SharePoint Content Type For Projects Libraries

Most organizations want their data to be displayed and managed in a consistent way. Templates are a big help, and in SharePoint we also have the content types. A content type is a kind of template that defines what metadata a SharePoint item should contain. In a new demo in the kalmstrom.com Tips section, I describe how to create a SharePoint Online project content type and apply it.

Site collection with subsites
In this exercise I work with a content type on site collection level, so there is no need to include the Content Type Hub, which I have described in other Tips. The site collection has three subsites, and each of them will have its own Projects document library.

Create content type columns
I start with creating a content type, to which I add site columns for Project Manager, Start Date, End Date, Description and Status. These must be new or existing site columns. You cannot create columns in the way you do when you just want to add a column to one list or library.

The Project Manager column should be of the lookup type, so I also create a list of names that this column can fetch dropdown alternatives from.

Create Word template
When we have created a library and given it the content type, views and settings we want, we can also make sure that each Project Word document has the correct look and metadata. This is done with a Word template connected to the content type. In my template, I use Quick Parts to fetch information from the content type columns.

Create library template
I only have to create one Projects library from scratch, because this library can then be used as a template for libraries on other sites. Libraries created from the Projects Library template will have the same content type, views and Word template as the first library. I only need to repeat some settings that don't get included in the template.

Show projects in homepage
Even if each department has its own Projects library, it might be useful to show all ongoing projects on the site collection homepage. I show how to do this with two web parts: Content Search and Content Query. Choose the one you prefer!

Classic experience
Currently a Word template with content type info can only be used with the desktop version of Word and with the classic experience library interface, so that is what I use in most of the demo below. I of course describe how to make a library always open in the classic interface and how to ensure that the desktop Word is used and not Word Online.

I follow the Microsoft development plans closely, so when it will be possible to use the new experience and maybe even Word Online for this kind of template, I will create a new demo and Tips article!

Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions

Testing Microsoft Teams

Microsoft has announced the upcoming release of a new app for Office 365: Teams. In a new Teams article in the Office 365 from Scratch series, I show how to get started with the preview of this workspace for group chats and collaboration.

Preview version
In the beginning of this month, Microsoft introduced Teams at an event in New York. It is now available as a preview version for most Office 365 subscribers that are on the Enterprise or Business plans. Teams will be officially available in the first quarter of 2017.

Chat hub
Microsoft Teams is intended for chat communication, but a lot of existing Office 365 applications have been incorporated in the new app. Thus users can easily add tabs for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneNote, Planner, Power BI and Team Services inside Teams. Also third party tools will be supported in the final version.

Meetings can be scheduled, and recent files can be reached from the panel to the left of the workspace. You can also click on the icon for each person who is a member of the current team chat and have options on how to contact him or her – for example by a Skype call.

Worldwide collaboration
I was a Product Manager at Skype for five years, in the early days before it was sold to Microsoft. During that time, the kalmstrom.com team was smaller than today, and we did not have as many SharePoint and Outlook products. But we already had offices in Sweden and India, and I was often travelling for Skype, so we needed an efficient way to communicate.

See what was said
The obvious solution to keeping in touch where ever we were located, was the Skype chats, and they have served us well for more than 10 years. One of the big advantages
with Skype chats compared to telephone calls is that you have everything kept in writing and can go back and look at what was actually said. Now Microsoft Teams gives the same benefits as Skype and much more.

Testing
The kalmstrom.com team members are always interested in new technology, so right now we are using Teams to cooperate on one of our custom solution projects. So far our overall impression is positive, but we miss a pop-up message or similar when a new entry has been added to the chat. I am sure Microsoft will fix that before the full release.

Get started
If you are a SharePoint admin and want to try the new Office 365 tool, you can enable the preview. In the demo below I show how to do it, and I also give a short Teams overview. You can find more info in the Tips article on Microsoft Teams. Welcome to visit the kalmstrom.com website!

Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions

Office 365 User Accounts In New And Updated Tutorials

Microsoft makes frequent changes in Office 365, so some of our Tips articles and demos from last year are already outdated. I have therefore started to record new demos, and soon everything about Office 365 in the kalmstrom.com Tips section will be up to date.

Office 365 from Scratch
In August last year we began publishing a series of Office 365 tutorials called Office 365 from Scratch. In 2016 Microsoft has enhanced their cloud platform,  so new Office 365 users will get an Office 365 that in some respects is different from what I show in my demos and describe in the Tips articles.  It is time to update them.

Get started and add users
In my first updated tutorial I show how to set up an Office 365 trial, which has now become easier than it was a year ago. I recommend Enterprise E3, so that is the edition I use in all my Office 365 and SharePoint Online demonstrations.

When you are all set up, you of course want to add user accounts. Office 365 is a platform for sharing, after all! We have updated Tips articles with demos on how to add one single user to Office 365 and how to import users from a CSV file.

There is also a brand new tutorial that shows how to get started with Office 365 user account creation in PowerShell. As I explained in an earlier blog post, PowerShell has become one of the most prominent tools for the kalmstrom.com developers and we often use it for custom solutions. PowerShell is excellent for automation of tedious tasks, and of course you can use it for user accounts also.

The kalmstrom.com Tips section
I have embedded the set up demo below for a first glance, but if you want to learn more about Office 365 I advise you to visit the Office 365 section of the kalmstrom.com Tips section. There you can find all the demos incorporated in articles that give additional information and step by step instructions. I hope you will find the Office 365 from Scratch series useful!

Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions

Classes, Objects and JSON in Windows PowerShell

PowerShell is an excellent tool if you want to get tedious and repetitive tasks done quickly and correctly. In a new article in the kalmstrom.com Tips section I show how to create a class, objects and a JSON file in Windows PowerShell.

Enforced command prompt

In the computing world, a shell is a user interface that gives access to operating system services. If you start from the command prompt and make it much more powerful, you will have what Microsoft calls PowerShell.

Class, object and JSON

When you start writing a script in PowerShell, it is often useful to first create a class. The class describes an object and tells what could be done with it. I use a car as example, and in the class I add the properties wheels and color. I could of course also add more properties, like speed or even methods like driving and braking.

 Now I can create car objects based on the car class. For each object I define values for the class properties, and when I run the object script I can make things happen. Well, I cannot drive a car with a script - yet! - but I wanted to use an obvious example in my tutorial. When I write PowerShell scripts to use for computer processes I can certainly do a lot.

Objects can also be sent to JSON files, which you then can save in a directory and use in other processes.

Prominent tool
PowerShell is one of the most prominent tools in the kalmstrom.com development box. We have a deep experience in automating SharePoint and Office 365 with PowerShell, and we can for example give PowerShell scripts to subscribers who want to install or update multiple kanban boards or time reporting calendars in SharePoint.

Custom solutions
We often assist companies and organizations with custom development, and we use PowerShell for various services, such as creation and modification of site collections, lists, site pages, permissions, folder structures, content types and workflows. We have also helped customers to make a structured migration from file servers to SharePoint.

I am displaying the demo here, but I recommend you to visit the kalmstrom.com Tips section and read the whole article.

Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions