In October last year we released a new kalmstrom.com Solution: Templates Manager for SharePoint. Now it has been tested and used by subscribers for a while, and we have received valuable input. Today we have released a new version with two important enhancements.Distribute to everyone
SharePoint has no easy way to distribute templates to all document libraries in the farm, so one of the major advantages with Templates Manager is that we have made the templates distribution very easy. The administrator or content writer only has to click on a button to publish all changes in the templates library to the whole organization.
Templates Manager supports Excel, PowerPoint and Word templates, and the files don't have to be in template format. Even if SharePoint has no good way to distribute templates, it is very convenient when it comes to creating templates. Any .xlsx, .pptx or .docx file that has the correct design and content will do, so you don't have to create special template file.
The templates are stored in one or several document libraries, and the admin who activates Templates Manager on a site should also select what library the templates on that site should be fetched from.
After requests from subscribers we have now added a possibility for all users to switch templates library if needed. We have added a button in the SharePoint library ribbon, and when you click on it you can select another one of the organization's templates libraries.
Easy name giving
When users click on the +New button in a SharePoint library in a site where Templates Manager is activated, they will see the templates in the selected templates library. As Templates Manager provides both instant search and popup descriptions of the templates, users can quickly find the correct template for each document.
When a user clicks on the template he or she wishes to use, it will be copied to the document library and the Properties dialog will open. Here the user can directly give the document a proper name and title.
Metadata first!
That Templates Manager displays the Properties dialog, is an important enhancement compared to the standard SharePoint behavior. Without Templates Manager users have to manually open the Properties dialog. If that is overseen, you will end up with a lot of "Document", "Document1"," Document2" and so on, and with such metadata the SharePoint Search will work badly.
Another reason it is a very good idea to show the Properties dialog before starting to edit the document is when you have mandatory columns. If those are not properly filled out, the document will get created correctly but not checked in, which means a lot of trouble for the user.
Each organization wants their documents to have a consistent look and content, and the best way to achieve this is of course to supply templates. Templates Manager makes that process much easier, so I hope you want to try Templates Manager for SharePoint. We allow free evaluation with full support for 30 days.
Current users are welcome to upgrade their installations. We are grateful for your comments on the first version, and now you will have an even better product!
Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions
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