Yesterday Microsoft release service pack for Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.
To download the updates or to view the update descriptions visit the Microsoft Support web site.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and SharePoint 2010 provides document management, records management and web content management capabilities. This means that with SharePoint you can create intranets, extranets and public facing web sites.
If you are looking for some great examples of public facing websites built on SharePoint check out the Silverlight live pivot demo at: http://www.wssdemo.com/livepivot/. This Silverlight pivot display has over 2,000 public facing web sites that you can sort and filter through by country, industry, and platform.
I also have a PowerPoint document on my resources page with some additional samples of sites designs created for SharePoint 2010.
Building out very attractive SharePoint internet sites is not only possible but also uses the same skill sets that your existing .NET web developers and designers already have.
If you have a public facing site built upon SharePoint that you would like to show off, submit your site to Ian Morish who runs the www.wssdemos.com site.
If you work for a state or local government agency in the North-Central region of the U.S. and would like to have a discussion regarding public facing SharePoint sites please contact me!
The cumulative update packages for October 2010 contain the latest hotfixes released by Microsoft for Office and SharePoint.
All of the packages for Office 2010 suites, Office 2010 servers, Search Server 2010, FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, and SharePoint 2010 can be found in KB2449183 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2449183).
All of the packages released for Office 2007 suites, Office 2007 servers, Search Server 2008, and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 can be found in KB2449128 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2449128).
I recommend that you test hotfixes before you deploy them in a production environment. Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous update package. I recommend that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains the hotfix that you need.
To be notified of new Office and SharePoint cumulative updates, subscribe to the RSS feed at: http://services.social.microsoft.com/feeds/feed/officeandrelatedproductsupdates
Recently I was introduced to an interesting free Windows 7 / Vista desktop gadget for keeping track of information stored in SharePoint lists. The gadget by datapolis, when in it’s compact form, displays the total number of items, unread items and new items in the lists that you have configured the gadget to watch. If you switch the gadget to the larger view you can see specific details related to each list you are watching and you can also drill down and see the actual data in the lists.
Configuring the gadget is very simple. After adding the gadget to the desktop it will be displayed in a compact mode. Clicking on the expand option (the arrow icon that points to the upper right) will display the larger view of the gadget. If this is the first time using the gadget you will be required to enter in a registration key. You can request a free registration key by using the link located immediately under the registration key text box.
After entering in the registration key you will be presented with a summary screen with 8 rectangles where you can define the SharePoint lists to watch.
To define a list to watch, click on the add button next to one of the empty rectangles and then fill in the 3 required fields. The tab name is any identifying name you wish to associate with the list. The view address is the URL to the view of the list that you wish to monitor. The authentication mode indicates how the gadget passes security credentials to SharePoint. The gadget supports Integrated, Forms and Windows based authentication. Once you have entered in the required information click on save to add the list to the gadget.
Once a list has been defined within the gadget you should immediately see the all, unread and new details for the list in the summary view.
Clicking on one of the defined lists will show the contents of that list right in the gadget. If you click on a list item your default browser will open directly to the view form for that item.
When you switch the gadgets view to the compact mode it will display a total count of all list items, all unread items and all new items.
Conclusion
I can see many uses for this desktop gadget. I have had several clients that use custom SharePoint lists for managing work requests and other data where they need to keep on top of the changes immediately. This gadget would allow them to quickly see the new items that have been added without relying on email alerts or manually checking the site. The gadget is simple to configure and easy to use. Overall I think it is a great addition to the toolbox for any SharePoint user or administrator.
Download
You can download your own copy of this gadget by visiting the datapolis web site.
Tom Donovan and Paul Stubbs just launched a new online show on Channel 9 called the SharePoint Sideshow. The show will discuss topics around SharePoint, Office and Information Worker productivity. Tom and Paul will bring in experts from the Microsoft product team and others to deliver insider content for developers. This is a show for you in the SharePoint and Office community so they will deliver on topics that are top of mind at the time and try to help you navigate the vast amount of information out there in a concise and approachable format.
Head over to Channel 9 and check out their first episode where you will be introduced to the SharePoint Sideshow and discuss the question: what is SharePoint Development?