Use Columns and Views
• Replace the Email queue with a list
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Recap: Worst Practices
• Don’t keep obnoxious file naming conventions
• Don’t create long lists of views if Edit the current
view can be used
• Don’t use item-level permissions unless needed
• Don’t display every column in every view
• Avoid the document library list view or educate
around it
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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References and Resources
• Productivity Hub 2010
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&Famil
yID=4aaa9862-e420-4331-8bc3-469d7bae0ff1
• BrainStorm quick cards
http://www.brainstorminc.com/for-business/train-by-type/quick-startcards/microsoft/sharepoint-2007.aspx
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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• Quick note…
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Q&A
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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Thanks for coming!
http://www.sharepointmn.com
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