Monday, January 31, 2005
Back in October I mentioned that Telerik would eventually be creating the 'r.a.d.controls MCMS Edition' - this will be a package of their components that have been extended to be driven by MCMS configuration and content.
Telerik will shortly be announcing the release of 'Beta 1 of r.a.d.controls suite MCMS Edition' that will include:
- r.a.d.editor : premium version
- r.a.d.treeview
- r.a.d.menu
- r.a.d.panelbar
- r.a.d.tabstrip
- r.a.d.chart
The Premium version of the Editor that is shipped with the suite has the following differences from the free Standard version:
- r.a.d.treeview and LoadOnDemand in the File Browser dialogs (Image, Media, etc)
- Improved Undo/Redo mechanism
- Improved dialog controls - r.a.d.editor 4 user controls - AlignmentSelector, ColorPicker, CssClassSelector, TableBorderControl
- Paste from Word /paste plain text buttons
- "Loading...." message during dialog load
- Dashed borders in edit mode
- Skinning support
- List View and Tree View of the resources in the resource galleries
- Local Attachment tab in the Document Manager
(the last two features will work their way into the free version)
The beta can be downloaded at www.mcmscontrols.com. You can log in with your User Name and Password obtained from here . You can also generate trial keys if you wish to test the controls on a URL other than http://localhost
Comments should be submitted to betasupport@telerik.com.
From
betanews ...
After objections from European antitrust officials, Microsoft have stopped plans to use the name 'Windows XP Reduced Media Edition' for the version without Windows Media Player / associated media functions that it was ordered to sell in Europe. Apparently the Commission is concerned that the name is uninspired and consequently will have the affect of being unattractive to customers.
So what would you call a version of Windows with reduced media functionality ?
From
Bill Simser ...
George Tsiokos wrote to me about a service he put together and is offering for free (under the MIT Licence). You enter an RSS feed URL on his page and he'll generate a DWP file you can upload directly as a Web Part onto your SharePoint Web Part Page.
More :
The Service
Claim your three trial issues now (UK only)
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Sunday, January 30, 2005
The next version of Class Server is packed with new features that benefit schools, teachers, students, and parents. Learn more
here about what's new and the system requirements for Class Server 4.0.
From Hisham Baz ...
Customizing SharePoint Portal Server 2003
This article is a guide for developers customizing SharePoint Portal Server 2003 (SPS). Typical customizations include logo branding, applying updated color schemes, modifying navigation menus or adding a header/footer. Intermediate knowledge of SPS, HTML and CSS is required.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Skelta Workflow.NET - the embeddable .NET workflow engine based on the Microsoft .NET framework - is to be made available as a Lite version free of charge for CMS users.
We are looking for a CMS expert(s) that would like to volunteer to create the guidance and samples of integrating CMS and Skelta. Skelta will provide the appropriate technical support, training and software for development free of charge. If interested, please contact me at 'blog @ markharrison.co.uk'.
Update3: This will be led by Ben Robb and will be supported by his colleagues at
CScape plus Joris Poelmans, Brad Chaney and Angus Logan.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Further to my entry
Enterprise Library coming soon ... its now here !
From
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/practices ...
Just Released: Enterprise LibraryEnterprise Library is a collection of seven reusable and extensible application blocks for enterprise .NET development. The blocks in Enterprise Library assist in the following scenarios: Caching, Configuration, Cryptography, Data Access, Exception Handling, Logging and Security.
New MSDN Article -
Setting Up a Shared Development Environment in MCMS 2002
Summary: Collaborate on building a Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 Web site by sharing a central build computer to store work, and using your own computer to develop and test features. Learn to set up a shared MCMS development environment using the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe source control.
Join Bill Gates via live webcast for his keynote address at the Office Developer Conference on February 4th. He will examine the business needs that make connected systems increasingly critical, explore core architectural concepts that constitute connected systems, including Service-Oriented Architecture and Smart Clients, and describe how the Microsoft Office System can help make this promise a reality.
Register
A month-long webcast series focusing on interoperability – why it matters to the business, common strategies and methods, and guidance on specific implementation scenarios between the major platform players. We'll feature over 40 webcasts, cool giveaways, and brand-new technical guidance from experts such as Simon Guest, Dino Chiesa, and Navdip Bhachech
http://www.interopmonth.com
Tzunami Deployer provides a content migration solution for SharePoint 2003 Products and Technologies. It constitutes a stand-alone application designed for the rapid content migration from multiple sources.
Deployer is an accelerator for the design, modelling, construction and content migration stages of SharePoint. It provides migration from a multitude of content sources, including:
- File Shares
- SharePoint 2001
- Exchange Public Folders
- Lotus Notes
- Hummingbird
Deployer also supports copying content between SharePoint 2003 servers.
More :
SharePoint+
Thursday, January 27, 2005
From
Patrick ...
Tariq has created a CAML Checker. Cool stuff but wait a couple of extra days... Our CAML girl has prepared this awesome CAML tool we are going to put online next week. Just for free. And even more than this. Jan has created a cool RSS/SharePoint generator (also for free). And yes we have more to come. We have invested a lot of time to create a nice little addin for Outlook. It allows you to syncronize SharePoint lists with your folders in Outlook. A trial version will be available online next week.
From
Jobx ...
The Register : "According to Microsoft, Office 2003 is ahead of XP after one year in every segment it tracks. Office revenue grew 17 per cent in financial year 2003 to $10.8bn. SharePoint Portal Server is the firm's fastest growing product, with 30m licencees."
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Ready to deploy, packaged applications for the Microsoft Office System to help employees
- manage increasing volumes of information
- work with others more collaboratively and in more coordinated ways
The
Software Oven puts you in touch with some of the finest Microsoft software development companies.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
MCMS Web Author Enhancement v2.0 provides a new more effective way to manage MCMS site structure and resources.
Features:
- Trees replacement in:
- Select Internal Link dialog
- Create New Page dialog
- Create Connected Page dialog
- Copy Page dialog
- Move Page dialog - New Resources Manager
- New Insert Image/Attachment dialogs
- Resources management via Web folders
- Telerik r.a.d. Editor integration
- Workspace
- Create Resource Gallery dialog
- Create Channel dialog and Console Action
- Channel Items Sorting tab
- Kill Lock Console Action
- Context menus in all trees
- Drag-and-drop to placeholders from trees and Insert Image/Attachment dialogs
- Tree items drag-and-drop
- Thumbnails Generator
Download / More Information
Monday, January 24, 2005
Barry has just written up about
Writing role-based security checks in Web Parts.
The blog describes what is a useful programming technique that turns out to be very tricky to write. Barry has worked hard at gathering information from around the Internet, writing a very digestible code sample and condensing the code and concepts to about 15 minutes of reading for experienced Web Part developers.
The sample code is publicly available for download from the
Barracuda site members section.
Spotted by
Arno ...
Sample chapter - SharePoint Site Collections Demystified - from the book
Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Sharepoint 2003 in 10 Minutes
Business intelligence portal sample application for Microsoft Office 2003 is an integrated, web-based OLAP solution that enables employees in an organization to create and share OLAP/Relational/XML based views, using SharePoint Portal Server, SQL Server Reporting Services, and Office Web components.
More comment and screenshots:
From
Scott ...
Some interesting deep dive webcasts :
More
Trial Windows SharePoint Services:
- 10 user logons
- 20MB of shared storage
- All content virus scanned
- Secure access through SSL
- Access from Office 2003 applications or from any web browser
- 2 month duration
- Trial site domain - https://companyname.myOfficeSystem.co.uk
- Hosted Exchange 2003
Since last summer we have been using Outlook to interface directly with our Siebel CRM system and this enabled such operations to be seamlessly integrated with our normal email and calendar activity. This CRM interface was built on some Outlook 2003 extensions code named Elixir.
ZDNET today have broken an article on Elixir:
Microsoft turns to Elixir for Office boost.
This information has actually been out for a while - back in December, Patrick blogged
Find the Elixir and pointed to the Webcast
Outlook Integration with Siebel at Microsoft.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Further to
Nicks request for MCMS.Rapid success stories/firm intentions/proof of concepts/etc. ... please do send him feedback. Its very important for us to justify to those up the foodchain that investments/efforts in such initiatives are very productive to the MCMS community. Thank you.
Just back from Envision - an internal technical pre-sales conference in Redmond with two thousand attendees from all over the world. There was some general roadmap sessions but I was also privileged to attend an 'insider group' deep drill down of CMS vNext and SPS vNext. What the product team showed me was superb ... if they deliver then the next generation CMS/SharePoint will rock! Don't believe the
FUD stories going around.
Hakan advises me that it will soon be possible to limit the number of forms in the
AchieveForms for CMS licence key. That will enable them to offer other pricing models than just the enterprise license they use now. So a customer who needs just a few complex forms, they don't have to pay for an unlimited number of forms. And AFLite is free !
Contact info:
hakan.thyr@businesswebsoftware.com
Friday, January 21, 2005
Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS, formerly known as "TrustBridge"), is a future identity and access management solution which provides a secure environment for managing user identities, authentication methods, and access rights across an organization's various departments, offices, and regions.
This will make the SharePoint Extranet scenario very much easier to manage. For example, with ADFS - an administrator doesnt have to manage individual accounts of their partners employees. No longer do they need to worry about employees joining/leaving a partner or having the hassle of resetting a forgotten password.
The .NET Show on ADFS
Thursday, January 20, 2005
From
Scott Densmore ...
Barring any major catastrophes, it is official. On January 28th Enterprise Library will be up and available on MSDN. Spread the word ... download the code, give us feedback, join the GotDotNet workspace.
The
Enterprise Library is the next generation of the patterns & practices Application Blocks. This guidance is designed to assist developers with common enterprise development challenges. Our first release will deliver the most widely used blocks into a single integrated package.
From
Eric Schoonover ...
Just a couple links to some very handy SharePoint Portal Server tools, most of them solve problems that I have encountered and been able to solve easily with these tools, the rest just look really cool and have been added ...
more
Microsoft Office Outlook Live is now available. This a subscription version of Outlook that is targeted at small business office users who may be using MSN Hotmail as their business email, but have not been using Outlook.
Demo
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Further to my previous
save the date blog entry - I can confirm that the
MCMS.Rapid Launch Event is definitely confirmed for 15 Feb 2005 evening at Reading, UK. Ive been working with Nick Mayhew and the
Microsoft TechNet team finalising the logistics and we should have the full details and registration form on the web early next week.
UPDATE
You can now register at
https://msevents-eu.microsoft.com/cui/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-GB&eventid=118755049
New SPS2003 sample ...
SPSBackupSample includes programmatic steps and code to demonstrate how to backup and restore all SharePoint Portal Server 2003 or Windows SharePoint Services sites in the server farm. The code shows how to write a backup and restore application for SharePoint Portal Server 2003, and to perform Web Storage System backup for backwards-compatible Microsoft Exchange Server document libraries.
Highlighted by
Scoble ... Google and MSN cooperate against Comment Spam.
Plan is for a new tag to indicate that comments or links are not their own or of a lesser value to a search engine. The 'no follow' tag will signal to the crawler that the pages are to be overlooked and so will render comment spam ineffectual.
Using the standard WSS XML web part for RSS aggregation has been blogged several times before, but here is another version ... from
michael reinhart.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
From
Tim ...
take a look at some concepts of developing web parts in asp.net 2 (whidbey):
http://www.devsource.com/article2/0,1759,1751857,00.asp
MyMSN v3 and the central MSN RSS Directory were both released today. You can view the new My MSN at
http://my.msn.com/ and the MSN RSS Directory at
http://rss.msn.com/.
My MSN is the first Microsoft product to include RSS aggregation features for any Microsoft product. Try clicking on this icon to add my feed to your MyMSN...
The RSS Directory provides users of the MSN network with many valuable RSS-related resources.
From
InformationWeek ...
Microsoft this summer plans to begin beta-testing its workflow software and framework for the next-generation Windows client and server franchises. According to sources, the workflow code, currently dubbed WinOE (Windows orchestration engine), is a set of XML schemas, APIs and workflow components for Visual Studio 2005 that will enable more business-process automation on the Microsoft platform.
Built from the ground up by Microsoft's BizTalk team, WinOE is expected to be generally available in mid-2006 first as an add-on for the .Net framework and the Whidbey version of Visual Studio.
More
Monday, January 17, 2005
The
fourth edition of the quarterly Architect Journal is now available so why not register today on the UK Architecture Centre to receive your copy.
Nick Mayhew - MCMS.Rapid Launch Director - is blogging
http://spaces.msn.com/members/mcmsrapid/
From Nick ...
It is going to be a story about getting RAPID off the ground from my perspective
- hopefully interesting for people involved in MCMS and also others keen to see
the inside view of a product launch.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
www.getthefacts.com ... here are the facts you need to make the choice between Windows and Linux. Examine recent data from white papers and customer case studies for insight into the advantages of the Microsoft Windows platform.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
Building Websites with Microsoft Content Management Server (Stefan Gossner,Lim Mei Ying, Joel Ward) is an end-to-end guide to creating a Microsoft Content Management Server (MCMS) website. No prior knowledge of MCMS is required - this book takes you from the basics of MCMS, guiding you through everything you need to create a fully-featured, content-rich website.
Contents include:
- The basic concepts of MCMS
- Preparing, installing and configuring MCMS and its supporting technologies
- Creating an MCMS website from scratch
- Creating and debugging templates files and channel rendering scripts
- Working with dynamic navigation
- Establishing user roles and rights
- Authoring with MCMS and improving the authoring experience
- Understanding and customizing workflow
- Working with the Publishing API
- Site deployment techniques
- Enhancing your site's performance with caching
Containing answers to some of the most asked questions in developer newsgroups, this book is a treasure trove of tricks and tips for solving the problems faced by MCMS developers.
Tool to get dependency reports for resource gallery items - from Stefan ... MCMS does not provide a mechanism to identify if a resource gallery item is currently being used by a posting or not. This tool closes this gap by creating a report for all resource gallery items showing all postings pointing to a specific resource.
My colleague Ron Bokleman has posted
Microsoft.SharePoint.Menu on GDN - this provides a tree control replacement for "QuickLaunch" or simply an enhancement to the existing SPS/WSS site navigation. Very nice !
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
From
Mike Torres ...
- very soon, My MSN will be live with RSS support.
- we hit a pretty significant milestone today - 1.5 million MSN Spaces created
Nothing new ... but worth reminding people of this great resource:
The Integration Techniques and Strategies for Internet Business book demonstrates integration options for Microsoft Content Management Server 2002, including integration with search engines, workflow engines, and authentication systems.
Interesting to see that you can tack "&format=rss" onto a MSN Search query to get the results in RSS format. Try:
This is experiemental - suggestions can be posted
here.
From
Randomelements ...
Chris over at the MS Exchange Blog has blogged about a new freeware RSS feed reader which places the feeds in to your Outlook folder structure. More.
RSS Popper Home
Mondosoft have announced the availability of a new
Web Service Search Kit that facilitates search through web services. Whether you have MondoSearch installed locally or remotely hosted you can use the kit to build customized search pages and uses of search, independent of platforms, programming languages, environments and server locations.
Includes a nice sample that uses the Research Service in Office 2003 [
image].
From
Random Elements ...
The code samples for the Feb 2005 edition of MSDN magazine are now available and include the code for the Recycle Bin for WSS article. View the code download page page
here.
Update 12 Jan -
Article now online.
From
Michael Kiselman ... five Information Bridge Framework MSDN Webcasts starting tomorrow.
Excerpt from
Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out ...
Using FrontPage 2003 and Visual Studio .NET Together discusses how to FrontPage and Visual Studio can coexist piecefully enabling people to gain from the strengths of each product.
This was written by Jim Buyen a FrontPage MVP. Ive just finished reviewing for Microsoft Press Jims next book
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Inside Out. This book should be completed and ready for the printers by the end of the week.
From BetaNews ...
PCMCIA Cards, the credit-card sized cards used in a variety of applications for notebook computers, will soon be getting smaller and faster. A new technology called ExpressCard claims to be twice as fast as the current iteration and about half the size.
More ExpressCard
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
From
Bink ...
Starting from January 11th, 2005, Microsoft will provide Windows customers with Malicious Software Removal Tools. These removal tools are an extension of virus or worm specific removal tools that Microsoft released in 2004. While tools released in 2004 have been specific to a single virus (and some of its variants), the new removal tools provide more convenience for customers by rolling up all viruses and variants targeted into a common removal tool.
More
Update 11Jan ... this tool is
here and will be updated via WindowsUpdate on the second Tuesday in each month. Online version is
here.
Very useful feedback from