SharePoint Document Library: Require Check Out

Today's best practices recommendation, why you should require check out in your document libraries, and how to go about doing so.

The reason that it's recommended that you require check out on the documents in your library is that, unless you do so, multiple users will be able to check out and edit a single document at the same time*, and without any indication that another user is already editing the same document. What do you think happens if two people are making changes to the same document at the same time? If you said, "whoever saves first wins," give yourself a gold star.

Such headaches can be avoided by requiring that users check out a document from a library before making changes. Don't worry, if someone has checked out a given document and is in the process of making changes, a read-only version can still be accessed by other users.

Is it a complicated or laborious process to set up a document library to require check out? Not at all. In fact, setting up a document library to require check out is as simple as selecting a single radio button in the library settings:


To navigate to the above setting, from within the library itself,

• first select Document Library Settings from the Settings dropdown,
• then select the Versioning Settings hyperlink under the General Settings header.
• From there, you'll be presented with the setting options page for the library, and you'll notice that the last option is Require Check Out. Once you're here, all you need to do is switch the defaulted Require Check Out radio button selection from No to Yes (as pictured above),
• click OK at the bottom of the page, and you're all set.

How to hide Meeting Workspace Option in SharePoint Calendar

Use content Editor Webpart and copy following code into source editor, and add this web part to your Calendar's New Item Page [NewForm.aspx]

< type="text/javascript">
var TDs = document.getElementsByTagName("TD");
var i=0;
var tagContent = "";
while (i <>
{
try{tagContent = TDs[i].innerText TDs[i].textContent;
if (tagContent.indexOf("Workspace") == 0 tagContent.indexOf("Workspace") == 3)
{
TDs[i+1].parentNode.removeChild(TDs[i+1]);
TDs[i].parentNode.removeChild(TDs[i]);
}
}
catch(err){}i=i+1;
}
< /script >

SharePoint Server 2010 Preliminary System Requirements

We’ve heard loud and clear that you want system requirements information as early as possible to assist in your budgeting and planning, so today we’re happy to announce (and confirm) some preliminary system requirements for SharePoint Server 2010:

1. SharePoint Server 2010 will be 64-bit only.
2. SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit Windows Server 2008 or 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2.
3. SharePoint Server 2010 will require 64-bit SQL Server 2008 or 64-bit SQL Server 2005.
   

In addition to the requirements listed above we also wanted to share with you some preliminary detail about SharePoint Server 2010 browser compatibility.

To ensure the best possible experience across multiple browsers we’re focusing our SharePoint 2010 engineering efforts on targeting standards based browsers (XHTML 1.0 compliant) including Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.x. running on Windows Operating Systems. In addition we’re planning on an increased level of compatibility with Firefox 3.x and Safari 3.x on non-Windows Operating Systems. Due to this focus Internet Explorer 6 will not be a supported browser for SharePoint Server 2010.

So, what can you do today to get into the best shape for SharePoint Server 2010?

1. Start by ensuring new hardware is 64-bit. Deploying 64-bit is our current best practice recommendation for SharePoint 2007.
2. Deploy Service Pack 2 and take a good look at the SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Checker that’s shipped as part of the update. The Upgrade Checker will scan your SharePoint Server 2007 deployment for many issues that could affect a future upgrade to SharePoint 2010.
3. Get to know Windows Server 2008 with SharePoint 2007, this post is a great starting point.
4. Consider your desktop browser strategy if you have large population of Internet Explorer 6 users.
5. Continue to follow the Best Practices guidance for SharePoint Server 2007.
6. Keep an eye on this blog for updates and more details in the coming months.

Below are a few common Q&A’s (which we’ll add to as required)

Q: What about Internet Explorer 6 and SharePoint 2010 publishing sites?

A: The Web Content Management features built into SharePoint 2010 will provide a deep level of control over the markup and styling of the reader experience. These features will enable customers to design pages that are compatible with additional browsers for viewing content, including Internet Explorer 6. A standards based browser such as Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox 3.x will be required to author content.

Q: Is Internet Explorer 6 officially supported by Microsoft?

A: Official Microsoft Product Support for Internet Explorer 6 follows the lifecycle of the Operating System with which it was shipped. In order for customers to receive product support through the Mainstream Support and Extended Support phases, they need to have installed a supported Service Pack. For example, customers who are using Windows XP must transition to Service Pack 3 by July, 2010 and are eligible to receive support for Internet Explorer 6 until April, 2014.
You can find additional information on Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle Policy including specific dates, product information and support offerings here: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy.

Q: Why are you only supporting the 64-bit versions of SQL Server 2005 or 2008 for SharePoint Server 2010?

A: This decision was based on our current test data for SharePoint Server 2010 and real world experience from customers running SharePoint Server 2007 with 32-bit SQL Server. SharePoint performance and scalability can benefit significantly from 64-bit SQL Server and the throughput increases are significant enough for us to make the difficult decision to only support SharePoint Server 2010 on 64-bit SQL Server 2005 or 2008. It has been our strong recommendation for some time that SharePoint Server 2007 customers take advantage of 64-bit SQL Server due to the inherent performance and scale benefits it can provide.

Q: Where can I find more information on the advantages of 64-bit hardware and guidance on how to migrate SharePoint from 32-bit to 64-bit.

A: These two TechNet articles are a good starting point;
Advantages of 64-bit hardware and software (Office SharePoint Server 2007)
Migrate an existing server farm to a 64-bit environment (Office SharePoint Server 2007)

Adding a new document type and file type icon

To add a document type and type icon, do the following:

1. In the Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\50\Templates\1033\xml directory, open DOCICON.XML.
2. In the middle of the file, find the ByExtension section.
3. For the sake of example, we will add a wav file type and an icon to represent what kind of file it is. Add a line like the following:
4. In the Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\50\Templates\1033\Images directory, add an appropriate icon and call it "icwav.gif".
5. Restart Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).
6. Create a new subweb.
   All sites created from now on will display icwav.gif in document libraries for files that have the .wav extension.
   

Hiding the Web Controls When Printing - example Search Box

The Search box can be hidden, along with other parts of a form you don’t want printed by using styles. This can be done using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer:

• Open the master page in SharePoint Designer
• Add the following style either to a CSS file included in the master page or as a style within the master page itself:

@media print{
.HideForPrinting
{
display:none;
}
}

• Locate the delegate control used to display the search box and add the code shown in italics:

<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id=”PlaceHolderSearchArea” runat=”server”>
<span class=”HideForPrinting”>
<SharePoint:DelegateControl runat=”server” ControlId=”SmallSearchInputBox”/>
</span>
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>

This defines a span that uses the style HideForPriting, the content of which will be hidden when the page is printed.

Health Check Screening of the MOSS Farm

Web Front End Servers

• Check Installed Software through Add/Remove Software and make sure there is no unwanted software installed on the server.
• Check "My Computer" for number of drives, partitions, and used/available space. Add more space if it there is hard disk space problem. Make sure there are additional drives configured for the logs and index files.
• Go to "Task Manager" and check for CPUs, Resource Usage, Network Performance.
• Go to "System" in control panel and check for hardware profiles (RAM, Processor Speed, etc.), Automatic Updates (Make sure its disabled), and Networking Capabilities
• Check IIS Manager - Check for host headers and IP address bindings, SSL settings, App Pool Settings, and App Pool Service Accounts. Put the IIS Logs on the drive other than C.
• Check Event Log for any MOSS errors. Resolve all the critical errors.
  

Central Administration Site - Operations Tab

• Check Servers in farm page - Check for all the SharePoint servers with the same version and patch level
• Check the search service accounts on MOSS Search and WSS Search page, it should be dedicated account, shouldn't be farm admin account
• On the MOSS Search Service for Index role, check for Indexer Performance based on the Number of CPUs on the machine. At minimum, use Partially Reduced
• On the MOSS Search Service for Index role, check WFE Crawling setting - Use all WFE servers for crawling. Do not use Dedicated WFE.
• Make sure only one server is running Index Role in the farm for each SSP
• Make sure WSS Search Service runs only once a day and only one instance of WSS Search Service runs on the farm
• Make sure Outgoing Email Settings are set to the valid exchange/SMTP server
• Check the Timer Job Status page - Check for any failed jobs
• Diagnostic Logging and Usage Analysis Logging - Change the default location to the drive other than C (e.g. F:\logs) and make sure all servers in the farm has a defined drive (e.g. F in this case).
• Check Current License Type - Verify what license is and make sure farm is not running on trial version. This is very crucial to understand what MOSS services are running on the farm.
  

Central Administration Site - Applications Tab

• "Check the Services Enabled in the Farm" section to see any farm configuration errors
• Make sure Web Application URLs and Content Databases has a meaningful name.
• Check the number of Content Databases per web application, site collection created per content databases, and verify round-robin allocations.
  

Content Databases on the SQL Server

• Check the DB size - Shouldn't be more than 100 GB.
• DB Files Properties - Check the Auto Growth Settings - it should be minimum 500 MB or 1 GB.
• Transaction Log Files Properties - Check the log file size. It shouldn't be large. Shouldn't be more than 4-5 GB. If it's too large, backup and shrink the logs, set the Auto Growth settings to reasonable settings.
  

Shared Service Provider: SSP

• SSP Edit Page - Index files location other than C drive, Check for the SSP service accounts, and shouldn't be farm admin accounts
• Search - Check Crawl Schedules and Crawl Log Errors. Make sure Crawl Schedules won't overlap.
• User Profiles - Verify the Profile Source and Check the Crawl Schedules

Now SharePoint Designer available as a free download

Wow !!! good news about SharePoint Designer 2007. Starting now (April 2, 2009), SharePoint Designer 2007 will be available as a free download! Microsoft want more of you customizing SharePoint and feel that this a good way to put the tool in the hands of more people.

a) Letter to our Customers
b) Frequently Asked Questions
c) Free Download

Also, make sure to watch this YouTube video where Tom Rizzo and J.R. Arredondo discuss these changes and provide some insights into what is coming in the future. Or if you prefer to download the video, just pick the appropriate version for your bandwidth in the list below:
· Small size video (6MB)
· Medium size video (17 MB)
· Large size video (83 MB)