This topic explains the article about SharePoint 3. In case, you are looking for SharePoint 3, you can always consider ASPHostCentral and you can start from our lowest Standard Plan @4.99/month to host your SharePoint site.

What’s New?
There are a lot of new features in Windows SharePoint Services v3. The first thing that most Mac users will notice is an updated user interface that renders much better on the Mac in both Firefox and Safari. The new templates render well and you'll notice better performance when you are customizing your sites and pages from the Mac.

Windows SharePoint Services v3 ships with 6 standard site templates. These templates include some of the site types your familiar with from v2, plus a could of new ones:

- Document Workspace
- Team Site
- Blog
- Wiki
- Meeting Workspace
- Blank Site

The two most commonly used templates are probably the Document Workspace and the Team Site.

A Document Workspace essentially acts as a very smart folder, which supports collaboration on one or more shared documents and supporting files. The Document Library folder supports check in/checkout and versioning and the site features a Task list and a Links list that a group can use to track assignments and progress on the document.

A Team Site is very similar to a Document Workspace, but the scope is usually wider, serving the needs of a larger group of individuals. Team Sites feature a Document Library, an Announcements List, a Calendar, Contacts and a Quick Links list by default.

The Blog site is a new feature in Windows SharePoint Services v3. A blog is simply a list of stories posted with the latest item at the top of the list. This makes it easer for readers to scan a list they've seen for the latest news from the blog. The Blog site in SharePoint v3 also features an RSS feed and the ability for others to comment on blog posts. This ability to comment on posted items allows for the exchange of ideas between the author of the blog and the readers and even between the readers themselves.

Another new site template in SharePoint v3 is the Wiki site. A wiki is a site that allows any authorized user to edit a page quickly and easily. One of the features of the wiki that make it a powerful tool for collaboration is the ability to instantly create a new page based on a term in the current page. Adding double brackets around a word in a paragraph creates a hotlink to a new page in the wiki. Wikis work well as sites where group knowledge is stored and retrieved. For example, you can use a wiki to store information about configuring machines on the network. As the information around that topic changes, admins and users can update the data on the pages of the wiki so that the information is always up-to-date. Wikis can also be used for brainstorming, research, and for planning. Individuals and groups can use a wiki to store meeting notes and other textual information that needs to be updated on a regular basis. SharePoint v3 wiki pages work well on both the PC and the Mac, but only the PC version running in Internet Explorer features a WYSIWYG editor. Users writing to a SharePoint wiki on the Mac will need to use simple HTML markup for formatting and linking.

A Meeting Workspace is a site used to track meeting notes and schedules. At launch SharePoint v3 is scheduled to provide 5 different workspace types.

Finally, the Blank Space is just that, it's blank. This means that you can start a site with just the content you want.

New Content
The version 3 SharePoint sites features an updated Create Page where you can add many of the features I've mentioned already to an existing site. This means you can add additional Document Libraries, Wiki pages, tracking calendars, and even sub-sites to an existing SharePoint site.

The content page types that can be added to a SharePoint v3 site are broken into 5 categories; Libraries, Communications, Tracking, Customer Lists, and Web Pages.

Library types include the Document Library, the Form Library, the Wiki Page Library and the Picture Library. The only library type that might prove difficult for Mac users to use is the Form Library. Form Libraries depend on features found in Microsoft InfoPath, which isn't available on the Mac. The other library types should work fine, except in cases where functionality is dependent on an ActiveX control, for example, when you want to export a list to a spreadsheet.

Communications page types include Announcements, Contacts, and Discussion Boards. Of these, the Discussion Boards feature is interesting in that the boards created in SharePoint v3 have the look and feel of modern web discussion boards and the interface is easy to use from the Mac.

The Tracking page types include Links, Calendars, Tasks, Issue Tracking and Survey pages. One of the most exciting new features of SharePoint version 3 is the Project Tasks tracking page type. This new page type provides a Gantt Chart view that allows you to instantly see the status of items in a project list. This is a great feature for users managing small projects and it works well on the Mac

A Typical Workflow
The workflow is very similar in SharePoint v3, but the user interface is different so it's probably worth walking through a typical document sharing workflow from the Mac. The document workflow for SharePoint v3 is fairly straightforward and consists of the following steps. In our example, we'll add a new Microsoft Word file to a document library from the Mac.

1. Create your new document in Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac and save it somewhere on your local machine.

2. In your SharePoint v3 document library, click upload and use the Upload Document page to add the file you created in Word to the SharePoint document library.

3. The document is now available in the SharePoint document library.

To modify this file, a Mac user should follow these steps to ensure that the file is locked while they work on it and is then updated properly on the SharePoint site.

1. Check out the file by mousing over the file name in SharePoint and click Check Out in the dropdown menu.

2. Click on the file name to download the file to the Mac.

3. Work on the file in Word and save your work.

4. Click Upload in the SharePoint document library to open the Upload Document page.

5. Use the browse button to add the document to the Name text box and make sure that the Add as a new version to exiting files checkbox is checked.

6. Click OK.

Top Reasons to trust your SharePoint 3 website to ASPHostCentral.com

What we think makes ASPHostCentral.com so compelling is how deeply integrated all the pieces are. We integrate and centralize everything--from the systems to the control panel software to the process of buying a domain name. For us, that means we can innovate literally everywhere. We've put the guys who develop the software and the admins who watch over the server right next to the 24-hour Fanatical Support team, so we all learn from each other:

- 24/7-based Support - We never fall asleep and we run a service that is operating 24/7 a year. Even everyone is on holiday during Easter or Christmas/New Year, we are always behind our desk serving our customers
- Excellent Uptime Rate - Our key strength in delivering the service to you is to maintain our server uptime rate. We never ever happy to see your site goes down and we truly understand that it will hurt your onlines business. If your service is down, it will certainly become our pain and we will certainly look for the right pill to kill the pain ASAP
- High Performance and Reliable Server - We never ever overload our server with tons of clients. We always load balance our server to make sure we can deliver an excellent service, coupling with the high performance and reliable server
- Experts in SharePoint 3 Hosting - Given the scale of our environment, we have recruited and developed some of the best talent in the hosting technology that you are using. Our team is strong because of the experience and talents of the individuals who make up ASPHostCentral
- Daily Backup Service - We realise that your website is very important to your business and hence, we never ever forget to create a daily backup. Your database and website are backup every night into a permanent remote tape drive to ensure that they are always safe and secure. The backup is always ready and available anytime you need it
- Easy Site Administration - With our powerful control panel, you can always administer most of your site features easily without even needing to contact for our Support Team. Additionally, you can also install more than 100 FREE applications directly via our Control Panel in 1 minute!

Happy hosting!

This article explains the brief information about the differences between SharePoint 3 and MOSS 2007. In case, you are looking for SharePoint 3, you can always consider ASPHostCentral and you can start from our lowest Standard Plan @4.99/month to host your SharePoint site.

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Hosted Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 hosting are both part of the SharePoint family. However, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007, both have different features and capabilities. This article enlists the difference between SharePoint 3.0 hosting and the SharePoint server 2007. This document might enable businesses and individuals to decide which SharePoint Services would suit the requirement.

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS)

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) is an add-on to Windows Server. WSS offers the base collaborative infrastructure, supporting HTTP- and HTTPS-based editing of documents, as well as document organization in document libraries. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 also has version control capabilities. You can setup wikis, and blogs for a team. Windows SharePoint Services also includes end-user functionality such as workflows, to-do lists, alerts and discussion boards, which are exposed as web parts to be embedded into SharePoint pages. WSS 3.0 is built on top of ASP.NET 2.0. WSS was previously known as SharePoint Team Services. Out of the box, only one workflow is obtainable, which is the tri-state work flow for easy workflow organization. Additional workflows could be created through SharePoint designer or Visual Studio .NET.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 has additional functionalities when compared to WSS 3.0.;

One of the most widely used functionalities with both the Microsoft SharePoint Hosting technologies is that you can create conference space, and use the workspace to issue the agenda; invite attendees and discuss points. You can use the same workspace to track the points and tasks that were mentioned during the meeting. You can view the calendar and decide the best time for you and the attendees before scheduling the meeting.

Microsoft SharePoint server comes with solutions that are modified for specific businesses or tasks. You can convert the template with your own logo, forms, and create user alerts. Managers and CEOs can keep track of actions using these templates. Forums and discussion groups can be used to discuss important projects. This saves plenty of time in arranging meetings and co-ordination.

Using Microsoft Sharepoint 2007 you can centrally store the documents which can be accessed by users. You can control which document is available to which user. Changes to the document can be tracked. These files can be accessed from any location in the world. Many documents like Word and Excel can be opened and edited in the browser itself.

As we move towards a world, where time and boundaries no longer are barriers towards doing business; Microsoft SharePoint And hosted Exchange 2007 is becoming trait rich tools which will help us improve efficiency and increase effectiveness. Using a vendor to host these feature rich collaborative suites will significantly save your precious dollars and time.

Top Reasons to trust your SharePoint 3 website to ASPHostCentral.com

What we think makes ASPHostCentral.com so compelling is how deeply integrated all the pieces are. We integrate and centralize everything--from the systems to the control panel software to the process of buying a domain name. For us, that means we can innovate literally everywhere. We've put the guys who develop the software and the admins who watch over the server right next to the 24-hour Fanatical Support team, so we all learn from each other:

- 24/7-based Support - We never fall asleep and we run a service that is operating 24/7 a year. Even everyone is on holiday during Easter or Christmas/New Year, we are always behind our desk serving our customers
- Excellent Uptime Rate - Our key strength in delivering the service to you is to maintain our server uptime rate. We never ever happy to see your site goes down and we truly understand that it will hurt your onlines business. If your service is down, it will certainly become our pain and we will certainly look for the right pill to kill the pain ASAP
- High Performance and Reliable Server - We never ever overload our server with tons of clients. We always load balance our server to make sure we can deliver an excellent service, coupling with the high performance and reliable server
- Experts in SharePoint 3 Hosting - Given the scale of our environment, we have recruited and developed some of the best talent in the hosting technology that you are using. Our team is strong because of the experience and talents of the individuals who make up ASPHostCentral
- Daily Backup Service - We realise that your website is very important to your business and hence, we never ever forget to create a daily backup. Your database and website are backup every night into a permanent remote tape drive to ensure that they are always safe and secure. The backup is always ready and available anytime you need it
- Easy Site Administration - With our powerful control panel, you can always administer most of your site features easily without even needing to contact for our Support Team. Additionally, you can also install more than 100 FREE applications directly via our Control Panel in 1 minute!

Happy hosting!

This topic explains the article about SharePoint 3. In case, you are looking for SharePoint 3, you can always consider ASPHostCentral and you can start from our lowest Standard Plan @4.99/month to host your SharePoint site.

Different Approaches for Up-Gradation of Windows SharePoint Services

First of all let us tell you about the different ways in which this upgrade can be done. Currently there are three well known ways to do this:

1. In-Place
2. Gradual
3. Database Migration

The first two approaches are carried out on the same machine as the current server. However, for the third approach, database migration, a separate server is required to complete the upgrade process.

Now let us explore all three of these one by one in a bit detail.

The In-Place Approach

Let’s start with the “In-Place” approach. This approach can also be called the ‘overwritten’ method. It is called so as the older version is completely replaced by the newer one. Once this process is complete, the older version cannot be accessed anymore. During this process, the system is said to be ‘offline’.

This upgrade method is suitable for a single server or a small environment. The advantage is that a separate server or a different machine is not required. Also, as soon as the process is completed all the URLs start pointing towards the new upgraded server, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

The Gradual Approach

The second in line is the “gradual” upgrade approach. In this method both the Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 and 3.0 run side by side on the same machine. The data is copied from the running SQL Content (original) database to the new SQL Content Database.

While the upgrade process is going on, only those portions would be online that are actually getting backed up at that point in time. The rest will remain available. Like the ‘in-place’ approach, in this approach as well the old URLs will point towards the new server after the upgrade process is complete.

If you choose to follow this approach, you must take care of the storage requirements. Since the whole process is taking place on one machine, disk space is required for the SQL log files.

The good thing about this method is that unlike the “in-process” method, this approach allows you to roll back to the previous state. This approach is best for bigger SharePoint applications. You can keep almost everything online the whole time. Only different portions will become offline as they get up-graded.

The Database Migration Approach

In the third approach, ‘Database Migration’, another machine is required for the upgrade process. All the data does not have to be taken offline at once. Like the ‘Gradual’ approach, only that data will be offline that is being upgrade at that time.

The data needs to be migrated manually; therefore, this is a much more complex approach than the previous two. Like in the ‘Gradual’ approach, the current as well as the new version is maintained side by side. The complexity is introduced only because of the hardware requirements and due to the need to do things manually.

Since we need a different server, we do need to go though the trouble of installing Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 on it. We will copy all database but we do not need to copy the configuration from the 2.0 version. We will configure the new server on the new machine from scratch to version 3.0.

This approach is particularly good for the situation where you are planning to upgrade your hardware as well, along with the Windows Service.

Happy-up-grading!

There is no hard and fast rule as to which approach to follow and no verdict that which approach is the best. It all depends on your requirements and you can improvise using the knowledge of all the three approaches that you have.

We personally am in the favor of the ‘Gradual’ approach. This approach requires less hassle than the ‘Database Migration’ approach because we do not need a separate machine. It is slightly complicated than the ‘In-Place’ approach but it provides us with the ability to roll back to the previous state any time we like. And we feel that this provision of roll back is highly beneficial for a novice as well as a seasoned professional.

This was the brief overview of all available approaches to upgrade. In my next posts, we will describe the process in steps.

At the end of this part, we would like to wish all the best to everybody who is about to or is already doing this upgrade process. Happy up-grading!

Top Reasons to trust your SharePoint 3 website to ASPHostCentral.com

What we think makes ASPHostCentral.com so compelling is how deeply integrated all the pieces are. We integrate and centralize everything--from the systems to the control panel software to the process of buying a domain name. For us, that means we can innovate literally everywhere. We've put the guys who develop the software and the admins who watch over the server right next to the 24-hour Fanatical Support team, so we all learn from each other:

- 24/7-based Support - We never fall asleep and we run a service that is operating 24/7 a year. Even everyone is on holiday during Easter or Christmas/New Year, we are always behind our desk serving our customers
- Excellent Uptime Rate - Our key strength in delivering the service to you is to maintain our server uptime rate. We never ever happy to see your site goes down and we truly understand that it will hurt your onlines business. If your service is down, it will certainly become our pain and we will certainly look for the right pill to kill the pain ASAP
- High Performance and Reliable Server - We never ever overload our server with tons of clients. We always load balance our server to make sure we can deliver an excellent service, coupling with the high performance and reliable server
- Experts in SharePoint 3 Hosting - Given the scale of our environment, we have recruited and developed some of the best talent in the hosting technology that you are using. Our team is strong because of the experience and talents of the individuals who make up ASPHostCentral
- Daily Backup Service - We realise that your website is very important to your business and hence, we never ever forget to create a daily backup. Your database and website are backup every night into a permanent remote tape drive to ensure that they are always safe and secure. The backup is always ready and available anytime you need it
- Easy Site Administration - With our powerful control panel, you can always administer most of your site features easily without even needing to contact for our Support Team. Additionally, you can also install more than 100 FREE applications directly via our Control Panel in 1 minute!

Happy hosting!

This topic explains the article about SharePoint 3. In case, you are looking for SharePoint 3, you can always consider ASPHostCentral.com and you can start from our lowest Standard Plan @4.99/month to host your SharePoint site.

Overview

SharePoint web parts provide support to create both customized and personalized user interfaces. Customization in this case means that the changes for the web part are seen by all site users. Individual users can personalize their web pages further by adding, moving and removing web parts in their view of the web page. In this case, personalization means that the changes made to the web parts are only visible to the user who made the change.

When developing custom web parts, you can extend the Windows SharePoint site's functionality in an easy and powerful way.

Web parts were first introduced in Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) V2.0. In Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 they are no longer just a SharePoint feature, because the ASP.NET team adopted the web part concept and rebuilt the entire web part framework using ASP.NET 2.0.

Because Windows SharePoint Services V3.0 uses .NET Framework 2.0, WSS web parts can also use the ASP.NET 2.0 web parts control set. When you are creating web parts for WSS V3.0, you have the option of inheriting from the System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPart (ASP.NET 2.0 web part) or Windows SharePoint Services web part class. The Windows SharePoint Services web part class was part of Windows SharePoint Services V2.0, before the ASP.NET web parts were introduced, where they supported web part development.

Developers can now easily apply their .NET development experience and use Visual Studio 2005 to create new ASP.NET 2.0 web parts for Windows SharePoint Services V3.0 sites.

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) V3.0 Web Part Infrastructure

The WSS V3.0 web part infrastructure uses many of the ASP.NET 2.0 web part control sets. The infrastructure also creates its own controls by inheriting them from the base class provided by the ASP.NET 2.0 web part control set.

There are three controls that make up the core web part infrastructure in WSS V3.0. They are SPWebPartManager, WebPartZone and WebPart.

SPWebPartManager Class

WSS V3.0 web pages don't use standard ASP.NET WebPartManager in their pages. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 uses the SPWebPartManager (Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.SPWebPartManager) that inherits from the ASP.NET WebPartMnager (System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPartManager) class. (There is an additional "SP" character in the SharePoint WebPartManager). The reason for having different names in ASP.NET and SharePoint is that the WebPartManager is a new concept introduced by ASP.NET web part controls. SPWebPartManager acts as the central hub, managing all the web parts and zones. In WSS 2.0 site pages, many of the tasks handled by SPWebPartManager were done by web part pages (adding, removing, moving web parts to zones, etc), web part zones, and the web part itself.

By default, the SPWebPartManager object is added to the master page of the WSS V3.0 pages. The SPWebPartManager is included in every content page by default because the master page contains an instance of SPWebPartManager. Because it's already set up for you, you can add a web part to a WSS V3.0 page without having to worry about the SPWebPartManager object.

All web parts now belong to the SPWebPartManager object in a page. This means a reference to the Parent property of the web part class will return SPWebPartManager object rather than the WebPartZone object in WSS V2.

WebPartZone Class

The WebPartZone provides a way to organize the web parts in to regions in the web page. WSS V3.0 uses its own WebPartZone (Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPartZone) that is inherited from the standard ASP.NET 2.0 WebPartZone (System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebPartsWebPartZone) class. The same name is used in both ASP.NET web part control and WSS 3.0 web part controls. This is because the WebPartZone concept was introduced in WSS V2.0 and having the same name supports backward compatibility.

The WebPartZones control the appearance of the web part controls. Each zone is rendered as an HTML table in the browser. A page can contain more than one WebPartZone control. There are two types of WebPartZones:

- WebPartZoneBase - Contains all the web parts in the web part page.
- ToolZone - A specialized zone that enables users to change the properties of the web parts within the selected zone.

The SPWebPartManager and WebPartZone controls manage the serialization of the web part's data with the Windows SharePoint Services content database. ASP.NET web parts must be placed on a page with these two controls, if you want the data to persist and to support personalization.

WebPart Class

ASP.NET 2.0 web parts will run on both ASP.NET web pages and WSS site pages. You can build a web part for WSS V3.0 site that drives from:

- System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPart
- Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPart

When you create web parts for WSS 3.0 sites, Microsoft recommends using ASP.NET 2.0 web parts rather than SharePoint web parts. An exception to this is when you require additional functionalities that are not part of ASP.NET 2.0 web part control set, but which are provided from SharePoint web parts.

Importing and Exporting Web Parts

You won't be able to simply copy your ASP.NET 2.0 web parts to Windows SharePoint Services V3.0 pages. To use your ASP.NET web parts in the SharePoint environment, you must first export your ASP.NET web parts and then import them to the SharePoint pages. (The Building ASP.NET 2.0 Web Part for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 article covers more details)

When to Use Windows SharePoint Services Web Part Class

There are a few cases when you will have to use Windows SharePoint Services web parts instead of ASP.NET web parts. Windows SharePoint Services web parts support additional Windows SharePoint Services features that are not supported through an ASP.NET web part. Following is a list of features that are only supported through Windows SharePoint Services web parts:

- Connections between web parts that are outside of a Web Part zone
- Cross page connections
- A data caching infrastructure that allows caching to the content database
- Client-side connections (Web Part Page Services Component)

Another reason for using Windows SharePoint Services web parts is when you want to upgrade your Windows SharePoint Services V2.0 web parts to the V3.0 environment. The new version of the web part should be driven from the SharePoint web part class. SharePoint web parts can only be hosted in Windows SharePoint Services site pages.

Top Reasons to trust your SharePoint 3 website to ASPHostCentral.com

What we think makes ASPHostCentral.com so compelling is how deeply integrated all the pieces are. We integrate and centralize everything--from the systems to the control panel software to the process of buying a domain name. For us, that means we can innovate literally everywhere. We've put the guys who develop the software and the admins who watch over the server right next to the 24-hour Fanatical Support team, so we all learn from each other:

- 24/7-based Support - We never fall asleep and we run a service that is operating 24/7 a year. Even everyone is on holiday during Easter or Christmas/New Year, we are always behind our desk serving our customers
- Excellent Uptime Rate - Our key strength in delivering the service to you is to maintain our server uptime rate. We never ever happy to see your site goes down and we truly understand that it will hurt your onlines business. If your service is down, it will certainly become our pain and we will certainly look for the right pill to kill the pain ASAP
- High Performance and Reliable Server - We never ever overload our server with tons of clients. We always load balance our server to make sure we can deliver an excellent service, coupling with the high performance and reliable server
- Experts in SharePoint 3 Hosting - Given the scale of our environment, we have recruited and developed some of the best talent in the hosting technology that you are using. Our team is strong because of the experience and talents of the individuals who make up ASPHostCentral
- Daily Backup Service - We realise that your website is very important to your business and hence, we never ever forget to create a daily backup. Your database and website are backup every night into a permanent remote tape drive to ensure that they are always safe and secure. The backup is always ready and available anytime you need it
- Easy Site Administration - With our powerful control panel, you can always administer most of your site features easily without even needing to contact for our Support Team. Additionally, you can also install more than 100 FREE applications directly via our Control Panel in 1 minute!

Happy hosting!

1. Type (icon linked to document)
2. Name (linked to document with edit menu)
3. Modified (date)
4. Modified By (person)
5. Checked Out To (person)
6. Check In Comment (text)
7. Content Type
8. Copy Source (link)
9. Created (date)
10. Created By (person)
11. Edit (link to edit item)
12. File Size (kb)
13. ID (unique identifier)
14. Name (for use in forms)
15. Name (linked to document)
16. Title (text)
17. Version (number)

1. Author
2. Category
3. Comments
4. Contributor
5. Coverage
6. Date
7. Date Modified
8. Date Picture Taken
9. Format
10. Keywords
11. Last Printed
12. Publisher
13. Relation
14. Resource Identifier
15. Resource Type
16. Revision
17. Rights Management
18. Source
19. Subject
20. Version

1. Requester Name
2. Requester Email
3. Time Frame
4. Priority of this Request
5. Comments

Introduction to SharePoint

Like most portal products, SharePoint allows visitors to create custom views of the Web site. This customization can be very simple or very complex, depending on the type and version of the product that is installed. In addition, SharePoint has a powerful collaboration model that is tightly integrated with the Office 2003 suite.

The current version of SharePoint is its third (despite its name). Like most Microsoft software, (Windows in particular) version 3 is gaining rapid adoption. A recent article in The Register indicated that SharePoint Portal Server is Microsoft's fastest growing product, with 30 million licenses.


History of SharePoint

Microsoft's first portal application was called Digital Dashboard. This product introduced the concept of Web parts — boxes of information on a page that represented a summary or overview of information. (Other vendors referred to these items as "portlets.") By assembling multiple parts on a page, each user could customize his view of the portal to contain the information that pertained to them. In theory, every visitor of the site could have different content at the same URL. However, the technology behind the Digital Dashboard was not up to the task, and it never made it out of the beta stage

At the same time, Microsoft's Office group was working toward a collaboration solution. The need for many people to contribute to a single document or worksheet was growing. And, these people were not necessarily working at the same location. The result was SharePoint Team Services (STS), a Web-based solution that allowed shared access to information and documents. STS also allowed end-users to make changes to the site via a Web browser instead of requiring a development-oriented application

The merging of the collaboration and aggregation functions lead to SharePoint Portal Server 2001. Portal Server has been upgraded to run on the .Net framework and is now referred to as SharePoint Products and Technologies. The "Product" is SharePoint Portal Server 2003 (SPS) and the "Technologies" are Windows SharePoint Services (WSS). A significant point about these two is that WSS is included with the Windows Server 2003 license. Any organization that is licensed for Windows Server 2003 can also host Websites that are based on WSS


Features of SharePoint

In general, SharePoint contains all of the features you would expect from a portal or collaboration tool:

- Browser-based customization of page
- Browser-based content administration
- Aggregation capabilities
- Document Repository
- Message board
- Ad-hoc data storage
- E-mail notifications
- Announcements, event calendar and contact list

A complete feature matrix that also indicates whether the feature is part of WSS or SPS can be found in the whitepaper Implementing Rich Collaboration Infrastructure Using Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2003 on Microsoft's Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/evaluationoverview.asp).


Uses for SharePoint

In addition to being the default intranet portal, there are many additional uses for SharePoint. Microsoft has included pre-defined templates for Web sites to facilitate meetings, manage projects and create documents. Combined with the "self-service" site creating feature, teams can create and use a Web site with minimal assistance from the Information Technology department

The Document Workspace template will allow a group to work on a document. The template combines a document repository with a task list and a links list. While using Word 2003, a user can have the document open and at the same time view the task or links list. Changes made to the task list are immediately visible to site visitors. And the document library allows versioning, so edits are not lost.

The Meeting Workspace template combines the agenda, attendee list and Outlook's calendar function. When sending a meeting request in Outlook 2003, a user can create a workspace on the server. The URL of the workspace is automatically included in the message and the attendees are added to the site. The materials required for the meeting can be centrally located, which is preferable for attendees who travel frequently

The browser-based customization feature, combined with the ability to create ad-hoc lists allows an advanced user to create a site for almost any purpose. A user group could host its meeting schedule, complete handouts. A youth sport organization can post its schedule and roster. An individual can host a blog. The possibilities are endless.


Sharepoint Hosting with ASPHostCentral.com

ASPHostCentral proudly presents the opportunity to everyone to embrace the latest technology from Microsoft. As our promise to always deliver the top-notch, cutting-edge technology to everyone, we always keep our system up-to-date with the newest and latest technology.

New Customer - You can start from as low as $4.99/month to host your first Windows Sharepoint portal
Existing Customer - For all existing customers, you just need to make sure that you have one new, fresh MSSQL database available for the WSS installation. If your currently do not have one, you have the option to purchase the MSSQL addon