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10 September 2015

5 Ways To Add Images To SharePoint

SharePoint icon When you add images to a SharePoint page it looks more attractive, and the users will have an enhanced experience of working with SharePoint.

In a few articles in our new SharePoint Online from Scratch series, we describe different ways to add images to a SharePoint page. The most common way is to use the Picture button in the SharePoint ribbon, but you may also add images into dedicated picture web parts.

Picture button with three options
Picture Button The SharePoint Picture button has three options: “From Computer”, “From Address” and “From SharePoint”.To insert an image “From Computer” works as when you upload images to Facebook or other social media.

Everything on the web has an address, so you can add images from websites through a link via the “From Address” option. You can also insert an image from the site collection itself by using the “From SharePoint” option.

No Control with URL
In the second and third options the images will not be copied to your SharePoint site collection. Instead they are just linked to the SharePoint page. This may be an advantage but also a problem, as you have no control over your image if you don’t also control the original place.

However, if the image is deleted from the original place, no image will be shown on your SharePoint page. On the other hand, you will have an updated image if the original image is updated, and that might be beneficial.

Image Viewer Web Part
In SharePoint versions before 2010 the only way to add a picture to a SharePoint page was to use the Image Viewer Web Part. Nowadays there are more and easier methods to add images, but the Image Viewer Web Part is still there and can be used.
Picture Button
Picture Library Slideshow
When you upload pictures to the Picture Library Slideshow Web Part you will get a nice thumbnail view. You can also create a slideshow with the images available in the Picture Library Slideshow Web Part. The only restriction is that the Picture Library Slideshow Web Part should be in the same site and not in the same site collection.

Links can be added to images in various ways, and in my next blog post about SharePoint pictures I will tell you how it can be done.

By Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions

09 September 2015

TimeCard for SharePoint With Summary Web Part

TimeCard for SharePoint logotypeTimeCard for SharePoint V1.5 has been released! Compared to the Outlook version, which has 15 years on the market, the SharePoint version is still young.

But young is not the same as powerless! By taking advantage of SharePoint features we can give TimeCard for SharePoint possibilities that are much more difficult to develop in Outlook.

Tag calendar events with time reporting info
With TimeCard for SharePoint users tag their calendar events with centrally defined time reporting values that are present in dropdowns in each event. When it is time to report the work hours, they can use these calendar events and report time directly from their SharePoint calendars. There are no double entries, and the calendars can be reached from everywhere over the internet.
The TimeCard for SharePoint event tab

Statistics
Statistics iconThe reported time can be studied in Excel reports. Administrators can see data from all users, while each user only can see his or her own data. The Excel reports are useful for different kinds of calculations, and by using Excel we make it easy to both calculate and visualize the reported data.

kalmstrom.com time tracking
We of course try to use our own products as much as possible, and as the kalmstrom.com team is geographically distributed between Sweden, India and sometimes Spain, we especially like our SharePoint Solutions. Therefore we report time with TimeCard for SharePoint.

Quick overview of time usage
The TimeCard statistics is excellent for Business Intelligence, but we also wanted some way to quickly see what people had done during the day and what was planned for tomorrow. This is not what TimeCard is intended for in the first place, but thanks to SharePoint Web Parts, we could expand TimeCard to fill this overview function too.
The TimeCard for SharePoint event tab

TimeCard Summary Web Part
Today's update of TimeCard for SharePoint includes the new Web Part we created to have our overview feature, and I hope more organizations will find it useful. The TimeCard Summary Web Part can be inserted in any page in the site collection where TimeCard has been installed.

The kalmstrom.com team members report every day, and with the TimeCard Summary I can easily keep track of what everyone is doing. Should I want more info than what is given in the summary, I have links to all calendars in the Quick Launch.


Upgrade
kalmstrom.com upgrade icon Upgrades are always included in the kalmstrom.com Subscriptions, so current users of TimeCard for SharePoint are welcome to upgrade their installations.

Try TimeCard!
kalmstrom.com download icon You are welcome to download TimeCard for SharePoint and try it for 30 days. If you don't want to create your own tag values and events, you can use our example data for an easier evaluation.

Mobile App
I will soon come back with more TimeCard for SharePoint news, as its mobile app will be released any day now. It will be free for subscribers and will work with version 1.5 and later.

By Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions

08 September 2015

SharePoint Study Manager Updated

Study Manager for SharePoint logotypeOur youngest solution, Study Manager for SharePoint, has been on the market for nearly six months now. Today the first update has been released, and its two enhancements were inspired by current users.

Study Manager
Study Manager helps teachers to create and manage self study material – texts, sound, images, videos, links – in SharePoint. Their students work online with exercises that contain various tasks to solve. When one task is solved, they click on a Next button to reach the next task of that exercise.
Study Manager exercise

Suggestions after practical use
When kalmstrom.com Subscribers suggest enhancements we always listen carefully, because people who use our products often have good ideas on how to make them work even better.

Today's update has come after a teacher contacted us about a problem in Study Manager: when students stop their work in the middle of an exercise, they have to start from scratch next time and do the first tasks again. Teachers decide how many tasks they want to add to each exercise, and this teacher had created exercises with many tasks.

Elegant solution
The teacher wanted a way for the students to save their work when they had to break an exercise, but the kalmstrom.com developers found a better solution. Now the work is saved to the statistics automatically each time a student clicks on the Next button to reach next task, so Study Manager will know that these tasks are already done and not show them again.

With this solution the students do not have to take any extra steps to save their work, in case they need to stop before the exercise has been finished.
SharePoint icon
Handles long URLs
The other enhancement in the new version is that Study Manager now handles very long URLs. When the link is more than 255 characters Study Manager will shorten it in the same way as you might have seen on Twitter.

Upgrade Study Manager
Free upgrades are always included in the kalmstrom.com kalmstrom.com download iconSubscriptions, and we recommend current users to upgrade. Your students will have a better experience with the new Next button auto-save.


Try Study Manager
Do you want to create a SharePoint learning center? Do your students want to study from home, or are they in another location? Study Manager is suitable for schools, businesses, yes, any organization that uses SharePoint and needs to educate students or employees.

kalmstrom.com download icon You are welcome to try Study Manager for 30 days without any costs or obligations. Install Study Manager in a new SharePoint site collection, and it will become a center for learning, cooperation and discussion.

By Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions

04 September 2015

Teachers – Gurus and Role Models

I am glad that I once again get a chance to write a few words in respect of Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and also have the honor to write about other great personalities and Indian culture.

Here in India we have a tradition of celebrating Teacher’s Day. This day is celebrated on the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, an Indian philosopher and statesman who was the first Vice President and the second President of India. He was born on 5 September 1888, and since 1962 Indians celebrate his birthday as a Teacher’s Day.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a professor Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan of philosophy and appointed to the most important philosophy chair in India, King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta. He represented the University of Calcutta at the Congress of the Universities of the British Empire and the International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University.

Another important Indian teacher was Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He was the 11th President of India, and after his presidency, he dedicated the rest of his life to teaching. Abdul Kalam was a professor at various universities in India, and he passed away during a lecture at IIM, Shillong. He became an inspiration for all teachers, and his passion towards teaching will always be saluted.
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam
In India we call our teachers ‘Guru’, and we used to worship them. We have grown up with the belief of that our teachers are God, because they teach us to identify with God. I want to share a shloka (couplet of Sanskrit verse) from our Sanskrit study book, which we were taught from childhood and which represents our emotion.

We believe that the Deities Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are the creators of this world.

 गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः 
गुरुरेव परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः

This means: “The Guru (teacher) is the representative of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Guru is verily Para Brahma (Supreme Brahman), salutations to that Guru.”
Ancient Gurukul
Nowadays this is not very true, but in our old stories and mythology teachers are at the place of God. However, it is still true that we respect our teachers highly.

Being a teacher is not easy, it is like a philosophical puzzle. Teachers have the responsibility to groom students and guide them towards the right path to enlighten their future. Teachers are a significant part of our life, and if we are successful today, credit goes to our teachers everywhere.

On the day of celebration teachers allow students to take classes instead of them, and the students go school in dress up like teachers. I remember that I imitated my favorite teacher and tried to teach like she did. The Teacher’s Day is filled with fun and laughter.

Today we have an occasion to express our gratitude towards teachers and role models, so I won’t hesitate to thank my teachers. There have been lots of teachers in my life who developed my bookish knowledge, which is very important.

Kate Kalmstrom image However, I especially want to thank Mrs. Kate Kalmstrom, who has taught me how to make practical use of that bookish knowledge. She helped me to see what I could be, so I want to thank Kate from the bottom of my heart for her precious time and her patience. Because of her generosity, I have seen a huge positive change in my life.

Rituka Rimza image I wish all my teachers and readers a Happy Teacher’s Day!


Rituka Rimza
Sales and Marketing Assistant
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions 

03 September 2015

Free Excel 2016 E-Book

Excel 2016 from Scratch coverIn July I told you about the e-book Excel 2016 from Scratch, which builds on the kalmstrom.com Tips series with the same name. Today we offer the e-book for free, to celebrate that Excel 2016 from Scratch is now also available in a print edition.

Books + demos + exercises
The e-book Excel 2016 from Scratch has links to Excel 2016 Tips articles with video demonstrations and downloadable exercises.

Clickable links in paper books is something that does not exist – yet – but I have chosen to keep the links in the printed version of Excel 2016 from Scratch. The paths to the articles are logical and easy to type in, and of course book readers too will benefit from the downloadable exercises.

For new beginners and experienced users
The first section of Excel 2016 from Scratch is very basic, but later chapters are more advanced and is interesting for more experienced users too. Excel is mostly used for calculation and visualization, but I also show examples on other areas where Excel might be beneficial.

Release later this year
Excel is included in Microsoft Office, and version 2016 will not be released until later this year. I used a preview version when I created the books and the demos, because I wanted to use the very latest. However, you can study Excel 2016 from Scratch even if you have an earlier version of Excel. There have been only minor changes in the user interface.

Free today!
If you buy Excel 2016 from Scratch today, you don't have to pay anything for it! As we are using Amazon, the offer is valid from midnight to midnight PST, which is UTC -8. This means that the campaign started today at nine o'clock CEST.

Take the chance to be an Excel Master at no investment at all – except for your own time and energy, of course! But believe me, Excel is fascinating! Once you have realized the possibilities of Excel, you will be eager to learn more, and the studies will be a joy!

By Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions