SharePoint 2010: License Basics

After visiting a potential client for an information session I decided to put together a very basic post clearing a couple of misconceptions on SharePoint licensing.  Licensing is complex, sure, but a couple of things are basic and I’d like to add my voice to help clarify things for the consultants out there.

Here are a couple of one-liners, that will certainly help cut through the grey cloud of confusion:

SharePoint Foundation is free, but assumes a certain level of Microsoft infrastructure to support it e.g. Windows Server 2008, Active Directory and SQL (if you wish to have databases larger than 10GB)

SharePoint Standard CAL (client access licenses) are needed for all users when moving from SharePoint Foundation to SharePoint Standard

If you wish to enable Enterprise features for a certain group of users in your company, don’t fear, you can simply purchase Enterprise CALs for the users in need.  You can therefore have a user base of 1000 (all with Standard CALs) and add 100 Enterprise CALs on top of that.  There is no Enterprise server license in this scenario.

In MOSS 2007 we had the external connector.  In SharePoint 2010 this has been renamed to SharePoint FIS (for Internet Sites)

SharePoint FIS has two flavours, standard and enterprise and are used for Extranets and Internet sites.

SharePoint FIS Standard is scoped for 1 domain only and has standard SharePoint features for unlimited users (via FBA / Anonymous)

SharePoint FIS Enterprise is scoped for multiple domains and has enterprise SharePoint features for unlimited users (via FBA / Anonymous)

SharePoint Enterprise is NOT a requirement to run K2.

Workflow Foundation WILL work with SharePoint Foundation, but the OOTB is very limiting.  Only the three-state workflow is available.

So there you have it.  A couple of practical examples of licensing scenarios that I run into on a day to day basis.  If you have more questions on licensing, please feel free to contact me or one of my colleagues at IMMIX Solutions.

3 Suggested Improvements to SharePoint

Ask anyone in the industry, I’m a total SharePoint homer.  I defend SharePoint in all conversations and always look for the silver lining when problems occur or when users have interface related complaints.  However, I learnt from an early age that it is important to understand the good and bad to be able to have an informed discussion when the time comes.

Keeping within this theme, I have been keeping a list of items that I would love for Microsoft to improve on.  Here are details on 3 of them:

1.  Content Type Management

Content Types are essential to any properly deployed SharePoint environment.  The issue with it is not the creation, but rather the management of it.  When trying to remove a content type from an environment SharePoint doesn’t tell you where a particular content type is in use, it simply states that it is in use. 

// Suggestion

Rather than simply noting that it is in use, please tell the administrator where it is in use.

2.  Inline Editing

I recently discovered this nifty feature (blush).  Now that I’ve discovered it, I’ve sadly found that it has some limitations.  For one, a user is not able to edit the content type of a particular item.

// Suggestion

Although I’m sure there is a solid technical explanation for this, I suggest allowing for the editing of content types in inline editing which will greatly enhance the user interface for users that are migrating content.

3.  Managed Metadata in Datasheet View

Managed Metadata is one of the BEST new features Microsoft introduced with the 2010 version of the product.  As the feature is brand new, it does pose a couple of challenges specifically in the migration arena.  When uploading a ton of documents (via explorer view), the users would typically view a list in “Datasheet View” and then simply bulk edit the columns.  Unfortunately, columns based on Managed Metadata cannot be edited in Datasheet View.

// Suggestion

Please enable the ability to edit columns based on Managed Metadata to be edited in the Datasheet View.  This will make migrations a lot simpler, especially considering the number of clients that are coming from a choice column type of environment.

Conclusion

SharePoint has taken many leaps forward with each updated version.  Here’s hoping that the innovation and attention to detail continues.

SharePoint 2010 Search and Word 2007 Documents

We ran into an interesting issue with a client the other day.  The search decided that the first word in the document was more relevant than the title or name of the document which caused obvious confusion for the users completing searches.  Sepaka, one of my team members, did the troubleshooting and successfully resolved the issue.  I’ve given him the opportunity to write his finding in the post below as a guest author.

//Guest Author – Sepaka Hlongwane

Before editing the registry I tried searching for the word “numbering” which happens to be the document title for my word 2007 document. The search results returned “description”  when it should be returning the document title. See an example below

Description

The following is an example on how to number your drawings…

http://example.portal.com/document library/Numbering of drawings.docx

instead of

Numbering

The following is an example on how to number your drawings…

http://example.portal.com/document library/Numbering of drawings.docx

I double checked and the Title Property of the word document is set. I checked it by downloading the document to my local machine, then right clicking the document à properties à then details tab.

Thanks to Saji Viswam’s Blog for recommending the following fix.

1. Open registry for editing by typing “regedit.exe” in Start > Run

2. Navigate to the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\14.0\Search\Global\Gathering Manager]

3. Change the hexadecimal value for EnableOptimisticTitleOverride to 0 (zero) on the right hand side.

4. Restart SharePoint Search service by typing the following commands in command prompt.

o net stop osearch14

o net start osearch14

5. Perform a full crawl

After full crawl, the search will display the correct title for Word 2007 documents just like any other word document versions.

Thank you.

Kind Regards,

Sepaka Hlongwane

Introducing SharePoint Nuggets

During the course of any given period I come across an enormous amount of SharePoint related content, whether it be articles, tips, tricks, cool sites and more.  I tend to bookmark things, gather it in OneNote and plan to write elaborate posts about almost each item I find. 

This hasn’t worked.  The amount of content generated in the community on a daily basis is simply too much to take note of all and draw your own conclusions on it all OR add insightful comment to it all.

Enter SharePoint Nuggets

I’ve decided to create a new post heading where I will literally jot down ideas, notes, links and more that I’ve amassed over a period of time.  I’m not sure whether I’ll do this weekly, monthly or whatever, but I’ll be doing my best to keep it going.  Herewith the first instalment:

SharePoint Nuggets – May 2011

The theme of nuggets this time around is Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010.  I did a lot of research for my presentation at SharePoint Saturday and have decided to share some of the links with the greater community.  Here they are, have fun:

http://www.sharepoint911.com/blogs/laura/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=676af157%2D7d96%2D4e15%2Da987%2D54b8a3e4d948&ID=44

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8cf1631-0f48-4a02-a18d-54b04eb7f0a7 (Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 Technical Library in Compiled Help format)

http://satishsri.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/lists-of-webparts-in-sharepoint-server-2010/

http://www.wssdemo.com/Lists/WebParts/sharepoint-web-parts.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg508696.aspx (What’s new in Windows Small Business Server 2008)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee539826(office.14).aspx (What’s new in SharePoint Foundation 2010)

http://blog.allyis.com/blog/bid/48102/Working-with-SharePoint-2010-Foundation-Master-Pages

http://www.pentalogic.net/sharepoint-knowledge-base/white-papers#smallbusiness

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff934618.aspx (Co-authoring)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff934620.aspx (Co-authoring admin)

http://veroniquepalmer.wordpress.com/2011/02/11/deleting-users-from-hosted-sharepoint-2010-foundation-sites (Security in MSF2010)

Enjoy.