Albert Amos | SharePoint Root

New Promotional Offers From Microsoft Teams

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020Albert AmosLeave a comment

Microsoft Teams is a communications system that has become an essential component for businesses everywhere. With today’s expanding needs of cloud communication and management, Microsoft Teams is paving the way for businesses to integrate digital communications and meetings into their workflow. The increasing prevalence of hybrid workplaces has made Microsoft Teams more important than ever before and Microsoft has delivered on feature updates and promotional offers. Right now, Microsoft Teams has new promotional offers that you can take advantage of.

New Microsoft Teams Promotional Offers:

1. Free Audio Conferencing

One of the incentives that Microsoft is giving away for businesses to start using their tool is the ability to get audio conferencing included for free. With an Enterprise account, you are able to get this included for free with your plan. It will be available starting the 1st of October for anyone who is purchasing their accounts through either the Internet or through partners. Therefore, you can expect to get an additional tool that you are going to be able to leverage in these times where many businesses are being forced into remote working environments.

2. 35 Percent Off Advanced Communications

Another promotional offer that is currently available is the ability to get up to 35 percent off of your advanced communications. You will be able to get this right now if you are purchasing through an Enterprise Agreement. For those who are going to be purchasing it either through the Internet or from a partner, you will be able to leverage this discount by the end of the year.

3. FastTrack Support

For anyone who is a Skype for Business customer, you will be able to leverage FastTrack which is a program that Microsoft created in order to ensure that you are able to move your organization to Microsoft Teams without much hassle. If your business previously utilizes Skype for Business, you don’t have to worry about having an uneasy transition. By using FastTrack, you should be able to get everything situated as quickly as possible.

Why Teams?

As mentioned, Microsoft Teams has just about everything you would need to bring your business to the digital age. Not only will you be able to help your staff stay connected and productive, but you will be able to host virtual meetings, host audio conferences, and more.

If you are planning on moving to Teams from another platform or you are just getting started, these offers are a good way to get off on the right foot. In fact, you will be able to sign up for all (3) offers if you are eligible for it. Meaning, you should be able to save a lot of money and take advantage of more features depending on your eligibility. For those who are switching over from Skype for Business, you will be able to leverage FastTrack support and better pricing to ensure that you are able to have a seamless transition. Regardless, Microsoft Teams is a great way to usher your business into a new age where businesses need to have more cloud collaboration than ever before.

For more information on Microsoft 365 and all its capabilities for your company, visit eswcompany.com

Latest Microsoft Update breaks OneDrive Sync app

June 30, 2020June 30, 2020Albert AmosLeave a comment

While seeing a Windows Update might be exciting due to the release of new features, not everyone is thrilled with them. Unfortunately, Microsoft tends to release updates that break things that were working perfectly well. The latest update Microsoft pushed out seemingly did it again. A lot of users reported that the update broke not only Microsoft’s own One Drive’s Sync functionality but also Google Chrome’s sync functionality and many more. Below, we will be going over some of the things that you might be able to do to fix the issue.

How To Fix This Sync Problem:

1. Pause Updates

One of the things you can do if you are someone who gets a lot of issues with Windows updates is pause them for around 7 days. It wouldn’t be recommended for anything beyond that because a lot of the times these updates contain a lot of pertinent security updates that fix vulnerabilities and flaws in the code. Therefore, you want to regularly update your machine, but you might want to wait a couple of days to see what other issues people are having with it.

2. Update Your Apps

Another good idea is to update all of the apps that you are having trouble with. In this case, if you are having trouble with One Drive, you are going to want to be certain that you have the latest updated version. This way, you will be able to ensure that it isn’t a problem with an older version of the One Drive application.

3. Re-Install

Ideally, you want to try to re-install the app that you are having difficulties with. Remove One Drive and re-install it. This way, you can rule out whether or not this easy fix is able to address the problems you are facing. Re-installing the application can fix a lot of issues and it should be one of the first things you attempt.

4. Ensure Your Files Aren’t Too Large

If you are looking to sync too large of a file, that might be causing the syncing issues. You need to be sure that the file you are syncing is under the file size limit of 15 GB. The file size limit is going to keep your files from syncing if you exceed it. Therefore, you want to look at everything in your One Drive to be certain that you aren’t accidentally exceeding that single file limit.

Overall, keeping your system updated can be one of the best ways to protect yourself from security vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, a lot of the times the update will break things that you need to use on a regular basis. Because of this, you want to look to see if the update is causing issues with other machines if you aren’t capable of going through drastic troubleshooting on your own. One of the easiest ways to ensure that you never have to deal with things that can cause significant issues with running your business is hiring a Managed Service Provider. By doing this, you will be able to rely on professionals to ensure you aren’t having to constantly troubleshoot after a Windows update.

Quick Tips to Add People Cards for SharePoint List and Library Web Parts

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020Albert AmosLeave a comment

Web parts are building blocks of your home page. SharePoint allows you to upgrade your home page from the classic view to the modern view. It also lets you customize the web parts to make the interface user-friendly. You can add images, videos, texts, and dynamic content on your web parts to make them attractive.

Adding people cards

When you get the responsibility to lead a team, you may have various questions in mind, such as who is on your team, what tasks are they responsible for, how should you contact them, and what the skill-sets of your team members are. Adding people cards on your SharePoint list will answer these questions as your team members can fill out the details and share the same list with you.

• Click on edit on your SharePoint list. You will notice a “+” sign circled on the existing web part.
• Click the “+” sign and then go to People.
• You can edit the title of this web part by clicking on People Profiles.
• Enter the name of one of your team members. Once the name appears on the profile list, you can click on Add Profile.
• Follow the same steps to add profile cards of other team members.

You can choose to see the detailed or compact view of each card. The detailed view shows the picture of the team member, his/her name and email address, and title if any. The compact view, on the other hand, only shows the picture of the team member and his/her name and email address.

Adding library web parts

Remember, the steps to add the web parts mentioned below don’t apply to the classic pages. Make sure the library is on the modern view to make the changes.

• Go to the library page in which you want to insert the web part.
• You can find your library page on the Quick Launch bar in Site Contents.
• Click on Edit on the top-right of this page.
• You will see a circled “+” sign. Click on it to find the web part you want to add. It will open a search box containing options like embed, highlighted content, link, file viewer, image, and text. You can expand each category to see the details of each web part.

You can also move or remove the web parts according to your preference.

• On the Edit page, select the Move Web Part icon and drag the web part you want to move. Put it anywhere on the page you want.

• If you want to delete any web part, click on Delete Web Part. It will open a box where you can check the boxes of the web parts you want to delete.

The document library web part displays all the lists in your library. You can customize its title and even resize it if you want. It is possible to view and edit files on the library directly from their web parts. Alternatively, you can view the full document library to make the necessary changes.

For more articles on SharePoint features and updates, visit eswcompany.com

Microsoft Flow Adds Rich Text Features

January 3, 2019January 4, 2019Albert AmosLeave a comment

Microsoft Flow has become a favorite app of people wanting to improve their communication and work flow but there was one glaring fault. When you sent emails they from Flow they could only be in simple text. You could not give your email the emphasis and impact you wanted.

Microsoft has just added a rich text feature to Microsoft Flow, along with several other features, to give you more control of what your emails look like. The new feature adds an HTML text editor to Flow giving you the ability to create HTML emails directly in Flow.

The new editor allows you to change fonts, vary the font colors, highlight text with color, and create lists. Additionally, you can italicize, underline, and make your fonts bold.

Why is this so important?

Being able to emphasize points using different colors, fonts, and features lets you communicate your message more clearly. It eliminates the reader from guessing what points are the most critical in your message, because you can make sure they see exactly what you consider important. It gives you the ability to add visual emotion to your emails.

At this time, you cannot build tables in your emails, but Microsoft promises this feature will be released in the future.

The rich text editor is now only available in the email connector for Flow, but it will be added to connectors for OneNote, Microsoft Teams, and for posting stories directly to Medium and WordPress sites. Anyone who uses Microsoft products in their office will appreciate the ability to get more work done through Flow instead of bouncing out to Medium and or their WordPress sites just to post a story to get control of the look and feel.

Microsoft also announced new connectors for Microsoft Flow on the same day they announced the new rich text feature. The new connectors include the following:

Imprezian360 – A suite of applications which works with Quickbooks Desktop Editions to add sales leads management, order management, and inventory features.
Soft1 – This connector allows Microsoft Flow to communicate with Soft1 ERP systems. (Enterprise Resource Planning systems.)
Zahara – The paperless system for invoices and purchase order in the Zahara Purchase Management Platform.
Encodian – Which adds document management and PDF creation systems to Office 365 and other applications.

These connectors expand the ability of Flow to work in more corporations. As Microsoft continues to add connectors the importance of the rich text feature expands. Many applications allow for creating HTML content for improved appearance which Flow has not offered in the past.

What else does the rich text editor add for you? It gives you the ability to create HTML links in your emails. This was a major shortcoming in the past. We constantly send links to clients and co-workers, so they can review content for projects. You can select whether the links will open in the current window or open a new window, which is usually preferred.

Flow has received wide acceptance in the corporate and educational worlds where these features are very important. Teachers routinely contact parents with information on their students which require emphasis and may link to online student reports. Being able to create these messages directly in Flow instead of switching back to Outlook increases efficiency.

The corporate world appreciates the linking ability, too. Corporations have both their public websites and their intranet sites which they routinely link to. The new feature allows users to quickly link to internet sites, or internal pages on the company’s private intranet.

Imagine the quality of content you will be able to create on the fly with the new editor. You can create messages with the power to convince instead of just to inform. With the addition of tables in the near future, you will be able to convey almost any message you wish inside of Microsoft Flow.

Just imagine, you are working in Dynamics 365 Enterprise Sales, you receive an important notification about a client in Flow. Without leaving what you are in the middle of doing, you can type up a full-featured message in Flow and send it off in seconds instead of moving to a different application.

Start thinking of all the places this will become valuable. You may have connectors already setup for your WordPress site, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and SharePoint. You could receive a notification from any of these connectors or need to post content to any of these platforms. With the rich text HTML editor, you will be able to create messages these platforms will understand. While the Flow rich text feature does not work universally at this time, it is good to see Microsoft expanding its capability to prepare for the future.

Keep watching for future announcements of when Microsoft extends the rich text feature to include tables and other connectors along with other new features.

6 Fantastic Features of SharePoint Document Libraries

November 25, 2018August 21, 2018Albert AmosLeave a comment

Think of SharePoint document libraries as folders on steroids. These handy libraries allow end-users to keep their workspace organized and uncluttered while focusing on the work at hand. Of course, document libraries on SharePoint have loads of benefits and features. We have however singled out a couple of our favorites.

#1 Offline Syncing

End-users don’t have to worry about making changes or working while not connected. The offline syncing feature allows you to work while offline and sync via the OneDrive app. Whether you are using your tablet, phone or laptop, you can rest assured that as soon as you are connected, everything will be updated and synced. Easy-peasy.

#2 Metadata

Metadata allows end-users to customize their libraries to suit their thinking and needs. That’s right, no matter how you name a file or folder, inserting metadata will enable you to find files and folders in a cinch. Files are categorized in any way you please yet won’t get lost. Colleagues will easily be able to find whatever you are working on.

#3 Version History

A lot of end-users have probably encountered a moment where they wanted to go back to a previous version but simply couldn’t. With SharePoint document libraries you can go back to previous versions of the same document if you’ve stuffed it up and start from the beginning. You can also delete document versions that are outdated and revert to the original version of the document.

#4 Teams, Groups and Yammer

All of the abovementioned applications have the option to save and share files, right? Here’s something neat though. These file folders are hosted in a SharePoint site specifically for those applications. Neat, right? You might not be able to access it in the app itself, but you will be able to find it in the library in SharePoint.

#5 Alerts

It would be kind of pointless having a collaborative content managing system where you don’t know what’s happened on a document or file you are involved with. That’s why you have alerts. Alerts can be set up in SharePoint’s document libraries. You’ll get a notification via email whenever there’s a new change or comment made on one of the documents or files you have been working on. How’s that for efficiency?

#6 Co-Authoring

Do you remember the days when you couldn’t access a document or file because someone else had it open? It makes getting things done difficult. The co-authoring feature of document libraries allows users to work on a file or document simultaneously while saving all the changes as you work. This makes collaborating and reviewing a whole lot easier. And you are also able to setup restrictions if you don’t want someone else editing a specific file too.

Whatever version of Microsoft SharePoint your corporation is using, you’ll benefit from using at least some of the features we’ve listed here. Working efficiently has never been so easy or so much fun while collaborating with colleagues and other stakeholders. Which is your favorite SharePoint document library feature?

Want to Be a SharePoint Developer? You’ll Need These Six Qualities

October 20, 2018August 27, 2018Albert AmosLeave a comment

Are you flirting with the idea of becoming a SharePoint developer? Do you have what it takes? Contrary to common perceptions, it takes a bit more than just fantastic programming skills to be a great SharePoint developer. You’ll need some business savvy too, and of course be able to work with end-users effectively.

Still keen on becoming a SharePoint developer? See if your skills and qualities match the top six qualities listed in this post.

1. You Have Excellent Communication Skills

No, you are not going to sit in the back room and answer IT calls. As a SharePoint developer, you’ll be working with loads of different people from all over the world. This includes business owners, employees and others all wanting to communicate their needs. You will have to be able to communicate effectively to deliver the goods and keep the end-user happy.

2. You Can Develop Web Parts to suit End-Users’ Needs

That’s right. You will have to be some Jedi at.Net programming. As a SharePoint developer you’ll have to be able to develop web parts that accommodates the needs of end-users. If you don’t know this already, web parts are key units of SharePoint web pages and the building blocks of SharePoint. If you can’t develop web parts, you should start looking into it.

3. You Have a Good Knowledge of Industry Specific Processes

Developing is one thing, but understanding business needs and being able to build a collaboration platform that is specific to an industry’s needs is another thing altogether. As a SharePoint developer, you’ll need to know and understand how businesses work and use the platform to their advantage. This will allow you to create truly useful and flawless SharePoint platforms.

4. You Have a Firm Grasp on Basic Web Design

You won’t be building corporate intranets alone, you’ll also be responsible for building and maintaining extranet portals. This is to ensure businesses have access to a portal where everyone can communicate and collaborate no matter where they are. If you have basic web design skills it should go a long way when you become a SharePoint developer.

5. You Have Microsoft Certification

Okay, this is not a prerequisite, but it can help a lot. As a flagship Microsoft product, Microsoft offers loads of SharePoint courses which will allow you to become a certified SharePoint developer. This is offered to authenticate those who can customize SharePoint to accommodate end-users’ needs. Having one of these certificates may come in handy.

6. You Have Programming Skills

This one goes without saying. To develop and maintain SharePoint collaboration platforms you’ll need a sound understanding of programming and programming languages. You’ll also need to know how SharePoint admin and servers work. Specific programming languages you should have fair knowledge of includes HTML, CSS.Net, Jquery and JavaScript.

Still interested in becoming a SharePoint developer? We sure hope so. At the end of the day it can be a very rewarding job that enables you to make the lives of large corporations much easier. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!

The 7 Best Business Benefits of Using Microsoft SharePoint

September 17, 2018August 27, 2018Albert AmosLeave a comment

What’s not to love about Microsoft SharePoint, right? Not only does it simplify the way we collaborate and work, but it also helps business achieve their goals on a daily basis. Microsoft SharePoint has been around quite a while. The very first version came to light in 2001. Since then, the collaboration and content management system tool has gone from strength to strength.

In this post we share the top seven benefits of Microsoft SharePoint for businesses. Let’s take a look at what they are straight away!

1. SharePoint Streamlines Access to Data

That’s right, everything is much simpler and easier when using SharePoint. It will allow businesses to share and access all data easily. This includes projects employees are working on as well as other critical files and information. SharePoint allows businesses to get things done efficiently and effectively.

2. SharePoint Allows you to Effectively Manage Content

It also allows users to repurpose content. The sky is the limits with Microsoft SharePoint. All employees can work together on multiple documents and projects simultaneously. You don’t have to worry about content getting lost or changes that slips through the cracks. Microsoft SharePoint takes care of everything.

3. SharePoint Provides a Great User Experience

End-users love the possibilities and capabilities of Microsoft SharePoint as it assists them with their daily tasks while simplifying workflow. It has to be customized correctly. Which is another benefit of SharePoint. It is fully customizable and there are loads of templates available too. You can make it your own and make it work for you.

4. SharePoint Helps Businesses Achieve Goals

The beauty of SharePoint lies in its power to streamline work processes, projects and collaboration. Not only does this make it an ideal tool to keep track of projects, but also to make sure that all business and project goals more specifically are met. It also allows businesses to attain valuable insights and data with regards to performance.

5. SharePoint Empowers Employees

Employees can share and collaborate effortlessly with little to no hindrance on workflow. Employees can share data, collaborate and ensure they stick to project timelines all in one secure spot. SharePoint also allows employees to be in the know of any changes or important information regarding a project during its lifespan.

6. SharePoint Allows Businesses to Share Information Safely

Even though it is an open source web-based program, businesses can share information and protect it at the same time. SharePoint safeguards any sensitive information and business owners won’t have to worry about data or information falling into the wrong hands. The platform allows different permissions to ensure security is tight.

7. SharePoint Simplifies Everyday Activities

Everything is managed and accessed from one point. Employees can easily access work and projects from one reliable platform, check the status of projects and more. Business processes are streamlined to such an extent that there is no room for misunderstandings or near-misses. SharePoint allows businesses to get on with what’s important hassle-free.

There you have it! There are plenty of benefits of using SharePoint as a tool to get things done in business. Why do you love using SharePoint for business?

5 Incredible Facts About SharePoint You Have to Know

August 21, 2018August 27, 2018Albert AmosLeave a comment

Whether you love working on SharePoint or hate it, one cannot simply ignore this popular collaboration tool. Of course, it has tons of benefits for workspaces and teams, but getting into it can be somewhat of a battle especially if you aren’t familiar with it at all.

In this post, we take a look at five incredible facts about SharePoint you should be aware of. That goes for the fans and those who are indifferent!

#1 Search Is Great When It’s Done Properly

Look, the search function on SharePoint truly is fantastic. You won’t have to run around and look for files or documents. But it will only work as well as it was configured to begin with. If it’s not setup properly, you might want to grab your running shoes.

In a nutshell SharePoint search should be worked on, adapted and configured on a regular basis, otherwise it will be useless. To help you out with this, you can add Result Sources and Types or perhaps create Managed Properties.

#2 It’s Not That Easy

Yes, it is a fantastic resource that can add value in any workspace. But, it’s not going to be as simple as just sitting down and having everyone proficient on it in one days’ time. Firstly, it’s the type of software that will work for you if you bring your time and effort to the table.

It’s fantastic, but you’ll have to put some elbow grease into it and plan everything properly. It’s not just a dive-in, but you’ll be happy you’ve made the effort once everything is running. We can vouch that you’ll fall in love with it too.

#3 Co-Authoring Documents is Great

Gone are those days where you had to sit and wait for one co-worker or employee to do their bit on a document before you can get started on it. The possibility of co-authoring documents makes it possible to work and edit on documents simultaneously.

Yes, SharePoint will automatically keep track of all changes. Not only does this save you a whole lot of time, but also streamlines workflow quite a bit. Say goodbye to twiddling your thumbs and hello to getting things done!

#4 Projects Should be Clearly Defined

This goes for using SharePoint altogether as well. You’ll need to know exactly why it would be of benefit to your company or workflow. SharePoint is a magical tool and can add value, simply wanting to collaborate is not good enough reason to buy in.

First, identify what the problem with your current intranet or work system is. This should be a great start and test run to use SharePoint optimally. Remember, you can always ease into things rather than throwing it into an already broken system.

#5 Content Types and Site Columns is a Must

If you have no idea what content types or site columns are, you should start getting comfortable with these. The thing is, if you don’t know and are not using them properly, the whole SharePoint experience may become more of a pain than a joy.

Everything done on SharePoint is linked to site columns and content types, so you see, you’ll have to wrap your head around how to use them properly. If not, you won’t ever get a taste of the beauty of SharePoint at all!

There you have it. If you had any doubts in your mind about introducing SharePoint to your workspace, we trust that you are now able to make an informed decision. Best of luck!a

Make the Most of Your SharePoint Experience with These 4 Hacks

August 16, 2018August 21, 2018Albert AmosLeave a comment

Are you a SharePoint developer who constantly struggle with unhappy end-users? It might take some time and effort, but customizing SharePoint to ensure your end-users are happy sure is worth it. By implementing at least one of our four top SharePoint hacks, you’ll be making the lives of end-users and your own much easier.

Are you ready to discover some handy hacks that will result in a sense of gratitude and a platform that kicks ass? Let’s get started!

1. Microsoft Office Integration is Key

You can simplify everything once you integrate and synchronize Microsoft Office with SharePoint. End-users will appreciate the fact that they’ll be able to access the intranet straight from their desktops. Just make sure that client integration is activated. How to do it? Simply follow these steps:

Navigate to SharePoint Central Administration.
Select the Application Management tab.
Next, go to Application Security and click on Authentication Providers.
Select the default option.
Select ‘Yes’ underneath Client Integration to enable it.

2. Item-level Security for Document Libraries is Important

Did you know that list items can have varying security levels? This is great when you don’t want everyone to be able to make changes or remove data on a specific item. Even though applying the same customization to document libraries is a bit difficult, it is possible.

Keeping stock of who has authorization or the ability to access certain things is key in end-user satisfaction.

3. You Have to Configure PDF IFilter

It sucks that SharePoint search engines do not use index pdf files, right? Well, what if we told you that there is a way to hack this? You’d probably do a little happy dance on the spot. Simply install the pdf IFilter from Adobe and install the icon. This should solve the problem and ensure all pdf files come up in search.

4. Install All SharePoint Templates Straight Away

We know, end-users can be a bit of a pain. They always want to know whether it wouldn’t be possible to do this or that or change this to that. If you are savvy you can spare yourself a lot of heartache and running around. SharePoint has loads of handy templates all ready to use.

So, before you try to customize SharePoint completely, have a look at all their templates and grab the ones that can be of benefit to your end-users!

As the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat! We hope that our top four SharePoint hacks will get those nagging end-users off your back and smiling.

5 SharePoint Development Basics You Have to Know by Now

July 16, 2018August 28, 2018Albert AmosLeave a comment

Are you thinking about joining the wonderful world of SharePoint development? That’s great news! But even those hard-core developers out there with loads of coding experience can always do with a couple of pointers, right?

In this post, we’ll share our five top tips on getting started on SharePoint. So, get your notepad and let’s get started!

1. Get Down with Basic C#

If you’ve new to developing altogether or never had anything to do with C#, you should start getting out there and familiarize yourself with it. Just knowing key principles and basics will go a long way. Something to keep an eye out is the structure of namespaces, classes and functions and how they work together.

Alternatively, you can get a trial copy of Visual Studio and start playing around with C#. Start by developing a simple app. There are also a ton of tutorials online. Be sure to check this Microsoft C# Programming guide out too.

2. Create a Microsoft Virtual Academy Account

You’ll have to make use of it too! This is a perfect source of data and information on everything code and development. All sources are updated regularly so be sure to keep an eye out for any updates. It’s also great if you would like to further your skills and knowledge. Get access here.

3. Know the Difference Between user and client-side Coding

You’ll have to familiarize yourself with web-application architecture and understand the basics very well. You’ll also need to understand how each different type of code runs and interacts with one another and which ones don’t. This is in fact key to successful SharePoint coding and of which a SharePoint Consulting firm can assist your company with.

4. Knowing a Bit About CSS and HTML Will Go A Long Way

If you’re not familiar with CSS or HTML, don’t break a sweat. This is pretty straight-forward stuff and won’t be too difficult to wrap your head around. We’d highly suggest grabbing a couple of guides and watching some tutorials for a start. You can also access this fantastic HTML and CSS Tutorial that’s perfect for new developers.

5. Get to Know SharePoint a Bit Better

If you’ve covered the first basic steps, you should be ready to jump to the final one. Firstly, try to get some educational material before diving in. There are tons of sources available online, but you’ll also be able to buy a book. Next, you’ll have to create a VM and setup SharePoint. This SharePoint virtual setup guide is a great way to get started.

And that’s a wrap! Are you ready to sink your teeth into the world of SharePoint development? We trust you’ve found our tips and pointers of some help. Remember, keep at it and soon you’ll be a SharePoint developer pro!