Getting Started with SharePoint Online for Enterprise

I have now completed another new e-Book called ‘Getting Started with SharePoint Online for Enterprises’. The cost is again only USD $1.99 and it contains over 40 pages of step by step tutorials, with screen shots, on using the SharePoint Team Site that comes with Office 365 Enterprise plans (E SKUs). This makes it a perfect document to either use if you are new to SharePoint Online or if you have customers looking to understand what SharePoint can do in Office 365.

This means you can select from two Getting Started with SharePoint Online for Office 365 eBooks:

For Enterprises (E SKUs)

and

For Professionals and Small Business (P SKU)

Even though SharePoint Online is very similar between the two offerings there are enough differences to make it confusing and therefore the need for two separate books in my opinion. Both cover the same information, however things such as the look and feel and what SharePoint components are available by default vary between the plans. So select the eBook that matches you plan if you want to get the most from it.

You’ll find this new e-Book along with other publications I have including:

SharePoint Foundation Master Class: Search Server Express on SBS 2011 Standard

Windows SharePoint Master Class:Tutorials

Getting started with Companyweb 2010

and more at:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ciaops?cid=cms_email_author_spotlight_confirmation

My next eBook project will most likely be a set of tutorial around using SharePoint Online for each plan. If you have any suggestion for what sort of information you’d like to see in an upcoming eBook on Office 365 or SharePoint Online please contact me (director@ciaops.com).

Getting Started with SharePoint Online

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog post I have now completed a new e-Book called ‘Getting Started with SharePoint Online for Small Business’. The cost is only USD $1.99 and it contains over 40 pages of step by step tutorials, with screen shots, on using the SharePoint Team Site that comes with Office 365 Professional and Small Business (P SKU). This makes it a perfect document to either use if you are new to SharePoint Online or if you have customers looking to understand what SharePoint can do in Office 365.

You’ll find this new e-Book along with other publications I have including:

SharePoint Foundation Master Class: Search Server Express on SBS 2011 Standard

Windows SharePoint Master Class:Tutorials

Getting started with Companyweb 2010

and more at:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ciaops?cid=cms_email_author_spotlight_confirmation

Make sure you check back with my online store (or this blog) real soon as the next publication I am working on is ‘Getting Started with SharePoint Online for Enterprise’.

Doing SharePoint no favours

I have been working on a new e-book that provides a tutorial on ‘Getting Started with SharePoint Online for Small Business’ and I was struck by how poorly SharePoint has once again been promoted by Microsoft.

To explain what I mean take a look at the ‘default’ SharePoint version on Small Business Server 2010 (i.e. Companyweb), which many small businesses have seen.

Here’s you’ll find Shared Documents, a Calendar, Tasks and a Picture library. In contrast have a look at what you get the Office 365 Team Site for the Professional and Small Business versions (P SKU).

All you basically get is a page with a Posts web part and a single document library. Every other feature has to be added manually. Given that most people coming to Office 365 have probably never seen SharePoint having such a bland page, devoid of simple features like a calendar, wiki, contacts list does the SharePoint product no justice in my eyes. Many will look at it and wonder what it is for. Others will simply use it as a place to save documents without utilizing any of the features that sets SharePoint apart, like, sorting, filtering, views, meta data, just to name a few.

To me it would have made much more sense to provide a standard Team Site for SharePoint Online for the Professional and Small Business version. This Team Site has many of the standard features already exposed and ready for use. I’d pretty much bet that most people using this version of Office 365 would make use of a shared calendar at the very least.

My guess would be that Microsoft used this Express version of the Team Site to reduce the complexity and make it simple to users new to SharePoint but honestly I think that it actually going to achieve the reverse. It is going to make them shy away from using SharePoint because they can’t see many of the features. To me it makes more sense for the items to be there and not be used than to be hidden from users who would have no idea that they even exist and how to go about adding them.

Keep you eye peeled for the next blog post where I’ll provide you with the information about my new e-Book (for only $USD 1.99) that provides a basic tutorial on getting started with SharePoint Online. You’ll find it my online bookstore along with other SharePoint titles and tutorials.

I certainly hope that people using Office 365 take the time to delve into SharePoint to find out how powerful it is but honestly Microsoft have not made it easy or enticing have they now?

Review – Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Developers Compendium

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Developers Compendium: The Best of Packt for Extending SharePoint by Series Editor: Carl Jones, Gastón C. Hillar, Balaji Kithiganahalli , Mike Oryszak, Yaroslav Pentsars
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Full disclosure – I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for reviewing it.

I think it is always hard to position a book that is a compendium of other books and it is so with this one. Firstly, you’ll need to be a SharePoint developer who uses Visual Studio to get the most from this book. You’ll also need to be looking to extend the functionality of SharePoint onto the Windows Phone platform. Given the combination of these audiences it is clear that this book is not for everyone.

The book certainly does allow you to get a feel of the works of the authors from whom the individual chapters have been taken. It will also provide you benefit in the specific subjects that it covers, however you should check these area carefully before investing in the the book as each chapter is somewhat separate from the next.

The chapters certainly contain a wealth of information on their topics and would provide good value for those looking to learn about them, however as I said you will need to be a developer who is comfortable with using Visual Studio and SharePoint to get the most from this work.
http://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-sharepoint-2010-developers-compendium/book

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SharePoint and SQL 2012

Now that SQL 2012 has come out I though I’d give it a whirl with SharePoint Foundation. Firstly I installed SQL 2012 Express with Advanced features onto the machine. There are a few changes but nothing major. I them attempted to install SharePoint Foundation and was going along swimmingly until I received an error like:

An exception or type System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException was thrown. Additional information: Coudl not find stored procedure ‘sp_adoption’.

As http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh231665.aspx points out you need SharePoint Service Pack 1 prior to using SQL 2012.

Now that’s all well and good but there is currently no download of SharePoint Foundation 2010 WITH Service Pack 1. So how do you go about doing a clean install of SharePoint Foundation onto SQL 2012?

Bottom line is, at the moment you can’t really. The best bet is to get SharePoint Foundation 2010 working on SQL 2008 R2 Express. Then you need to apply SharePoint Foundation Service Pack 1 and THEN you need to upgrade SQL to SQL Express 2012 using an in place method.

I also suppose that it is possible to install SharePoint Foundation 2010 and not run the configuration wizard, install SharePoint Foundation 2010 Service Pack 1 and then proceed but that is very, very messy.

Bottom line? It looks like we have to wait until SharePoint Foundation 2010 with Service Pack 1 is released before there is a clean installation option with SQL 2012.

So what advantages does SQL 2012 Express provide over SQL 2008 R2 Express? Not much I can see.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993(v=SQL.110).aspx

It still has a 10GB database and 1GB RAM limit. So, if it was me, I wouldn’t be rushing to upgrade SharePoint Foundation 2010 to SQL 2012 Express just yet.

Adding a new user to SharePoint Online

One of the most common issues I find people have initially with SharePoint Online via Office 365 is adding new users. Most think that simply creating a new users and assigning them a SharePoint license automatically gives them access to SharePoint Site Collections. It doesn’t. Why? Because what security rights do you provide that user in SharePoint? Are they going to be an administrator or are they going to be a ‘normal’ user? That’s why they need to be added manually to each Site Collection.

Basically, all you need to do is login to the SharePoint Site Collection as a SharePoint Administrator and give the new user permissions. How about rather than telling you I show you via this video I’ve just uploaded to my YouTube channel.

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Nwbg7DHBOa4/UOuuXA93M7I/AAAAAAAAG0o/UyQAIzLUZfg/videocf29153d95fb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('be698c87-0295-45de-89e4-df9dc64fd2ac'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "

http://www.youtube.com/v/QN-HoAvj8-c?hl=en&hd=1“;” alt=””>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN-HoAvj8-c

I hope that makes it a bit easier to get started with SharePoint in Office 365.

Search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011

I have blogged here before about the issue around Search Server Express 2008 on SBS 2008. However it is a different story when it comes to search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011 as I will briefly show here.

Before I launch too deep into this post I will tell you that I have created an e-Book with over 100 pages covering everything I talk out here plus a whole lot more. Here are the chapter headings;

1. Settings the SharePoint Farm Passphrase

2. Installing search Server express 2010 on SBS 2011

3. Configuring the Search Service

4. Adding a Search Site

5. Configuring PDF indexing

6. Removing Search Server Express from SBS 2011

7. Linking to Search Center

8. Using Search Center

This book will cover much more in depth that what the rest of this blog post will so if you are really serious about Search Server Express on SBS 2010 then I’d commend this US$9.99 book to you. You can purchase it at (along with other titles):

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ciaops

and I appreciate everyone who does purchase a copy to support what I do.

I’ll also tip my hat to Susan Bradley for providing me a test SBS 2011 Standard server to work all this out on.

Warnings

There are a few very, very important warnings that you MUST take note of before proceeding.

A. Installing Search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011 makes SBS 2011 ‘non-standard’. This doesn’t mean it isn’t supported what it means is that the default SharePoint on SBS gets modified which has ramifications for patching, updating and troubleshooting.

B. You MUST know your SharePoint farm passphrase. On SBS 2011 this passphrase is randomly generated during installation. If you don’t know it you need to set it to something you know while SharePoint is working! See this previous blog post for more information.

C. Search Server express 2010 is going to stress you SBS 2011 box, especially when it indexes content. You can configure this but beware that large amounts of indexing really ‘pegs’ the box.

D. Make sure you can roll back any failed installation. This may mean uninstalling Search Server express 2010, which requires reconfiguring SharePoint as well as knowing the farm passphrase. I won’t be covering that here. That’s why I recommend you buy my e-book to get all the info.

These aside Search Server Express 2010 on SBS 2011 will allow you to provide a single search interface across just about all your network data. Search is really the ‘killer app’ in our information overload society. When people want to find information where do they go? To a search engine! Problem is most search engines only look outside a business but with Search Server Express 2010 you can now index and search your internal information. Who wouldn’t want that? best of all Search Server Express 2010 is free.

The ability to search SharePoint content on SBS 2011 Standard is provided by default, however it is limited to only the content contained within the Companyweb site. With the installation of Windows Search Server Express 2010 it is possible to not only search Companyweb content but also network file shares, web sites and Exchange Public folders.

One down side with installing Search Server Express 2010 over the existing installation of SharePoint on SBS 2011 standard is that it doesn’t directly integrate into the existing search functionality within Companyweb. This means that if you use standard Companyweb search (located in the top right of most pages) you will only be able to search Companyweb content even when Search Server Express 2010 is installed. To search across network file shares, web sites, Exchange Public Folder and Companyweb content you will need to use a special Search Center subsite once Search Server Express 2011 has been installed.

Microsoft Search Server 2010 Express is freely available from Microsoft and can be downloaded from:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=cea31a4f-a8b4-4864-b520-be612becdcfa

The general recommendation is to install Search Server Express 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 on a dedicated member server in a network. However, in this example we will be installing it here onto an existing SBS 2011 Standard machine.

It is very important to ensure that the existing SharePoint Foundation configuration on SBS 2011 Standard is fully patched and up to date. It is also important to remember that SharePoint Foundation updates require a manual configuration step as detailed here:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2011/05/24/you-must-manually-run-psconfig-after-installing-sharepoint-2010-patches.aspx

This means that you need to ensure that your SBS 2011 Standard SharePoint installation does not require any more updates. The easiest way is to logon to the SBS 2011 Standard console.

From the Start Menu select All Programs, then Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, then SharePoint 2010 Central Administration. Accept any User Account Control (UAC) that you see.

From the menu on the left of SharePoint Central Administration select Systems Settings and then Manage Servers in this farm from under the Servers heading at the top of the right side of the page.

You should now see a screen like that shown previously. If the Status column for your SBS 2011 Standard server DOES NOT show No Action Required, as it does above, then you will typically need to run the PSCONFIG command line option to complete any SharePoint Foundation upgrade. Information on completing this process is contained in the link provided above.

It also vital that you know what the passphrase for the SharePoint farm is. .

It is also vital that prior to commencing any of this work that you ensure you have a recovery process including a verified set of backups.

With all the preliminary work completed and the Search Server Express 2010 software downloaded we are ready to commence the installation.

Log onto the SBS 2011 Standard server as an administrator and right mouse click the downloaded Search Server Express 2010 file to commence the installation and select Run as administrator from the menu that appears.. The required files will firstly be extracted to the server.

Accept the User Account Control window by clicking the Continue button.

The files will then be extracted and the installation commenced.

You should now see a Start screen displayed. In this window select the option Install the prerequisites.

You should now see the welcome screen. Click Next to continue.

The server will be checked to ensure that it meets all the minimum requirements and is configured correctly.

During this process you may find that an additional number of required components are downloaded and installed on the SBS 2011 Standard server. These will be done automatically and generally a reboot will not be required but you should be aware of the possibility.

When the process is complete you may need to take further action as recommended by the tool. Click Finish to complete the process.

You will now be returned to the Start window. From here now select the option Install Search Server Express.

This will commence the installation wizard.

The first screen you will see is the software license agreement. Check the I accept the terms of this agreement box at the bottom and click the Continue button to proceed.

You’ll then be asked for a default installation location for the binary files. Accept the default location and click the Install Now button.

You should now see the Installation Progress screen as shown above and the status bar should move from left to right as the program is installed on the SBS 2011 Standard server.

Once the installation has completed you will then be prompted to run the Configuration Wizard as shown above. Simply leave the checkbox Run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard now checked and click the Close button.

The SharePoint Configuration Wizard should now launch as shown above. Click the Next button to continue.

You will then be prompted that the following services will be started or reset during the configuration:

– Internet Information Services

– SharePoint Administration Service

– SharePoint Timer Service

This may affect other users on the network and if so you should prepare them for interruption to their normal programs. Click the Yes button to accept this warning and continue. Then click the Next button to proceed.

Since SharePoint has already been installed on SBS 2011 Standard you will be prompted with the details of the existing configuration database like shown above.

Click Next to continue.

The configuration process will now continue. The only option available is to stop the process via the Cancel button.

You will notice during the installation process (Step 9) that the existing SharePoint farm on SBS 2011 Standard will be upgraded. As mentioned previously, this now makes the original installation of SharePoint on SBS 2011 Standard ‘non-standard’.

When the process completes you should receive a success message like shown above. Click the Close button to continue.

Internet Explorer will now be launched and you’ll be taken to the SharePoint Central Administration web site. You should then see the prompt asking whether you wish to sign up for the customer experience. Make your select and click OK.

You’ll now see the option to run the SharePoint configuration farm wizard. Here it is important to select Cancel to terminate the wizard. If you elect to run the wizard you will damage both the Search Server Express 2010 installation and the default SharePoint on SBS 2011 Standard installation requiring a reinstallation of both components. Although in most cases you use wizards on SBS 2011 Standard, with SharePoint on SBS you should NEVER run the configuration wizard.

After you cancel the SharePoint wizard you will be returned to SharePoint Central Administration as shown above.

Select Application Management from the left and then Manage service applications from under the Service Applications heading in the middle of the page.

You will now manually configure the Search Server Express Service into the existing SharePoint Farm.

Select the arrow at the bottom of the New button in the upper left side of the window and from the menu that appears (as shown above) select Search Service Application.

You will now be prompted to enter the configuration details for the new Search Service.

Leave the Service Application name as default (Search Service Application 1). Leave the Search Service Account as default (\spfarm).

Scroll down the screen for more options.

It is recommended that you create a new application pool.

It is recommended that you use a descriptive name (here SearchServicePool).

Leave the service account as default (here \spfarm).

Scroll down the page for more options.

It is recommended that you also create a new application pool for Search Query (here SearchQueryPool) and use the default service account (\spfarm).

Scroll down the page and select the Save button when complete.

You should now see the Search Service being configured as shown. This may take several minutes depending on the specifications of your hardware.

There are two phases that the configuration needs to complete. The second phase generally takes much longer than the first.

When the process is complete you should receive a success message like that shown above.

When you close that window you will be returned to the SharePoint Service Application page. Here you should see additional services listed as shown above. You will also see that the Search Service Application 1, or the name you called the Search Service name is a hyperlink. If you click this you will then be able to configure the Search Service.

If you now look at the services on the SBS 2011 Standard server you will notice an additional SharePoint Service called SharePoint Server Search 14.

To configure the Search Service simply click on the hyperlink in Central administration shown above and add the additional content sources you desire.

Finally, to actually use the Search Service create a subsite in Companyweb based on the Search template that is now available.

I will again point you to my e-book as the most comprehensive source of getting everything working.

Purchase – SharePoint Foundation Master Class: Search Server Express on SBS 2011 Standard

Book review – SharePoint 2010: How to

Sharepoint 2010 How-To by Ishai Sagi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book I think is very handy as a reference book for people who want to ‘know’ all the functions of SharePoint. Typically, these are the people that feel they need to understand the length and breadth of a product before they are willing to experiment for themselves.

With that in mind, it is not recommended that you read this book from cover to cover. Instead it will serve you better to use it as a reference when you start diving into the different areas of SharePoint. It will take you through all the options and explain to you exactly what they all do.

The people that will get the most out of this book are those who are just getting into SharePoint and want to have something they can refer to when they see all the options that can get presented at times in the product. It would prove to be a very handy book to keep on the shelf as a business gets up to speed with SharePoint as it allows them to easily research just the part they are working with at that moment and continue to do that over time as their confidence with the product grows.

In summary, more a reference book than a tutorial. It provides excellent coverage of just about all the options in SharePoint and what they all do. Is easy to read and would be of value to anyone who is getting into SharePoint and wants to know exactly what each option means. If you are just getting started with SharePoint and want to understand all the bits under the hood this book is an excellent starting point.
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