What Is Microsoft WSS 3.0?
The most important concept to grasp is that WSS 3.0 is built on Windows Server
2003 or Windows Server 2008 and provides the foundation platform and collaboration
features for Microsoft SharePoint products and technologies.
Microsoft Offi ce SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 builds on the
technologies of WSS 3.0 to proide the following applications and services:
Portal Services MOSS 2007 portal technology allows you to create and manage
gateways to all the features and functionality of SharePoint technologies. It also
provides users with a greater personalization of their SharePoint experience.
Search You can use MOSS 2007 ’ s Search feature to query documents, people,
and enterprise applications.
Enterprise Content Management Enterprise content management in MOSS 2007
includes document, records, and web content management. These services include
full web publishing; enterprise - wide documents and records retention, which
includes auditing and security compliance; and approval workfl ows.
Business Processes Workfl ow, one of the business processes of MOSS 2007,
facilitates collaboration among users for such processes as document approval,
feedback collection for document review, and disposition approval for archiving
information. The InfoPath forms service assists in collecting and validating
business process information.
Business Intelligence You are able to integrate your line - of - business (LOB)
application by using the Business Data Catalog (BDC) in MOSS 2007.
Furthermore, Business Intelligence (BI) employs Excel Calculation Services to
manage and share Offi ce Excel 2007 workbooks and reports, integrates with SQL
Reporting Services, and includes key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the
progress of your business goals.
WSS 3.0 Collaboration Service
Organizations require collaboration for their users to stay connected and be
productive. WSS 3.0 provides out - of - the - box (OOB) collaboration features to
enable your organization ’ s employees, business partners, and customers to share
information such as documents and events and to work together in a friendly
environment. Here are the collaboration features WSS 3.0 provides:
Online Presence Online presence offers synchronous communication among your
team members. User status is extracted and integrated into WSS through Microsoft
Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange, and Windows Messenger. Presence can be
discovered by using web parts that enable your team to see if their coworkers are
available for real – time conferencing or message exchanging.
Team Sites Team sites provide a central portal for information worker resources.
They provide a home page and OOB lists and libraries for collaboration, such as
Announcements and Calendar lists and a Shared Documents library. You have
other list and page templates
available for a variety of your collaboration needs.
Meeting Workspaces Meeting workspaces are team sites that enable you to plan,
organize, and track your meetings. They provide a home page with lists for you to
include information about your meetings, such as objectives, agendas, attendees,
tasks, and decisions.
Wikis Wikis are open sites where your users can freely create and edit content. Its
value stems from the collaborative authoring of your users. Your team can share
information readily using wikis.
Blogs Blogs are online journals. The name is taken from “ web logs. ” The blog is
owned and maintained by its author, the blogger, who uses the area to document
information of interest. Readers can post comments on the site in reference to the
blog. A blog site can also be used by your team members to disseminate and share
information.
Web Parts You can think of a web part as a single - purpose, modular unit of
information on a page. Web parts themselves are software components that are
customizable through a tool pane when placed into a web part zone on your page.
WSS 3.0 has many built - in web parts; however, you can also import or add web
parts from other reliable sources into your WSS environment.
Discussion Boards Discussion boards provide a conversation mechanism for your
team members. Many features are built into the boards to supply security for
approval of entries as well as the control needed to manage the discussion threads.
Issue Tracking Issue tracking helps your team maintain and manage issues and
problems throughout the enterprise. It allows you to assign, prioritize, and follow
the complete progress of your issues.
Contact Lists Contact lists enable your team members to create the details of
information for others they work with. Contact lists facilitate communication by
keeping information available in a single location.
Integration Features WSS 3.0 supports close integration with all Microsoft Offi
ce products, most particularly the Offi ce 2007 line of products. Furthermore, WSS
integrates with Microsoft Offi ce SharePoint Designer 2007 for customizing your
sites, with Microsoft Exchange for providing mail service, and with Active
Directory and Information Rights Management for security. You can also provide
secure offl ine data access through a variety of connection services.
some of the most prevalent WSS 3.0 features.
Understanding the Logical Architecture Components
Even though there is an architectural hierarchy, you can arrange the components of
your
WSS 3.0 logical architecture in a variety of ways.
Site Collections
A site collection is a set of websites that have a common administration unit and
owner.Every site collection consists of a top - level website that is created at the
time the site collection is created. This top - level site can include one or more
child sites.
The recommendation for the number of site collections per web application
without degrading performance is 50,000.
Sites
A site is a website comprised of .aspx pages that display information and manage
data that is stored in lists and libraries. Sites are created using templates, such as a
team site,document workspace, wiki, or blog.
A web is another name for a site and is often used by programmers. This term
comes from the WSS 3.0 object model where the site object is named SPWeb.
Within the object model, the site collection object is named SPSite.
Lists : A library is a special type of list that uses templates to defi ne the type of
content it stores. For example,you can have a document library, an image library, a
forms library, and so on. Both lists and libraries are created by the same object in
the WSS 3.0 object model, SPList
Understanding Master Page Controls
Master page controls can be divided into three types:
Content Placeholders These are areas on the page that match to content page
locations, enabling you to enter information. This control is a key component of
the master page because you place it on the page where content will eventually
appear. When you add content to a content placeholder, you are specifying content
on the master page that will be visible to all pages associated with that master
page. Furthermore, you can customize that content on a page - by - page basis and
explicitly control the type of content the placeholder contains. PlaceHolderMain is
an example of such a control.
.
Delegate Controls These controls defi ne regions on the page where content can
be
replaced with another control driven by feature activation.
Controls Controls can also defi ne links, icons, menus, and navigation
components. For
example, the SiteMapPath control populates the global navigation breadcrumbs.
You are provided with the following master pages in the 12 hive of your initial
installation of WSS 3.0:
Global Default Master Page ( default.master ) None of the team sites have a
master page
defi ned; therefore, they use the global default master page.
Global Meeting Workspace Master Page ( mwdefault.master ) All meeting
workspaces
use this master page.
Administrative Master Pages ( application.master ) All administrative pages
on Share-
Point sites use the application.master page. The administrative pages contain the
layouts in
their URL. There are also administrative master pages for the Central
Administration site.
As time goes by, your organization will most likely want to modify the look and
feel of
your sites. The most effi cient method of accomplishing this is to customize the
master page.
However, do not use the global default.master page as the basis for your new
master
page. The default.master provided with WSS 3.0 is quite complicated; it uses
controls
such as the delegate control mentioned earlier that provides content to the page at
the time
of rendering.
Here is the URL of the master page template that Microsoft provides for you to use
as a
basis when creating your own master pages in WSS 3.0:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7c05ca44-
869a-463b-
84d7-57b053711a96 & displaylang=en
If you need to do extensive customization to the layout of your master page, you
must
take time to learn the components that are used on the page and their purpose.
SharePoint
Designer 2007 is probably the easiest tool to use for master page customization. It
provides
two options for managing content placeholders and regions:
The Master Page toolbar
The Manage Content Regions dialog box
SharePoint Designer 2007 displays a program window that lets you modify one
site at a
time. If you use it to modify your master pages, be aware that you must do so at the
site level.
Exercise 9.1 shows you how to view a master page in SharePoint Designer 2007.
EXERCISE 9 .1
Viewing a Master Page in SharePoint Designer 2007
1. Open SharePoint Designer to the desired site by clicking File _ Open
Site.
2. In the Folder List task pane, expand the catalog folder. This folder
contains libraries
for your master pages as well as web parts and site and list templates.
3. Expand the masterpages (Master Page Gallery) document library, which
contains the
default.master page.
4. Double - click default.master to open the page in the document window.
5. Look in the status bar of the program window of SharePoint Designer to
ensure that the Visual Aids option is On. If it ’ s isn ’ t, choose View /Visual
Aids /Show.
6. The controls on the page are displayed on the page surrounded by a
purple line, with the name in a purple box. If the names are not visible,
ensure that Template Region Labels is selected.
7. To view the nonvisual controls on the page (such as the
SPWebPartManager), selectView /Visual Aids /ASP.NET Non - Visual
Controls.
8. To more readily locate specifi c controls on the master page, you need to
display the
Master Page toolbar. To do so, select View \Toolbars\ Master Page.
9. The Master Page toolbar appears as a fl oating toolbar. You can dock it
on the page if desired. From the drop - down menu you can select the
placeholder on the master page you want to view or modify.
Customizing with SharePoint Designer
.
In this section we discuss customizations of the master page and web part page
using SharePoint Designer.
Customizing a Master Page
If you are ready to customize your master page using SharePoint Designer, we
have a few precautionary messages to send your way:
First, before you do any customization using an existing page, always make a copy
first of that page and use the copy for your customization.
Second, for master pages, either use a basic master page template as noted earlier
in this chapter or, if you are insistent, use the default.master on the site. But in
either case, do not delete any unused controls that are on the page. Doing so could
render your site useless — which won ’ t ingratiate you to your bosses.
Third, remember that customizing any page with SharePoint Designer breaks the
link of the page from its site definition. Therefore, make certain that this is the path
you want to take for customization.
You are not expected to know all the steps to fully customize a master page for the
test, so Exercise 9.2 is more like a journey to make certain you understand the
salient points.
EXERCISE 9 . 2
Customizing a Master Page Using SharePoint Designer 2007
1. If not already open, open SharePoint Designer to your site. Expand the
catalogs and the masterpage folders.
2. Right - click on the default.master or the master page fi le you want to
customize, and select Copy. Paste it into the same masterpage library.
Rename the copy something like custom.master .
3. Double - click on the custom.master to open it in the document window.
4. You should take note that the masterpage gallery does not require you to
check out the page for customization. These properties are set at the
library level. You can change these properties to meet your needs.
5. To help with customization, make certain you have Visual Aids On and
Template Region Labels selected. Also select to display the Master Page
toolbar as you learned in Exercise 9.1.
6. You can add content to any of the unused content placeholders or
controls. To show the ASP.NET controls on the page, click the Find and
type < asp: in the text box. Use the split view to see the code. You can also
use the Master Page toolbar and click the section to the right of the drop -
down arrow to show Content Regions. For example, the Placeholder
AdditionalPageHead is often fi lled by developers and designers with
additional calls to external fi les, such as external style sheets.
7. You can modify the Quick Launch navigation by selecting a new data
source for the Quick Launch bar by selecting SPNavigationManager and
choosing a new data source. \
8. You should notice that the styles used on the page are initially presented
using the core.css , which contains all the styles used on pages in WSS
3.0.
9. core.css lives in the 12 hive and should not be customized — especially
not by SharePoint Designer. Instead, you should override the styles in the
core.css if necessary by providing alternate style sheets either with your
site defi nition in the 12 hive or stored within the site collection in the
content database.
All the areas of the master page we have looked at can be used for customization.
Most signifi cant are the styles that can be copied from core.css and modifi ed in
an alternate style sheet. For example, Figure 9.4 shows the style class defi ned for
the Quick Launch in core.css . Remember not to modify the core.css ; however,
you can copy the style you wish to customize into another style sheet and access
the alternate style sheet from the page. Your alternate style sheet will load after
core.css , thus overriding the page with your changes.
Customizing a Web Part Page
Customizing web part pages is one of the major uses for SharePoint Designer.
SharePoint Designer provides several task panes to supply the tools necessary for
customization. One of those task panes is the Web Parts task pane. Using it, you
can create new web part zones, add web parts, and customize a page. You can start
with an existing page, such as the home page ( default.aspx ) or you can create
new pages using the File _ New menu. For the exam, you need to understand how
the web part page can be customized. In Exercise 9.3 we will use the home page of
your site to do our customization.
EXERCISE 9 .3
Customizing a Web Part Page Using SharePoint Designer 2007
1. With SharePoint Designer open to your site, right - click on the
default.aspx page in the root of your site. Make a copy and paste it again
into the root of the site. Rename the page to new.aspx .
2. Double - click to open new.aspx using Design View. The page opens
showing both the master page content and the content within the page
itself, contained within PlaceHolderMain. When you are customizing a web
page that is a content page, you modify content within PlaceHolderMain.
You can create a new WSS 3.0 page by fi rst creating an .aspx page and
then attaching a master page to it.
3. On the Task Panes menu, click Web Parts to display the Web Parts task
pane. This pane displays all the available web parts that can be added to
the page and enables you to add new web part zones to the page.
4. On this page there are two web part zones: Left and Right. However,
using SharePoint
Designer you can create additional web part zones. For a web part to be
able to be modified using the browser, you must create your web parts in a
web part zone. SharePoint Designer allows you to put web parts on the
page without putting them into a web part zone; doing so actually makes
the web part act as a control on the page and does not allow browser
modifi cation. So, let ’ s add a middle web part zone to the page.
5. Click inside the second column of the page and then click New Web Part
Zone. Notice two events: The web part zone has been added and is called
Zone 1.The page is now dirty; that is, the page has been modifi ed and
must be saved for the changes to take effect.
6. Right - click on the web part zone and select Web Part Zone Properties
from the context menu. In this property box you determine how web parts
will behave in this new zone as well as change the name of the zone to
make it more meaningful to users.
7. You can decide to enter web parts into the zone at this time or leave it
blank so that web parts can be added in the browser by your content
owners.
8. Click the Save icon on the menu or right - click the page tab and select
Save. The Site Defi nition Page Warning dialog box opens announcing that
saving the changes customizes the page from the site defi nition. Click Yes.
9. Notice that the new.aspx page has a blue circle next to it, denoting the
page has been customized. To view the page in the browser, click F12.
10. You can reset the page back to the site defi nition if necessary by right -
clicking the page name in the Folder List and selecting Reset to Site Defi
nition. The current customized page will be saved on the site as a copy.
Widows sharepoint services inside out
Excel Services Overview
SharePoint Server offers a powerful new feature called Excel Services to interact
with Microsoft Office Excel 2007 workbooks securely and directly on SharePoint
sites. In Chapter 1, "Introducing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0," we discussed
how SharePoint document libraries and lists in conjunction with Outlook allow for
a new way to share attachments. Embedding a URL into an e-mail that points to
specific content will allow all users on the e-mail's distribution list to have access
to the same file or pieces of content in a version-controlled, secure manner. Office
Excel 2007 files are typically the most-used document type in an organization,
followed closely by Microsoft Word (DOC/DOCX) and Adobe (PDF) files. Excel
Services assists organizations by enabling them to have "one version of the truth"
for Excel workbooks.
Excel Services is especially useful for Excel month-end reporting workbooks or
similar Excel files on which a large number of users within the organization rely
for specific summary data. When these users no longer need to receive Excel files
as e-mail attachments, the organization avoids increased storage costs as well as
possible security issues surrounding the release of sensitive data or intellectual
property.
Not only does Excel Services in SharePoint Server allow for this type of central
spreadsheet management, but it also offers other powerful features such as:
Excel Calculation Services The main calculation engine for Excel Services
that loads workbooks and performs calculations, interacts with Excel, and
updates the displayed data in real time during browser sessions.
Excel Web Access A Web Part that enables users to load Excel workbooks
in a browser session without the user being required to have Excel 2007 or
even Windows loaded on the desktop. This Web Part uses dynamic HTML
(DHTML) and JavaScript to load the data. It does not require users to
download any additional browser add-ons such as custom Microsoft
ActiveX controls.
Excel Web Services A Web service within SharePoint Server that provides
an application programming interface (API) to build powerful custom
applications based on an Excel workbook.
It is important to note that the cells in Excel workbooks cannot be edited in
SharePoint Server Excel Services. However, the Excel Services component is still
extremely powerful because it enables users to see the latest and most refreshed
version of the content within a workbook at any particular time. Excel Services
allows for powerful sorting and filtering of data and the use of a PivotTable report
in which users can additionally sort and filter data, and expand or collapse levels
within the PivotTable. Data can be recalculated on the fly by updating any
available formulas or fields, and users can perform what-if analysis by temporarily
changing cell values or update parameters.
Using Team Sites and Related Subsites
Figure 3-1 shows a typical SharePoint team site, which contains the Windows SharePoint
Services logo as well as Web Parts for announcements, events, and links that instantly retrieve
and display up-to-date information from lists.
Figure 3-1. The home page for a team site is highly configurable.
The out-of-the-box template for a team site provides the following elements:
Top Link bar Displays the fully customizable home page link for the current site.
Site Actions A user with the appropriate permissions can display the Site Actions link,
which contains a drop-down list to take a user to the Create, Edit Page, or Site Settings
pages.
Search box A search box at the right of the page enables users to search for content
within the site and all of its subsites.
Quick Launch The navigation pane on the left provides customizable links; by default, it
contains the following links:
o View All Site Content Links to a page containing all the site's content
o Documents Links to a list of all the document libraries within the site
o Shared Documents Links to the default document library that is created via the
out-of-the-box Team Site template
o Lists Links to a list of all of the SharePoint lists within the site
o Calendar Links to the default events list that is created via the out-of-the-box
Team Site template
o Tasks Links to the default task list that is created via the out-of-the box Team Site
template
o Discussions Links to a list of all of the SharePoint discussion libraries within the
site
o Team Discussion Links to the default discussion list that is created via the out-ofthe-
box Team Site template
o Sites Links to a list of all sites and workspaces within the site
o People and Groups Links to a list of people and groups related to the site
o Recycle Bin Links to the site's Recycle Bin
The Announcements and Calendar areas are Web Parts. They display recent additions to their
respective lists and provide links to more detailed views. The Links area is a Web Part that
provides hyperlinks that team members might frequently use. This data resides in a list named
Links.
New List Functionality in WSS 3.0
Microsoft has added a significant amount of new list functionality in Windows SharePoint
Services 3.0. The new functionality reflects lessons learned from previous SharePoint versions as
well as feedback from SharePoint users.
E-Mail and SharePoint Lists and Libraries
SharePoint lists as well as document libraries can now receive e-mail. In the same way that you
would e-mail another employee within your company, you can now add content to a SharePoint
site by e-mailing a list. Your SharePoint administrator will need to enable this setting within your
SharePoint environment and take into consideration a proper e-mail naming convention to
properly manage this feature. But once this is done, discussion boards, announcements,
calendars, document libraries, picture libraries, form libraries, and blog post lists can all receive
content via e-mail.
Blogs and SharePoint
Blogs have become extremely popular, and organizations benefit from harnessing this
technology as a means of expression and collaboration. With blogs, SharePoint users can
collaborate on almost anything. From new ideas about how to improve productivity to
suggestions about current projects to lessons learned, blogs can greatly benefit an organization.
Blogs, or weblogs as they were originally called, are short but specific content posts that are
typically displayed by date of creation. With almost any list in SharePoint, views can be created
to display the data in whatever manner the user chooses.
With any technology that enables users to freely speak their minds or discuss information about
the organization, it is important to have a governance model in place so that negative situations
can be avoided before they occur and so users clearly understand the guidelines they must
follow. SharePoint governance is covered in greater detail in Chapter 5, "Creating SharePoint
Sites, Workspaces, and Pages," and Chapter 12, "Managing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Site Content."
Wikis
A wiki is a collaborative Web site that can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. As
wikis became more and more popular, Microsoft recognized that this technology should be
properly introduced into SharePoint to increase its already collaborative nature. Wikis allow for
easy collaboration and sharing of information and ideas. Like almost anything in SharePoint,
wikis can be searched so that no matter how many wiki entries a team may have, the entry of
interest can be found in a matter of seconds.
RSS Feeds
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 has introduced RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds into
both lists and libraries to enable users to easily keep track of the content and information they
have stored. RSS is an XML-based protocol that is used to syndicate information. You can also
use RSS feeds to receive information and updates from news sites and other blogs.
