/ SharePoint

SharePoint 2013 Managed Navigation

One of the most intriguing features of SharePoint 2013 is Managed Navigation. Per Microsoft, “Managed navigation lets you define and maintain the navigation on a site by using term sets. Managed navigation supplements the existing SharePoint navigation that is based on site structure. You create the managed navigation structure by adding terms to term sets in the Term Store Management tool. You can copy the navigation term set and translate it into the same languages that are used for variations labels.”

Source: TechNet

Key aspects of Managed Navigation include:

  • Driving navigation and URLs based on Term Store hierarchies, inclusive of drop downs since terms are hierarchical
  • Clean URLs for end users (ex. http://yourcompany.com/about-us)
  • Controlling navigation settings within Term Store Management

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/ SharePoint

SharePoint 2013 Document Sets

Document Sets provide advanced flexibility and power for managing content. Per Microsoft, Documents Sets “are designed to manage all aspects of work products. They provide a user interface (UI), metadata options, behaviors, and object model elements that fill a gap in the hierarchy of containers between documents and sites.”

Source: Microsoft TechNet

Document Sets can share metadata with their contents, making it easier to tag and manage content. Workflows can be run on individual items within a set, or on the Document Set as a whole (ex. treating the Document Set as a legal case file, where once the case is closed, it is routed with all its content to a Records Center for storage and eventual disposition).

Brought online as a feature of SharePoint 2010, the SharePoint 2013 Document Sets continue to refine the capabilities of this encapsulation method.

What’s Changed

  • Support for OneNote
  • Document Set icon now appears in search results

READ FULL POST at blogs.captechconsulting.com

/ SharePoint

To The Point: Workflow Throttling in SharePoint 2010

There may be situations in which you need to adjust the default configuration SharePoint 2010 uses to handle resource allocation for workflows, such as the maximum number of new instances. While there is not an out of the box GUI interface to throttle workflows, PowerShell is to the rescue with some straightforward options to both view and set workflow throttling via the SPFarmConfig command.

READ FULL POST at blogs.captechconsulting.com

/ SharePoint

Hidden Gems for SharePoint 2010

SharePoint 2010 is a dynamic, yet extensive platform that requires a detailed approach and dedicated resources to properly implement and govern. Fortunately, across the Web are great resources from Microsoft supporting SharePoint 2010. Some are located in obvious places, while others are a little more “fun” to find (akin to an Easter egg hunt). Here is a list of some of my favorites, and I hope you find them helpful in your SharePoint adventures.

SharePoint Server 2010 Resource Centers: Provides a comprehensive list of SharePoint Resource Centers
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff465365

Governance in SharePoint Server 2010: The first place to start before touching SharePoint
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff800826.aspx

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Must Have Features for the Next Version of SharePoint (SharePoint 2013?)

Wave 15 is upon us with a technical preview for “a select group of customers under non-disclosure agreements”. It promises an overhaul of a full range of products from server operating systems, Office, cloud offerings, mobile, Lync… and SharePoint.

Here is a link to the announcement:

http://blogs.office.com/b/office-exec/archive/2012/01/30/quot-office-15-quot-begins-technical-preview.aspx

Speculation includes a SharePoint Apps Marketplace, revamped social media, a public beta this summer, and release by the end of the 2012.

Beyond speculation, there are some core features and functionality Microsoft must put in place in order to satisfy a user base hungry to utilize and not “develop” the platform (another post will detail out the role of development in SharePoint… hint! develop as an escalation point/when a technical gap exists).

Key “Must Haves”are as follows:

  • Cross Site Collection Navigation
  • Cross Site Collection Web Parts/Content Rollups

READ FULL POST at blogs.captechconsulting.com

/ SharePoint

Folders are Evil! (And what to do about them)

Folders provide a single faceted, single point of failure that has limited users and caused inefficiency and risk across Enterprises for years. This is largely due to the nature of a folder. It provides a single source of storage with security options, but once you start nesting folders it creates a single path that may be forgotten or corrupted by improper naming or governance failings. Many organizations complain that their file shares are out of control, and while they may have begun with the best of intentions, the intended use was either not clearly identified or sustained and the end result looks something like the following. How will an organization know where their “real” content is located?

READ FULL POST at blogs.captechconsulting.com