SharePoint Summit Toronto - Practical Information Architecture Tools and Techniques
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SharePoint Summit Toronto - Practical Information Architecture Tools and Techniques
- 1. Practical Tools and Techniques for the SharePoint Information Architect #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Facilitated By: Richard Harbridge and Ruven Gotz
- 2. Who am I?
- 3. SPTechCon The SharePoint Technology Conference SPTechCon The SharePoint Technology Conference
- 10. The people stuff is complex
- 11. How do we build the best solution?
- 12. How do we define the problem?
- 13. We are here to share some ideas
- 14. … and give you some tools
- 15. Still not easy
- 16. Proven success
- 18. 20 Take Away: Improved Communication
- 19. 21 Take Away: Knowledge You Can Use
- 20. Our Goal Today… From Here To Here
- 21. What We Will Cover Today: 1. Why is SharePoint IA so difficult? 2. Visualizing and Communicating SharePoint Concepts 3. Making Information Architecture Decisions 4. Case Study Approach (Implementing SharePoint IA) 5. Information Architecture Tips and Tricks
- 22. What We Won’t Cover (In Depth) Today: 1. Governance (not enough time today… ) 2. Records Management (and Information Policies) 3. Search Architecture and Considerations 4. Planning For Multiple Languages 5. Column Decisions (Choice Column vs Managed Metadata Column vs Lookup Column etc…) 6. Audience Targeting
- 23. Why is SharePoint IA so difficult?
- 24. It started out simple
- 25. Then it grew
- 26. Then it got TOTALLY out of control!!
- 27. What is the best approach to use when working with SharePoint?
- 29. Why Iterative? SharePoint is a very large platform. It takes time to understand SharePoint. SharePoint is great for rapid prototyping, and for proof of concept work. It ensures there is enough time to review, adjust, and communicate.
- 30. How people think it works… Image from Paul Culmsee
- 31. How it really works… Image from Paul Culmsee
- 32. #SPSMI @RHarbridge SharePoint is not a Silver Bullet… SharePoint is not a Silver Bullet at NothingButSharePoint.com
- 33. Utilized by Business Users to develop and implement business solutions that use technology without IT’s direct involvement. Our primary unified application delivery platform. Our primary workflow/business process automation platform. Our intranet and communication center for internal corporate communications. … SharePoint will be… Our (external) web content management platform. Our primary document management platform. Our contact management platform. … SharePoint will not be…
- 34. Foundation Standard Enterprise SharePoint has Multiple Options 2007 2010 Online On Site
- 38. Centralize Knowledge and Resources Enhance Collaboration Automate and Improve Business Processes Enhance Governance Model Reduce Redundancy and Improve Efficiency Centralize Knowledge and Resources Centralize - 2 Centralize – 1 Centralize – 2 Centralize – 0 Enhance Collaboration Improve BP - 2 Governance – 2 Redundancy – 2 Automate and Improve Business Processes Governance – 1 Redundancy – 1 Enhance Governance Model Redundancy – 1 Reduce Redundancy and Improve Efficiency Ensure Clear Priorities Objective Weight Importance Centralize 5 35.71% Collaboration 0 0% Improve BP 2 14.29% Governance 3 21.43% Redundancy 4 28.57%
- 39. HR Onboarding Solutions • Onboarding Workflow • Onboarding Electronic Forms • Integration with HRIS • New Employee Site
- 40. Map Solutions to Objectives HR Employee Files HR Onboarding Absence Management Centralize Knowledge and Resources HR Self Service Adjust Site Structure and Taxonomy Onboarding Workflow Onboarding Electronic Forms Integration With HRIS New Employee Site Document Capture Automation Direct Relationship Indirect Relationship * Objectives/solutions should be more specific – Example purposes only.
- 41. SharePoint Solutions (Evolution) *Super Simplified Business Intelligence Driven Business Process Driven Collaboration Driven Information Driven Communication Collaboration Workflow/ Auditing Reporting Dashboards
- 42. The Outcome Effective prioritized objectives are foundational for avoiding prioritization paralysis or understanding capacity.
- 43. What to watch out for… Watch out for the ‘platitude’ trap and make certain you manage expectations accordingly.
- 45. What makes something a requirement?
- 46. We can do that for $10
- 47. We can do that for $1 Million
- 48. SharePoint chicken & egg problem
- 53. Agenda • About the Project , Our Team & Goals • SharePoint Overview • Department and Role • Document Collaboration • Document Storage and Search • Compliance, Records Management & Off-line • Questions
- 54. About the Project, Our Team & Goals About this Project – Determine the requirements and scope for a SharePoint implementation at ABC Corp. Our Team – Alison Andrews – Project Manager – Bob Baker – Technical Architect – Carol Conrad – SharePoint Analyst – Don Drummond – Infrastructure Analyst Workshop Goals – Set expectations – Gather your input – Keep it to an hour (+ optional half-hour for further questions)
- 55. SharePoint 2007 Overview Collaboration Portal Search Enterprise Content Management Business Process and Forms Business Intelligence Documents/tasks/calendars, blogs, wikis, e-mail integration, project management “lite,” Outlook integration, offline documents/lists Virtual Teams/Global Teams Enterprise Portal template, Site Directory, My Sites, social networking, privacy control Enterprise scalability, contextual relevance, rich search for people and business data Integrated document management, records management, and Web content management with policies and workflow OOB workflows, WF integration, rich and Web forms– based front-ends, LOB actions, pluggable SSO Server-based Microsoft Office Excel® spreadsheets and data visualization, Report Center, business intelligence Web Parts, KPIs/Dashboards Platform Services Workspaces, Mgmt, Security, Storage, Topology, Site Model
- 56. SharePoint 2010 Overview Ribbon UI SharePoint Workspace SharePoint Mobile Office Client and Office Web App Integration Standards Support Intranet, Extranet, Team Collaboration Tagging, Tag Cloud, Ratings Social Bookmarking Blogs and Wikis My Sites Activity Feeds Profiles and Expertise Org Browser Enterprise Content Types Metadata and Navigation Document Sets Multi-stage Disposition Audio and Video Content Types Remote Blob Storage List Enhancements Organizing Information Social Relevance Phonetic Search Navigation FAST Integration Enhanced Pipeline Search PerformancePoint Services Excel Services Chart Web Part Visio Services Web Analytics SQL Server Integration PowerPivot Business Intelligence Business Connectivity Services InfoPath Form Services External Lists Workflow SharePoint Designer Visual Studio API Enhancements REST/ATOM/RSS Building complex solutions on top of SharePoint
- 57. Department and Role Please introduce yourself: • Name • Department • What is your role within your department? • How do you interact with technology to do your job? • How does the current technology help you (or hinder you) from doing your job?
- 58. Document Collaboration • Do you work on documents with others? – How do you collaborate (e-mail, shared drive) ? • What document types do you create? – Which programs do you use? • Do your documents require multiple reviews and edits? Is approval required? – How do you implement the required workflow? • How do you get the final information out to the audience that needs it? – Do you publish PDF’s? – How are they distributed/posted?
- 59. Document Storage and Search • Can you find the documents that you need, when you need them? – Does your shared drive folder hierarchy work well? – How long does it take to find a document? At what point do you give up? • When you create a document, do you know where it should be saved? – Are documents saved in more than one location to ease retrieval? • Does search work well? – What features would you like to see in search that would make it better for you and your team.
- 60. Compliance, Records Management & Off-line • Do you have any regulatory requirements that you need to meet? – ISO 9000 – Sarbanes-Oxley – Bill 198 • How are records management policies implemented? – Are there specific policies for document retention and destruction. • Do you have a need for off-line access? – Do you travel off-site for your work – Do you need to work when you are disconnected from the network.
- 61. Questions
- 63. How do you scale this? Send a questionnaire/survey before the meeting… You have three primary goals: • Get people excited enough to respond in the survey/questionnaire. • Evangelize a better way of doing things. • Better understand people’s needs/pain points.
- 65. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Simple Scenarios Are Your Best Friend
- 68. When To Demo SharePoint When you need help scoping requirements and managing expectations. When you need help building awareness. When validating requirements and solution approaches. When you want to get people excited! When Not To Demo SharePoint When you haven’t identified any of the audiences needs. When you aren’t familiar with the tool/feature set being demonstrated.
- 69. The Outcome Using workshops, facilitation and by engaging the business you will define, prioritize, and phase SharePoint requirements.
- 70. What to watch out for… Without clear requirements, prioritization and the right expectations being set SharePoint projects won’t scale well.
- 71. Visualizing and Communicating IA Concepts
- 73. Data about data
- 74. What is Metadata? I think I get it Oh! Now I see (Mostly) What is Metadata? I think I get it The BIG Question
- 75. What’s a
- 76. Let’s use a
- 77. What does a cow say?
- 78. What does a chicken say?
- 79. What does a duck say?
- 80. The sounds these animals make are attributes that distinguish them
- 81. Example from Yoav Lurie • Prince • Pop/Rock • 1984
- 83. Adapted from the “pea soup” story by Serge Tremblay
- 86. What is our Base Metaphor for files?
- 88. What if we saw this?
- 89. Better…
- 91. Hire an intern
- 95. Not this! or this… What is Taxonomy?
- 97. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Carl Linnaeus (1751)
- 98. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy
- 99. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Superclass
- 100. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Class
- 101. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Order
- 102. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Suborder
- 103. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Family
- 104. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Subfamily
- 105. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Genus
- 106. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Squirrels Mice Mice & Rats Hamsters and Voles Real Hamsters Short-tailed dwarf hamsters Djungarian dwarf hampsters Roborovski Hamster Long-tailed dwarf hamsters Voles Gerbils Porcupines Guinea Pigs Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Taxonomy Species
- 107. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Shared Drive Zoo X: Production Sales & Marketing Marketing Commercial Industrial Government Healthcare Labs Hospitals Private Public Large Urban Not Associated University Rural Medium Small Clinics Mobile Sales Web Design Newsletter Social Taxonomy
- 108. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Linnaeus vs Buffon Everything can be organized based on a standard! Nay! Each person can organize things based on their own context! Arrangement is key! Arrangement and categorization provides universal context! Context is key! Everything can be organized by multiple facets!
- 109. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Arrangement and Context Wholesale Warehouse Department Store Taskonomy?
- 110. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Class Supercla Order Animal Kingdom Invertebrates Vertebrates Mammals Predators Primates Whales Rodents Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds What if I want to find an animal by if it lives in water? Or by whether it flies? Perfect! Arrangement Challenges
- 111. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG As we’ve already seen: This always works out great This is a common result…
- 112. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG X Drive Challenges X: Production Sales & Marketing Marketing Commercial Industrial Government Healthcare Sales Web Design Newsletter Social Perfect! What if I want to find a marketing document by region and not industry? Could this be solved by using metadata so that the document could be found by both region and industry?
- 113. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Shared Drive Zoo X: Production Sales & Marketing Marketing Major Hospitals Commercial Industrial Government Healthcare Labs Hospitals Private Public Large Urban Not Associated University Rural Medium Small Clinics Mobile Colleges Big Small Sales Web Design Newsletter Social
- 114. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Moving this mess to SharePoint makes it worse
- 116. The #1 rule of SharePoint? Never use folders Except when it makes sense ever
- 117. Folders for Security Permissions assigned per folder
- 118. Folders in SP2010 – They’re back! • Combine metadata and folders • Best of both worlds
- 119. A SharePoint Taxonomy If only there was a way content could be organized so content could be found/viewed in multiple ways… I like it!
- 120. Customer Type • Lab • Hospital • Clinic • Mobile Sector • Private • Public Size • Large • Medium • Small Location • Urban • Rural University • Yes • No Metadata I like it!
- 121. Adding Metadata (when uploading)
- 123. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG What is metadata?
- 124. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG What is Taxonomy?
- 125. What are content types?
- 126. Name _________ Emp. # _________ Date _________ Dates Requested: From __________ To: __________ Manager ________ Approved Y/N Name _________ Emp. # _________ Date _________ Drug Used: Name __________ Cost: $ _________ Manager ________ Approved Y/N Vacation Request Drug Reimbursement
- 127. Both Content Types in One Library
- 129. The Outcome Shared Understanding of Metadata’s Importance and Usage to Improve ‘Findability’ and Information Utility.
- 130. What to watch out for… People Must Understand The Value Of Metadata, Or They Will Reject The Idea.
- 131. Tools For The Information Architect
- 132. Same Page
- 133. Abstract
- 134. Concrete
- 136. Navigation workshops
- 137. Navigational Map
- 138. Navigation Systems • Global navigation • Local navigation • Breadcrumbs/Up One Level Control • Contextual navigation • Supplemental navigation – Sitemap – A-Z Index – Guides
- 139. What is Card Sorting?
- 140. “Card sorting is a great, reliable, inexpensive method for finding patterns in how users would expect to find content or functionality.” - Donna Spencer http://www.amazon.com/Card-Sorting-ebook/dp/B004VFUOL0
- 141. Why use Card Sorting? • Card sorting can help you identify trends – Do the users want to see the information grouped by subject, process, business group, or information type? – How similar are the needs of the different user groups? – How many potential main categories are there? • What should those groups be called?
- 142. Types of Card Sorting • Open Card Sorting – Participants are given cards showing site content with no pre-established groupings. • Closed Card Sorting – Participants are given cards showing site content with an established initial set of primary groups.
- 143. Open card sorting process Gerbil
- 144. Results Gerbil
- 145. But not always what you expect Ford Gerbil
- 146. But not always what you expect Ford Gerbil
- 147. Analysis http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/analyzing_card_sort_results_with_a_ spreadsheet_template
- 148. Advantages of Card Sorting • Simple • Cheap • Quick to execute • Established • Involves users • Provides a good foundation
- 149. Disadvantages of Sorting • Does not consider users’ tasks • Results may vary • Analysis can be time consuming • May capture “surface” characteristics only
- 151. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Analyze Existing Content • What type of content is it? • How is the content organized today? • What is the purpose of the content? • Who is the author of the content? • What format is the content in? • Who uses the content? • Where is the content currently located?
- 154. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Use Survey Tools! Compiling results from 20 to 50 participants using excel sheets/hand outs can be painful. If you expect many responses use a survey tool instead.
- 156. Build the Taxonomy
- 157. Build Mind Map (based on inventory worksheet)
- 158. The Outcome Using visual tools provides shared understanding, which is a crucial driver of shared commitment to a goal.
- 159. What to watch out for… Workshops become much more interactive; more people are actively involved which leads to greater shared commitment and understanding.
- 162. Balsamiq
- 163. Common Intranet Components Component Name Purpose Message from the President/Owner/Founder Informative News and Announcements Informative Blog Updates Informative Wiki Updates Informative System Status Informative Upcoming Events/Calendar Informative New Hires/Arrivals Informative Employee Anniversaries/Milestones/Years of Service Informative Recent Departures/Retirements Informative Videos Informative Photos Informative Podcasts Informative Stock Quotes Informative Stock Chart? Informative Weather Informative World Clocks/Office Time Informative Employee Spotlight Informative Contacts Informative Recent Discussions Informative Quick Links/Shortcuts/ Navigation Site Map Navigation Tag Cloud Navigation Search Box (Employee Search, Intranet Search, Etc) Navigation Polls Feedback Provide Feedback Feedback Component Name Purpose Email This Page Sharing Print This Page Sharing Search Tips Informative New Job Openings/Postings Informative Quick Start to Services Navigation How do I/Training/Learning Materials Informative Advertisements Informative New Messages/Notes Informative Availability Dashboard Informative Upcoming Calls/Web Meetings Informative Recent Questions and Recent Answers Informative Community Spotlight/Highlight Informative Site/Department/Team Spotlight/Highlight Informative Inspiring Quote Informative Highlighted/Urgent/Past Due Tasks Informative Most Viewed Content Informative Most Recently Contributed Content Informative Recently Added Projects Informative Survey Feedback Bookmarked Content Informative Top Searches Informative Discounts (Organizational for Retail) Informative Sales Goals Informative Visitors/People Out Of Office Informative Phone List Informative
- 164. Balsamiq DEMO
- 166. Visio 2010 Demo
- 167. Common Intranet Processes • Absence Reporting and Vacation Scheduling • Expense Reimbursement • Equipment and Room Reservation and Management • Meeting Planning and Management • Policy Review and Approval • Booking Travel • Interview Management and Hiring Processes • Training Sign Up and Management • Event Planning • Change Request Management • Timecard/Time Tracking • Product Planning • Help Desk Ticket Management • Compliance Support • Contacts Management • Inventory Tracking • Lending Tracking • Sales Lead Pipeline
- 168. Roadmap
- 171. Governance and IA? Home Page Functional Areas Department Site – “Public” Department Team Site – “Private” Project/Initiative Team Sites Personal Sites– My Sites “PUBLIC” SITES: Open to all employees TEAM SITES: Generally open to team members Tightly controlled, formal governance Looser control, less formal governance Some control, some formal governance “PRIVATE” SITES: Open to business group members Animated Slide Provider: Susan Hanley
- 172. Recommended Approach
- 173. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Incorporate Feedback Planning Couldn’t Find What You Were Looking For? Let Us Know (On Search Pages) Do You Like The New Homepage Design? Click I Like It or Leave A Note! (Simple front end code/webparts means users don’t even have to go to the ribbon.) Intranet Design or Improvement Contests Want More? Give Users a Bookmark Feature and Analyze User BookmarksBlog New Features/Changes and Encourage Comments Provide Feedback Button & Custom List How about a site review process where you encourage feedback?
- 174. SharePoint Containment Hierarchy Documents, Items and Pages Folders and Document Sets Libraries and Lists Sites Site Collections Databases Web Applications Servers Farm What we care about from an information architecture perspective.
- 175. SharePoint Containment Hierarchy Metadata Item Documents, Events, Pages, Custom Item, Image, etc. Folders and Document Sets Lists Doc Libraries, Pages, Calendars, Discussions, Surveys, etc. Sites Team Sites, Publishing Sites, Meeting Workspaces, etc. Site Collections
- 176. Site Collection or Site (Subsite)? OR
- 177. Site Collection
- 178. Site Collection
- 179. When To Use A Site Collection
- 180. When To Use A Site Collection
- 181. When To Use A Site Collection
- 182. When To Use A Site Collection
- 183. When To Use A Site Collection
- 184. When To Use A Site Collection
- 185. When To Use A Site Collection Site Collection 1 Site Collection 2 Webparts & Aggregation Webparts & Aggregation Masterpages & Page Layouts Masterpages & Page Layouts Search Across Site Collection Boundaries Navigation Navigation
- 186. When To Use A Site Collection Group A Group B Group C Collection Admin A Collection Admin B Group Y Group Z Collection Admin Y Collection Admin Z Site Collection 1 Site Collection 2
- 187. Purpose of a List? • To Replace Excel Spreadsheets • To Track Complex Input From Multiple People • To Centralize Storage and Retrieval of Content • To Provide Validation, Easy To Use Online Forms • To Reduce Duplication of Effort
- 188. One List or Multiple Lists? OR
- 189. When To Use a Single List • You want to simplify viewing the same set of items. (When dispersed across many lists it requires additional effort to aggregate the lists). • You want to search for items in the same location. (When dispersed across many lists it requires additional effort to configure search scopes). • You want to easily apply consistent versioning, approval, metadata or form settings. • You want to receive consolidated updates on the collection of items (alerts or RSS).
- 190. When To Use Multiple Lists • You don’t expect people to need summaries of the items together. (When dispersed across many lists it requires additional effort to aggregate the lists). • You need to apply different versioning, approval, metadata, or form settings. • You want to distribute management of versioning, metadata, workflows or form settings. • You do not need to receive consolidated updates (alerts or RSS).
- 191. Advanced Uses Of Lists
- 192. Calendar or Calendar View? Capabilities Calendar list Calendar view Supports direct creation and editing of calendar entries. Yes No Supports calendar overlays and group calendars. Yes Doesn't apply Supports future dates without requiring creation of a stub. Yes No Can view future dates once 'stubs' are created in the library or list. Doesn't apply Yes List or library updates affect the calendar. No Yes Calendar updates affect the list or library. Yes Not typically Simplest option if you already have a list that includes a date option. Yes http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/Blogs/GetThePoint/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=554
- 193. One Library or Multiple Libraries? OR
- 194. When To Use a Single Library • You want to simplify viewing the same set of documents. (When dispersed across many libraries it requires additional effort to aggregate the libraries). • You want to search for documents in the same location. (When dispersed across many libraries it requires additional effort to configure search scopes). • You want to easily apply consistent versioning, approval, metadata or form settings. • You want to receive consolidated updates on the collection of documents (alerts or RSS).
- 195. When To Use Multiple Libraries • You don’t expect people to need summaries of the documents together. (When dispersed across many libraries it requires additional effort to aggregate the libraries). • You need to apply different versioning, approval, metadata, or form settings. • You want to distribute management of versioning, metadata, workflows or form settings. • You do not need to receive consolidated updates (alerts or RSS).
- 196. Require Check Out or Don’t? OR
- 197. How do we do it? • Library tab • Library settings
- 198. Require Check Out?
- 199. Require Check Out?
- 200. Require Check Out? Not Enabled By Default
- 201. Require Check Out? When enabled bulk uploading or explorer view additions are checked out by default. Pro?
- 202. Require Check Out? Work Around: Navigate to Manage Content and Structure and then to the library. Select all of the documents and choose Check In from the action menu.
- 203. Require Check Out? You cannot edit multiple documents in datasheet view.
- 204. Require Check Out? Work Around: By turning the require check out option off we can make edits in the data sheet view temporarily and then re-active require check out.
- 205. Require Check Out? Workflows and code must check the file out before being able to update it/it’s metadata.
- 206. Require Check Out? When required check out is enabled ‘storing files to local drafts’ is an enabled option.
- 207. Require Check Out? Co-Authoring is disabled on libraries where check out is required.
- 208. • Office 2007 and Office 2010 let’s the user know it is being used by someone else. • This eventually times out. (15 mins on XP – 60 mins on Vista/Win7) • Other formats don't notify user. Don’t Require Check Out?
- 209. Require Check Out? • You do not need to co-author documents. • You do not need to bulk update metadata. • There is typically a high number of people updating the documents in this library. • Updates are made frequently to the same documents by different people.
- 210. • You do need to co-author documents. • You do need to bulk update metadata. • There are few people updating documents in this library. • Updates are not made frequently to the same documents by different people. Don’t Require Check Out?
- 211. List and Content Type Tip!
- 212. Default Content Types and Metadata Values
- 213. Navigating with Metadata Tip!
- 214. Navigating with Metadata, not Folders
- 215. Set up with Library Settings
- 216. Configure Setttings
- 217. Filters the list
- 219. Content Organizer and Routing
- 220. Configure the router
- 222. Configure settings
- 223. Create Rules
- 224. Create/Modify Rules
- 226. Use the Drop-off Library
- 227. Add a document
- 228. Enter Metadata
- 231. Back to Drop-off library
- 232. Your document was moved
- 233. Rules don’t apply…
- 234. … it doesn’t get moved
- 236. The #1 rule of SharePoint? Never use folders Except when it makes sense ever
- 237. What’s wrong with folders? • Deep structures hard to navigate • Finding stuff is hard • Figuring out where to put stuff is even harder • Stuck with a rigid structure • Search is not the silver bullet
- 240. Metadata = No more folders • Filtering • Views
- 241. Really? No more folders? Ever? • What situations would you use folders? • Subdivide large libraries/lists • Security/Permissions This is a favourite of mine • Ease of use for users Really? No more folders?Really?
- 242. Downsides of Metadata • No free lunch (there is pain here) • Awful architectural choices to make – Multiple site collections • Good Practice • Bad for Metadata • Maintenance headache – Can be mitigated • Define at top level if possible
- 243. Folders for easy permissions • Create folder • Set permissions • Create view without folders • Easy for users (they only see what they are supposed to)
- 244. Folders and Default Values
- 246. The Sales document library
- 247. Drill down into Military folder
- 248. Drill down into Air-to-Ground
- 249. Add a new document here
- 250. Note: Some metadata prefilled
- 251. How did we do that? • Library tab • Library settings
- 252. Column default value settings
- 253. Select a folder and set defaults • Note folder inheritance
- 254. Set the default value
- 255. in SharePoint 2010 • Managed Metadata Service • Share Metadata across site collections • Multilingual Metadata (big gotcha ) • Hierarchical Metadata • Navigate via Metadata (already discussed) • Keywords/Folksonomy (Out of scope today) • Folders can assign default metadata (already discussed)
- 257. Adding Terms
- 258. Turn off “Available for Tagging” • Add sub elements: Proposal, Quote, Invoice • Leave “Available for Tagging checked”
- 259. Term Store Manager • Painful & Slow • Needs a better way • I created a ‘toy’ to try out some ideas • http://bit.ly/ruveng-mmts – Article links to other solutions (Excel)
- 261. CSV file for Import to Term Store
- 262. To Sum Up… • SharePoint 2007 – Folders BAAAAD! – Never use them – Except when the situation warrants • SharePoint 2010 – Folders GOOOOD! – Never use them – Except when the situation warrants
- 263. Folder or Document Set? OR
- 264. Folders vs. Document Sets Document Sets vs Folders
- 265. Document Sets Document Sets vs Folders
- 266. Folders and Default Values
- 267. Folders vs. Document Sets Document Sets vs Folders
- 268. Folders vs. Document Sets Document Sets vs Folders
- 269. Folders vs. Document Sets Document Sets vs Folders
- 270. Folders vs. Document Sets Document Sets vs Folders
- 271. Folders vs. Document Sets Document Sets vs Folders
- 272. Folders vs. Document Sets Document Library Document Folder Document Document Folder Folder Document Document Set Document Folder Folder Document Set Document Document
- 273. Sites vs Pages? • See this great whitepaper by Susan Hanley and Scott Jamison http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/det ails.aspx?id=12500
- 274. The Outcome You need to understand all of the SharePoint objects, their limitations, and their benefits to make effective decisions.
- 275. What to watch out for… There is always a trade off and all information architecture decisions should be constantly re-evaluated.
- 276. Putting it all Together (a case study approach)
- 277. Introducing multiMEGA Industries The world’s leading supplier of Missiles, Produce and Soap
- 278. They Want A SharePoint Intranet!
- 279. Find and Involve Stakeholders
- 280. Educate Stakeholders Context UsersContent Metadata Item Documents, Events, Pages, Custom Item, Image, etc. Folders and Document Sets Lists Doc Libraries, Pages, Calendars, Discussions, Surveys, etc. Sites Team Sites, Publishing Sites, Meeting Workspaces, etc. Site Collections
- 281. Define and Prioritize Objectives
- 283. Map Solutions to Objectives Centralize Knowledge and Resources Enhance Collaboration Automate and Improve Business Processes Enhance Governance Model Reduce Redundancy and Improve Efficiency Adjust Site Structure and Taxonomy Migrate File Shares Create Dashboards Implement Workflow Solutions Configure Search Services Branding Direct Relationship Indirect Relationship * Objectives/solutions should be more specific – Example purposes only.
- 284. Roadmap
- 285. Navigation Workshops
- 287. Build Mind Map (based on inventory worksheet)
- 288. Common Intranet Processes • Absence Reporting and Vacation Scheduling • Expense Reimbursement • Equipment and Room Reservation and Management • Meeting Planning and Management • Policy Review and Approval • Booking Travel • Interview Management and Hiring Processes • Training Sign Up and Management • Event Planning • Change Request Management • Timecard/Time Tracking • Product Planning • Help Desk Ticket Management • Compliance Support • Contacts Management • Inventory Tracking • Lending Tracking • Sales Lead Pipeline
- 290. Structured Approach for Navigation Original Concept – 5 Steps to Structure SharePoint Sites
- 292. Common Intranet Components Component Name Purpose Message from the President/Owner/Founder Informative News and Announcements Informative Blog Updates Informative Wiki Updates Informative System Status Informative Upcoming Events/Calendar Informative New Hires/Arrivals Informative Employee Anniversaries/Milestones/Years of Service Informative Recent Departures/Retirements Informative Videos Informative Photos Informative Podcasts Informative Stock Quotes Informative Stock Chart? Informative Weather Informative World Clocks/Office Time Informative Employee Spotlight Informative Contacts Informative Recent Discussions Informative Quick Links/Shortcuts/ Navigation Site Map Navigation Tag Cloud Navigation Search Box (Employee Search, Intranet Search, Etc) Navigation Polls Feedback Provide Feedback Feedback Component Name Purpose Email This Page Sharing Print This Page Sharing Search Tips Informative New Job Openings/Postings Informative Quick Start to Services Navigation How do I/Training/Learning Materials Informative Advertisements Informative New Messages/Notes Informative Availability Dashboard Informative Upcoming Calls/Web Meetings Informative Recent Questions and Recent Answers Informative Community Spotlight/Highlight Informative Site/Department/Team Spotlight/Highlight Informative Inspiring Quote Informative Highlighted/Urgent/Past Due Tasks Informative Most Viewed Content Informative Most Recently Contributed Content Informative Recently Added Projects Informative Survey Feedback Bookmarked Content Informative Top Searches Informative Discounts (Organizational for Retail) Informative Sales Goals Informative Visitors/People Out Of Office Informative Phone List Informative
- 293. Identify Key Pages
- 294. Mockup Key Pages
- 295. #SPSummit @RHarbridge @RuvenG Improve Usability
- 296. The Outcome A well planned information architecture approach will lead to better results.
- 297. What to watch out for… Iterative improvements are necessary and should leverage a model like the one we just walked through.
- 298. Thank You Organizers, Sponsors and You for Making this Possible. Questions? Ideas? Feedback? Contact us: Twitter: @RuvenG & @RHarbridge Blogs: spinsiders.com/RuvenG & RHarbridge.com Email us: RuvenG@Navantis.com & Richard@RHarbridge.com Resources: http://www.PracticalIntranet.com
- 299. Information Architecture Tips and Tricks
- 300. Make it easier to work with
- 301. Make it easier to work with Powerful Columns You Probably Didn’t Know About
- 302. Make it easier to work with Why Leveraging SharePoint Blog Features for News is a Great Idea
- 303. Choice vs Lookup Column • Susan Hanley – At it again! http://cloud.snappages.com/b8898dc2c08e13 7d03449de65b9e82e108c15658/Choice_v_Lo okup_Column_Tradeoffs.pdf
- 304. Time Challenges in SharePoint Projects
- 306. Giving Estimates Two Simple Tricks For Making Better Estimates Never Give a Single Number 6 Hours! At least 2 hours… 4 hours maybe? How Long Will X Take You? 16? Way too much. 8 Tops. I better pick something in between… Forgotten/Not Shared Now That We Have Our Magic Number
- 307. Always Give Ranged Estimates Two Simple Tricks For Making Better Estimates Ranged Estimates Help Communicate Confidence and Set Expectations 2-8 Hours!
- 308. Are You Confident In That Range? Two Simple Tricks For Making Better Estimates 2-8
- 309. Are You Confident In That Range? Two Simple Tricks For Making Better Estimates ORWithin Range Actual Result OVERCONFIDENT
- 310. Are You Confident In That Range? Two Simple Tricks For Making Better Estimates ORWithin Range Actual Result LESS CONFIDENT
- 311. Are You Confident In That Range? Two Simple Tricks For Making Better Estimates ORWithin Range Actual Result 90% Confident
- 312. Give 90% Confident Ranged Estimates Two Simple Tricks For Making Better Estimates 2-8 Hours! Within Range =
- 313. Visualizing Timelines An easy way to create shared understanding of the impact estimates make on projects.
- 314. Visualizing Existing Timelines A great way to take existing project timelines and set stakeholder expectations or communicate impact of changes.
- 315. The Outcome Using an Iterative Approach keep learning impact in mind, use Visio Timelines to foster shared understanding and commitment.
- 316. What to watch out for… Expectation is the timeline killer. If everyone has the same expectations then the timeline is never ‘off’.
- 317. IBIS Dialog Mapping
- 318. Productivity Hub
- 319. IUseSharePoint Download and install the ‘lunch’ and learn module - an interesting idea.
- 321. AD Groups or SharePoint Groups? OR
- 322. Advantages Disadvantages SharePoint Group • Not reliant on AD (if your AD is a mess) • Distributed ownership and management options • Managed by users • Can be managed by the SharePoint Object Model • Members of these groups are visible to users in SharePoint. • Only used in SharePoint • Managed by (potentially) untrained users • One more place to manage security (independent of AD) • Cannot contain another SharePoint group as a member. Active Directory Group • Managed by domain administrators • Available in many systems • Centralized management and easier removal • Difficult to determine permissions assigned to people • Requires lots of planning • Members of these groups are not visible in SharePoint. • User can only be a member of 1024 AD groups (recursively). SharePoint Groups vs AD Groups
- 326. Targeted Code New in SharePoint 2010 SPRoleAssignmentCollection.AddToCurrentScopeOnly
- 327. The Outcome There are many ways that we can improve usability of SharePoint and as a result improve our Information Architecture.
- 328. What to watch out for… Tips and Tricks are not enough to ensure successful Information Architecture.
- 329. Thank You Organizers, Sponsors and You for Making this Possible. Questions? Ideas? Feedback? Contact us: Twitter: @RuvenG & @RHarbridge Blogs: spinsiders.com/RuvenG & RHarbridge.com Email us: RuvenG@Navantis.com & Richard@RHarbridge.com Resources: http://www.PracticalIntranet.com
Editor's Notes
- My dedication to you before I begin. By the end of this you will have gained 3 things. It might be new knowledge, it might be a new method but you MUST gain 3 things by the end. If you don’t my first challenge to you is to stalk me, hunt me down and make sure you get 3 things from me. Because I owe you 3 things! This is meant to help you.
- [ANIMATED]
- [ANIMATED]
- [ANIMATED]
- Why are we here? We have a common goal: To implement a successful SharePoint Project
- But… SharePoint is huge
- And very complicated, with lots of moving parts
- Even more complicated than SharePoint is people, and their moving parts (i.e. the way they think, their allegiances, their perceived roles within the organization)
- We’re trying to find the best solution
- But to do that, we need to know to best define the problem
- We are here to share some ideas
- … and give you some tools
- These are not magic bullets: You will still experience frustrations and difficulties along the way
- But everything we’ll show you has worked for us and helped us to deliver successful projects in the past.
- My goal for you: Ability to move forward confidently, knowing that you have increased your chances of delivering a solution that really works for your customers.
- The techniques and tools we show you will help you communicate with your stakeholders in ways that keep you and them committed to the same goals and on the same page = prerequisites for success
- Practical, proven advice that will guide you in your project
- Speak to Owen Allen (creator of this map) for details on this
- Meaning to re-work slide – for HR onboarding example.
- Requirements is NOT the right word to use here (but you have to because your clients and stakeholders expect it). (Sue Hanley first pointed this out to me.)
- Because I said so, and I’m the customer. If you don’t include my requirement, I’ll shoot! One of my biggest jobs as a SharePoint BA is to manage this desire. My three rules of SharePoint: Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity
- What if we say: We can do that for $10. Client says: Go for it!
- What if we say: We can do that… for $1 Million. Client says: Wait a sec – maybe we can think of some alternatives (Hey! Maybe it’s no longer a ‘requirement’)
- What would you like SharePoint to do? Well, what can it do? Tons! Let me show you What do I need that for? Well, it depends… what do you want it for? Well, it LOOKS cool – sure: I want it.
- Favorite phrase: If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will get you there.
- But First: DO NOT DEMO SharePoint Confuses people Sets unreasonable expectations
- The focus here needs to be on pain points and outcomes: NOT Requirements Try to stick to one team at a time 3 – 8 people is ideal – up to 12-15 can work. Need to make sure you hear from everyone Don’t let manager dominate Make SURE you get front-line workers, not just managers Book 1.5 hours – plan on an hour and a bit. People love some extra un-booked time at the end.
- The following slides are a sample deck that I use in workshops
- Most people hate the pie, but I like to use it to set scope ARM WRESTLE WITH RICHARD ON THIS ONE?
- Now, it’s ok to build a demo: Use their language, colors, logo Show ‘day in the life’ type scenario
- What would you like SharePoint to do? Well, what can it do? Tons! Let me show you What do I need that for? Well, it depends… what do you want it for? Well, it LOOKS cool – sure: I want it.
- Everyone knows…
- It’s “Data about Data” as Einstein proved all those years ago
- I won’t tell you yet but… It is an iterative process – you won’t understand it right away, but you will circle in towards understanding over time [ANIMATED]
- Metadata is a new concept for many Use of metaphors to explain the concepts
- Metadata is a new concept for many Use of metaphors to explain the concepts
- Ok, so that was goofing around – now let’s get serious.
- The music is the content You can know a lot of facts about the album: Prince Pop/Rock 1984 You can know all the facts, but it doesn’t substitute for the content (the music) (Purple Rain example originally suggested by Yoav Lurie)
- How do you sort CD’s Artist? Title? Year? Genre? Colour? You have to decide up-front – and stick to it –because the objects are physical
- What if the store was full of unlabeled tin cans? You would need to open every can to see if had what you wanted (Tin can example originally suggested by Serge Tremblay)
- Now we don’t need to open each can, but they are all in a jumble and you have to pick up each can to check if has what you want.
- Items are grouped by area (canned fruit, canned sauce, canned vegetables) Signs point you to the correct area so that you can quickly find what you need. BUT: Because the objects are physical, you need to pick a method and stick to it
- This uses the base metaphor that we live with every day. The concept of a “file” and a “file folder” as a way of storing digital data is a metaphor taken from the world of paper management It has become so ingrained, that we think of it as natural, but it’s not: It was invented in 1983 by Apple (wikipedia)
- All your files are stored in one folder and their names are completely meaningless This is like the unlabeled cans: You have to open each file to see what it contains
- You have a bit of a better situation The naming convention lets you find the file you need (but there’s no way to sort by year) Rely on users to follow the naming convention (religiously)
- A ha! Now we’re in great shape. We’re like the supermarket Structured and Labelled BUT...
- ... then, you hire a summer intern Who doesn’t know the folder hierarchy and makes up their own
- Findability is challenging Putability is the real problem This is Bill English’s word for knowing where to save a document What if we could make putability easier while also improving findability? This is the promise of metadata
- Data about data Yes, but not enough info Seth Maislin of Earley & Assoc. says it's the "Is-ness" of something: This 'is' a contract. That 'is' a pop album. For us it enables findability, policy and process Findability for locating the right documents Policy – records management Process – Status of a business process (e.g. Not started, In process, Complete, Approved, Archived)
- So, let’s create an alternative structure that is logically equivalent, but that makes putability much easier while preserving findability By the way: One way to start to figure out an organization’s metadata is to look at the folder names. You will probably not want to simply copy this, but it can be a good guide/starting point
- It’s not this… (visual joke) [ANIMATED]
- It’s not this… (visual joke) [ANIMATED]
- It’s this… Not really this, but let’s use these creatures to understand.
- Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy
- This works because it’s really about governance – this is a stable structure that can’t be changed by just anybody: Changing this structure requires a world-wide meeting of the top scientists in the field, usually involving name-calling and fist-fights (or so I’ve heard) [ANIMATED]
- Did you catch the subtle change here. The taxonomy is now of your ‘X’ drive.
- Carl Linnaeus George Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon
- Let’s try and explain that argument in a more concrete way - Let’s talk about why your logically arranged taxonomy is not enough – you also need ‘targeted’ content based on context – think of the wholesale warehouse as your overall corporate taxonomy, but the department store (and it’s sections) as ‘target’ page structures which surface important data based on the audience, or role based interests. The Wholesale Warehouse follows logical taxonomy structures. Items are grouped by like kind, everything can be found once you understand the system. Where the department store does some grouping by like kind, but also much of it’s grouping around target content – example you go looking for fishing rods and you find fishing lines, lures, books about fishing, hats and clothing, and a number of other ‘fishing’ items. Instead of grouping by arrangement – we are grouping by context in the department store. Do you think that when a blacksmith finished for the day they would put their hammers neatly on the shelves together? No, when blacksmiths clean up for the night the hammer goes on the ground next to the anvil, and next to the tongs. All the tools are organized so they are ready for use – similar to how carpenters keep nails near their hammers. This ‘taskonomy’ (1982
- And this is a common result
- Did you catch the subtle change here. The taxonomy is now of your ‘X’ drive.
- Problem here is lack of governance – anyone can add any folder anywhere anytime This boils down to the ‘putability’ problem – I’ll search for a long time to find a doc, but not for long to see where to put it. [ANIMATED]
- Once you’ve migrated your x drive to SharePoint, and all the promised benefits fail to emerge, The reaction is: (next slide)
- Never, ever, use folders! Except when it makes sense to do so. [ANIMATED]
- [ANIMATED]
- I’m not Carl, but let’s talk about why this works. After all, it’s the same as a directory tree The difference is governance
- Is this too many to ask for? Do we force users to answer all these questions/enter all this data?
- Instead of confusing people with the SharePoint interface, I use a familiar tool: Excel Using some simple macros, I am able to illustrate the power of filters and views. There’s no free lunch however: People now have to enter metadata. We can simplify this by defaulting values like “Date” to today and “Year” to current year. We can leverage content types as well
- Think of them as different forms with slots to fill in. Two documents may have overlapping slots (or, metadata). It may make sense to store these two types of docs in the same library (HR Requests), but use content types to drive workflow, policy and prompt users only for the metadata that applies. [ANIMATED]
- Think of them as different forms with slots to fill in. Two documents may have overlapping slots (or, metadata). It may make sense to store these two types of docs in the same library (HR Requests), but use content types to drive workflow, policy and prompt users only for the metadata that applies. [ANIMATED]
- [ANIMATED]
- To achieve success, you need shared commitment To get that, you need to get to shared understanding Sing from the same song-book: Get onto the same page
- What is this a picture of? With a lot of experience, training or imagination, you may figure something out – but the concept is ABSTRACT
- This is something that people understand and agree on. It is concrete Visual tools can help make the abstract into the concrete
- MindManager (from MindJet) is a tool that has changed the way I work. Here is a quick demo of how it works.
- Using Mind Maps for navigational design makes this process MUCH faster and more efficient.
- A technique to get input or feedback from users You may have great ideas of how to organize you intranet, but you users may have different ideas Donna Spencer says: “Card sorting is a great, reliable, inexpensive method for finding patterns in how users would expect to find content or functionality.”
- The analysis can be useful, but it is the process of watching people do the sorts that helps provide the real value
- First, I do a presentation about what metadata is to a collection of groups Give them homework Then, bring them back to build taxonomy: This needs to be done with just one group at a time
- Note: Picture of ‘tacks’ is a visual joke – it doesn’t mean anything
- Using mind-mapping tools to build the taxonomy from the homework I use MindJet MindManager – and I like and highly recommend it. There are other tools that are less expensive.
- What is wireframing? Creating page mockups that show the function and structure of the page without the fonts/colors/images, etc
- This tool called ‘Balsamiq’ makes it extremely simple and fast to make wireframes. They look cartoonish, but that makes it easy to focus on what’s important (not color, font, etc.)
- Even without building an automated workflow, it’s essential to understand the business process of your customers. Use BizAgi (which is free to download) or Visio 2010 to map these processes.
- If you are lucky, you can take the results of these workshops and activities and create a roadmap for a phased, rational approach to SharePoint deployment. Push HARD to do this step. Summarize workshop results Build Gap Analysis Identify dependencies Lay out a timeline (not a project plan at this point)
- The Controlled Intranet If your goals are to create an environment that nurtures the sharing of knowledge and intellectual property (IP), there are two critical success factors that must be adhered to. We must make the addition of knowledge in the solution as simple as possible. This is accomplished by: Thoroughly understanding how our Information Workers perform their daily job duties. Craft a solution that simplifies these duties by automating operational business processes. Implement your Intranet in such a manner as to ease where this knowledge is stored. Provide a solution that makes locating information quick and simple so our Information Workers can make better, informed business decisions. We accomplish this by: Providing topical, functional and task-based site structures that aggregate knowledge in a manner making it easy to locate based on a need. Architect knowledge in such a manner as to provide “very” relevant search results. The only way for you to successfully deliver a solution that adheres to these two critical success factors is to architect your corporate knowledge (information) in a manner that lends itself to aggregation and search. And, the only way to do that is through a detailed and carefully thought-out taxonomy. Simply tossing information into lists and libraries will only result in yet another repository that is similar to a file share. For an organization to successfully implement a controlled environment that improves operational efficiencies requires governance. The term governance itself implies rules, policies and best practices for the flow of information through an organization. Collab areas: It is also in the collaboration environments that you will find the greatest number of sites. Make sure you set the appropriate expectations (communicate, communicate, and communicate): Information in these sites is less structured; which means you will typically see less relevant search results. This area can quickly grow to thousands of sites. Don’t let 5,000, 10,000 or even 30,000 sites scare you; simply make sure you have the appropriate infrastructure to support it. Govern the amount of information that can be stored on each site; configure quotas. Govern the length of time a site may remain inactive. Provide a means of archival. Do Collaboration Sites Ever Become Controlled? Absolutely! You may find that a team creates a secure collaboration environment to start a community of practice. Over time, information may become key to driving success in the organization. In such a situation, the team may ask to convert the site to a more structured environment so its content is available to everyone in the organization. There are many ways of accomplishing this task. The easiest is to leave the site intact, and move it through your internal architecture/design processes. These processes will force some level of structure, including taxonomy; which will make the information available for aggregation and search (even constrained search). You can then update your search configuration to include its content in a manner that best suits your organizational information needs. Another approach would be to provide a controlled means of moving the site and content to the Controlled Intranet Site Collection.
- To Impose Specific Storage Quotas With SharePoint Site Collections you can define specific storage quotas and email warnings to notify users when they are approaching a defined threshold on their site collection storage. To Impose Specific Sandbox Quotas With a SharePoint Site Collection you can define the maximum number of points sandbox solutions can use per day. Additionally you can also configure an email warning when storage exceeds a certain number of points.
- For Search Separation For Workflow Separation
- So Your Site Collection Does Not Have The Same Active (or Inactive) Site Collection Features There are many times when this comes in handy. In SharePoint 2010 there are quite a few Site Collection level features you may not want active on specific site collections. Site collection features that are not active on other site collections (for example, the Publishing Infrastructure feature)
- For Search Separation For Workflow Separation So Your Site Collection Does Not Have The Same Active (or Inactive) Site Collection Features There are many times when this comes in handy. In SharePoint 2010 there are quite a few Site Collection level features you may not want active on specific site collections. Site collection features that are not active on other site collections (for example, the Publishing Infrastructure feature) To Have a Separate Help Library to Store Custom Help
- Disadvantages of Using Site Collections All out-of-the-box Web Parts understand and work well within the boundaries of a Site Collection. None of them, including the significantly used Content Query Web Part, will cross Site Collection boundaries. Thus, the aggregation of information across Site Collection boundaries is not possible using out-of-the-box Web Parts. You need to consider this when determining how you will split your information across Site Collections. Any situation that requires you to aggregate and display information across Site Collection boundaries will require a custom development effort or the purchase of a 3rd party Web Part. Your branding and content publishing customization efforts will also have to be duplicated. Currently, all master pages, page layouts, and CSS files, common publishing images and reusable content is bound to a Site Collection.
- For Security Management Benefits: Every site collection creates a security boundary between one collection of sites and another collection of sites. Each site collection has its own collection of SharePoint groups and ACL references. You cannot see a complete list of Users who have permissions to the site or Object Users are members of more than one AD Group Work backwards to figure out permissions 2010 – 1000 objects in an ACL, 5000 Objects per SharePoint Group The more ACLs you have, the more ACLs you have to manage Know the Software Boundaries and Capacity limits http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262787.aspx For Privacy or Management Benefits and Different Site Collection Administrators Each site collection has a role of “Site Collection Administrator” and a person or more assigned to that role. There are times when either for privacy/confidentiality reasons you cannot have a specific site collection administrator with the rights to see that sites content, or where you have different people that should be assigned to manage that collection of sites. The second is an extremely common scenario in large enterprise organizations where there is a need to distribute the technical ownership of site collection administration.
- Your group needs to see summary information about the list items or different views of the same set of items. For example, a manager may want to see the progress on all technical issues for an organization or see all the issues that were filed within the same time period. People want to browse or search for the issues in the same location on a site. You want to apply the same settings to the list items, such as tracking versions or requiring approval. The groups working on the list share similar characteristics, such as the same levels of permission. Unique permission can be applied to specific list items, but if the levels of permission vary greatly, consider multiple lists. You want to analyze information about the list or receive consolidated updates for the list. You can receive alerts when the list items are changed or see the changes to a list by using RSS technology. RSS feeds enable members of your workgroup to see a consolidated list of information that has changed.
- You don't expect people to need summaries of the items together. The groups of people working with the information are distinct and have different permission levels. You need to apply different settings, such as versioning or approval, to multiple sets of items. You do not need to analyze the items together or receive consolidated updates about the list.
- Your group needs to see summary information about, or different views of, the same set of files. For example, a manager may want to see all files grouped by department or by due date. People want to search for the files in the same location on a site. You want to apply the same settings to files, such as tracking versions of files or requiring approval. The groups that are working with the library share similar characteristics, such as the same levels of permission. You want to analyze information about the files in a spreadsheet, or to receive consolidated updates about the files.
- The types of files that you want to store and manage are distinct, and you don't expect people to frequently view summaries of the files or to search the files together. The groups of people who are using the files are distinct and have distinctly different permission levels. You need to apply different settings, such as versioning or approval, to different sets of files. You do not need to analyze the files together or receive consolidated updates about the files. You want to provide different sets of options for creating new files, or you want the options on the New menu of a library to appear in a different order.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- Your group needs to see summary information about, or different views of, the same set of files. For example, a manager may want to see all files grouped by department or by due date. People want to search for the files in the same location on a site. You want to apply the same settings to files, such as tracking versions of files or requiring approval. The groups that are working with the library share similar characteristics, such as the same levels of permission. You want to analyze information about the files in a spreadsheet, or to receive consolidated updates about the files.
- The types of files that you want to store and manage are distinct, and you don't expect people to frequently view summaries of the files or to search the files together. The groups of people who are using the files are distinct and have distinctly different permission levels. You need to apply different settings, such as versioning or approval, to different sets of files. You do not need to analyze the files together or receive consolidated updates about the files. You want to provide different sets of options for creating new files, or you want the options on the New menu of a library to appear in a different order.
- You can set the default content type of a library – and set that content type’s default values so that any item added to that library will automatically have metadata associated with it.
- Use if you have clear organizing requirements Deploy a good Search Architecture Search Based Navigation Don’t forget to turn on the Content Organizer Feature – on the Target Site too! Don’t forget to implement Content Types in the Target Libraries Teach the users!
- Never, ever, use folders! Except when it makes sense to do so. [ANIMATED]
- Ease of use for users: File Open/Save – reduce metadata load
- Managed Metadata Services Term Store Hierarchical collection of terms Multilingual Synonyms LimitMaximum valueLimit typeNotesMaximum number of levels of nested terms in a term store 7 Supported Terms in a term set can be represented hierarchically. A term set can have up to seven levels of terms (a parent term, and six levels of nesting below it.) Maximum number of term sets in a term store 1000 Supported You can have up to 1000 term sets in a term store. Maximum number of terms in a term set 30,000 Supported 30,000 is the maximum number of terms in a term set. Note: Additional labels for the same term, such as synonyms and translations, do not count as separate terms. Total number of items in a term store 1,000,000 Supported An item is either a term or a term set. The sum of the number of terms and term sets cannot exceed 1,000,000. Additional labels for the same term, such as synonyms and translations, do not count as separate terms. Note: You cannot have both the maximum number of term sets and the maximum number of terms simultaneously in a term store.
- Webpage (instead of just a folder name and possible metadata)
- Synchronization of metadata The ability to synchronize metadata allows users to change metadata on multiple items at once within a collection of content. Frequently users will want to do a bulk change of metadata stored within a folder. The most common way to achieve this using Folders is by utilizing the Datasheet View for document libraries, which allows users to bulk change properties quickly. However, this can be error prone and has limitations, such as the inability to change Managed Metadata fields. In contrast, Document Sets allow the ability to configure a column as a Shared Column. Shared Columns then share metadata across the entire Document Set. By changing the column value at the document set, all content contained within the Document Set will be updated with the new value without the user manually having to change each individual document. Another advantage is that all columns types are supported, so users can also easily change Managed Metadata columns for all content as well.
- Running workflows on multiple items with SharePoint Designer Running workflows on multiple items is another commonly asked for requirement in many organizations. The ability to send multiple items through an approval process is something that commonly appears on a list of requirements when organizations are implementing SharePoint. With folders there is really no other option than to manually start an Approval process on each item. Unfortunately even though you can now select multiple items to perform actions on within Lists and Libraries, you cannot do this with workflows. If you have ten documents that you need to send through an Approval process, then it's a rather laborious process. Of course you can create custom workflows in .NET code to solve this issue and it's a good example of where the new Site Workflow type may be used. However, if we are limiting ourselves to out-of-the-box or SharePoint Designer declarative workflows then we are out of luck. With Document Sets we have new Workflow Actions available in SharePoint Designer 2010. This means that we can indeed send an entire Document Set through an Approval Process. Since a Document Set includes multiple documents, we are in effect sending multiple items through an approval process
- Provisioning of default content The ability to create a template and have this reused when a user is creating a document is commonly used in SharePoint. The power of Content Types within the platform can be harnessed very effectively to create these templates and deploy them across multiple sites. However, often we don't require just a single document to be created, but rather a collection of documents to be provisioned. For example consider a project submission pack or a RFP Response that consists of multiple documents. In an ideal world, a user would be able to create collections of documents quickly and easily. If using the folder approach, you can only create single documents, one at a time. So if a user wanted to create a project submission pack then they would create the folder that would house these documents, and then create each individual Content Type one at a time. This is obviously a cumbersome approach. In contrast Document Sets allow us to provision default content when the Document Set is created. So if we create a RFP Response Document Set we can choose to have default content created when a user creates the Document Set:
- Folders can have folders under them etc. Doc sets cant.
- The focus here needs to be on pain points and outcomes: NOT Requirements Try to stick to one team at a time 3 – 8 people is ideal – up to 12-15 can work. Need to make sure you hear from everyone Don’t let manager dominate Make SURE you get front-line workers, not just managers Book 1.5 hours – plan on an hour and a bit. People love some extra un-booked time at the end.
- First, I do a presentation about what metadata is to a collection of groups Give them homework Then, bring them back to build taxonomy: This needs to be done with just one group at a time
- Using mind-mapping tools to build the taxonomy from the homework I use MindJet MindManager – and I like and highly recommend it. There are other tools that are less expensive.
- Even without building an automated workflow, it’s essential to understand the business process of your customers. Use BizAgi (which is free to download) or Visio 2010 to map these processes.
- What is wireframing? Creating page mockups that show the function and structure of the page without the fonts/colors/images, etc
- This tool called ‘Balsamiq’ makes it extremely simple and fast to make wireframes. They look cartoonish, but that makes it easy to focus on what’s important (not color, font, etc.)
- This tool called ‘Balsamiq’ makes it extremely simple and fast to make wireframes. They look cartoonish, but that makes it easy to focus on what’s important (not color, font, etc.)
- A lot of this can seem daunting and I know one of the hardest things is figuring out how to do some of the things I have shown today. If you are interested in further training or assistance please let me know. Based on the number of people who are interested and the areas of interest we can schedule further training sessions to help everyone better use the SharePoint portal. It's our commitment to you that we will continue to hear your feedback and identify the issues. I encourage you to give us feedback during the coming months, and we will continue to deliver more and more functionality, more and more guidance to help you be successful with your application of SharePoint. Thank You for Reading/Listening
- The first tip I will give is to never ever give a single number. As an example when asked how long it will take to make ‘report A’ let the requester know a range that you feel comfortable with. Why a range? Realistically in a quick situation like that if you don’t give a range it won’t indicate how uncertain you are about the estimate. If you were thinking about the request and felt like the task would take somewhere between 2-8 hours then communicating only a single value guess such as ’6 hours’ can be misleading as it doesn’t include any information about how confident you are.
- So the first thing we need to agree on is that quickly estimating a ‘single number’ (without math/careful consideration) typically leads to poor results in both setting the right expectation and being accurate.
- Now onto the difficulties of even coming up with a range of possibilities. One of the hardest parts of estimating is coming up with a range you feel really confident in. Basically when you give an estimate you should give a range that you feel 90% confident that the real value will fall within that range (90% is the suggested optimal confidence level due to the effort involved in getting more than 90%). You don’t have to be perfect but you have to feel willing to bet on it. In other words if you consider giving a range of 2-8 hours on a task as an estimate you should confirm that you are actually 90% confident that the total time will fall between that range. There is a trick (one of many) that Douglas mentions in his book that is easy to remember and use for testing whether you are actually close to 90% confident about an estimate. Imagine that you win $2000 in one of two ways: A) You will win $2000 if the true time it takes turns out to be between the upper and lower bounds you provided. If not then you win nothing. B) You draw a M&M at random from a bag of 9 red M&M’s and 1 blue M&M. If the M&M is red you win $2000. If it is blue you win nothing. Which option would you take? If you choose B) (which statistically most people do) then it means you might not be 90% confident but actually less confident (say 80%, 60% etc). If you choose A) it’s also not really what we want because it means you are probably over confident (especially if you felt strongly geared toward A). So you adjust the bounds (upper and lower) until you find a place where you feel indifferent between option A) and B) – that is ‘probably’ your 90% confidence level for this estimate. It’s not as complicated (or in some ways as effective) as many other methods you can use to calibrate how confident you are about your estimates but it works and is easy to remember and start implementing immediately.
- Now onto the difficulties of even coming up with a range of possibilities. One of the hardest parts of estimating is coming up with a range you feel really confident in. Basically when you give an estimate you should give a range that you feel 90% confident that the real value will fall within that range (90% is the suggested optimal confidence level due to the effort involved in getting more than 90%). You don’t have to be perfect but you have to feel willing to bet on it. In other words if you consider giving a range of 2-8 hours on a task as an estimate you should confirm that you are actually 90% confident that the total time will fall between that range. There is a trick (one of many) that Douglas mentions in his book that is easy to remember and use for testing whether you are actually close to 90% confident about an estimate. Imagine that you win $2000 in one of two ways: A) You will win $2000 if the true time it takes turns out to be between the upper and lower bounds you provided. If not then you win nothing. B) You draw a M&M at random from a bag of 9 red M&M’s and 1 blue M&M. If the M&M is red you win $2000. If it is blue you win nothing. Which option would you take? If you choose B) (which statistically most people do) then it means you might not be 90% confident but actually less confident (say 80%, 60% etc). If you choose A) it’s also not really what we want because it means you are probably over confident (especially if you felt strongly geared toward A). So you adjust the bounds (upper and lower) until you find a place where you feel indifferent between option A) and B) – that is ‘probably’ your 90% confidence level for this estimate. It’s not as complicated (or in some ways as effective) as many other methods you can use to calibrate how confident you are about your estimates but it works and is easy to remember and start implementing immediately.
- Now onto the difficulties of even coming up with a range of possibilities. One of the hardest parts of estimating is coming up with a range you feel really confident in. Basically when you give an estimate you should give a range that you feel 90% confident that the real value will fall within that range (90% is the suggested optimal confidence level due to the effort involved in getting more than 90%). You don’t have to be perfect but you have to feel willing to bet on it. In other words if you consider giving a range of 2-8 hours on a task as an estimate you should confirm that you are actually 90% confident that the total time will fall between that range. There is a trick (one of many) that Douglas mentions in his book that is easy to remember and use for testing whether you are actually close to 90% confident about an estimate. Imagine that you win $2000 in one of two ways: A) You will win $2000 if the true time it takes turns out to be between the upper and lower bounds you provided. If not then you win nothing. B) You draw a M&M at random from a bag of 9 red M&M’s and 1 blue M&M. If the M&M is red you win $2000. If it is blue you win nothing. Which option would you take? If you choose B) (which statistically most people do) then it means you might not be 90% confident but actually less confident (say 80%, 60% etc). If you choose A) it’s also not really what we want because it means you are probably over confident (especially if you felt strongly geared toward A). So you adjust the bounds (upper and lower) until you find a place where you feel indifferent between option A) and B) – that is ‘probably’ your 90% confidence level for this estimate. It’s not as complicated (or in some ways as effective) as many other methods you can use to calibrate how confident you are about your estimates but it works and is easy to remember and start implementing immediately.
- Now onto the difficulties of even coming up with a range of possibilities. One of the hardest parts of estimating is coming up with a range you feel really confident in. Basically when you give an estimate you should give a range that you feel 90% confident that the real value will fall within that range (90% is the suggested optimal confidence level due to the effort involved in getting more than 90%). You don’t have to be perfect but you have to feel willing to bet on it. In other words if you consider giving a range of 2-8 hours on a task as an estimate you should confirm that you are actually 90% confident that the total time will fall between that range. There is a trick (one of many) that Douglas mentions in his book that is easy to remember and use for testing whether you are actually close to 90% confident about an estimate. Imagine that you win $2000 in one of two ways: A) You will win $2000 if the true time it takes turns out to be between the upper and lower bounds you provided. If not then you win nothing. B) You draw a M&M at random from a bag of 9 red M&M’s and 1 blue M&M. If the M&M is red you win $2000. If it is blue you win nothing. Which option would you take? If you choose B) (which statistically most people do) then it means you might not be 90% confident but actually less confident (say 80%, 60% etc). If you choose A) it’s also not really what we want because it means you are probably over confident (especially if you felt strongly geared toward A). So you adjust the bounds (upper and lower) until you find a place where you feel indifferent between option A) and B) – that is ‘probably’ your 90% confidence level for this estimate. It’s not as complicated (or in some ways as effective) as many other methods you can use to calibrate how confident you are about your estimates but it works and is easy to remember and start implementing immediately.
- So the first thing we need to agree on is that quickly estimating a ‘single number’ (without math/careful consideration) typically leads to poor results in both setting the right expectation and being accurate.
- more than 1000 security scopes (broken inheritance) leads to performance degradation. 50k scopes per list/doc lib is a limit or - more than 50k unique permissions per list is a hard limit. The Practical Limit? 2000 users/groups given access 5k users/ad groups per sharepoint group When you add a user or group to a unique ‘scope’ (broken permissions) it actually adds that user or group with ‘limited access’ to each scope in the hierarchy above the item… Best practice: Rely on group membership instead of indivudal user membership in the scopes. For example, if a single group can be used in place of 1,000 users, the scope will be 999 membership entries smaller for the scope and any of its parent scopes which will be updated with Limited Access rights for that single group instead of all 1,000 individual users with Limited Access rights. This additionally helps increase the speed of Limited Access rights push and ACL recalculation at the parent scope objects. Deep hierarchies also impact performance considerably. So try and avoid very deep hierarchies with unique permissions.
- Note: We do not recommend that you use SharePoint groups to assign permissions to sites, because when a SharePoint group is used to assign permissions, a full crawl of the index occurs. Instead, we recommend Domain groups to be used.
- We recommend that you use FGP for only those business cases for which it is required. FGP can be expensive in terms of both operational oversight and performance. If you must use fine-grained permissions, consider the following recommended practices: Ensure that you do not have too many items at the same level of hierarchy in the document libraries, because the time necessary to process items in the views increases.
- You can avoid the use of FGP by doing the following: Break permission inheritance as infrequently as possible. Use groups based on directory membership to assign permissions. Assign permissions at the highest possible level. As part of this strategy, consider the following techniques: Use different document publish levels to control access. Before a document is published, the advanced permissions and versioning settings can be set for users who can only approve items in the document library. For non-document libraries (lists), use the ReadSecurity and WriteSecurity permission levels. When a list is created, the owners can set the Item-level permissions to either Read access or Create and Edit access.
- Basically manage permissions by each SharePoint site uniquely (instead of at a fine grained level). So use the 3 built in groups or AD groups etc and set permissions at the web level. From another point of view, if you have a large list where you want to uniquely set permissions try having ‘more than one list’ in multiple webs to get around some of the performance impact involved (2k unique permissions per web as an example). It avoids a lot of the hierarchy performance hits we discussed. Of course even better is using multiple site collections, but for now we will keep it simple and say at a minimum an effective way would be doing it at the web level (or even list/library level before getting to the item level).
- Use event handlers to control edit permission. You can have an event handler that registers an event using the SPEventReceiverType.ItemUpdating and SPEventReceiverType.ItemUpdated methods, and then use code to control whether the update should be allowed. This is extremely powerful, because you can make security decision based on any metadata of a list or item, without affecting the view rendering performance. Use AddToCurrentScopeOnly method to assign Limited Access membership within a SharePoint group. The key element in this principle is to redesign the architecture so that scope membership does not cause ACL recalculation at the parent document library and Web. This is mainly applicable if the cause of the excessive number of unique scopes was through an automated process such as an event handler or workflow that dynamically modified object permissions. The recommendation in this case is to make a code change to whatever process was creating the unique security scopes.
- A lot of this can seem daunting and I know one of the hardest things is figuring out how to do some of the things I have shown today. If you are interested in further training or assistance please let me know. Based on the number of people who are interested and the areas of interest we can schedule further training sessions to help everyone better use the SharePoint portal. It's our commitment to you that we will continue to hear your feedback and identify the issues. I encourage you to give us feedback during the coming months, and we will continue to deliver more and more functionality, more and more guidance to help you be successful with your application of SharePoint. Thank You for Reading/Listening