Microsoft SharePoint 2007 - SharePoint Branding Tool v1.7.0 (Custom tool for themes, masterpages, site logos...)

This is an update for this article.

I've been quiet busy recently but I was still able to squeeze some time into improving this tool. I can't think of anymore to improve on without over-doing it. That being said, feel free to send me a post on my blog for suggestions. I hope it will be a useful tool.

You can get the tool at codeplex

http://www.codeplex.com/BrandingTool.

Here is the readme:

SharePoint Branding Tool v1.7.0 Released

This tool can be used apply the following actions for multiple Site Collections, and Child Sites:

-modify Themes,
-modify MasterUrl (Master Page),
-modify CustomMasterUrl (System Master Page),
-modify SiteLogoUrl (Site Logo),
-modify SiteLogoDescription (Site Logo Alternative Text),
-modify AlternateCssUrl (Custom CSS Style Sheet)
-view various properties of sites and themes at a glance

Selection of sites can be filtered by the Site Template used.

In this version I have made the following enhancements from feedback:
-UI Improvement: Less intrusive messages
-UI Improvements: Status Strip for operation reporting, etc
-Different SharePoint language version support (Dynamic install path support - for Spanish support)
-Improved error message reporting
-Improved operation reporting
-Configuration file support


And here are some screen shots of the new app:






Remember the tool not only does the job using the SharePoint Object Model, but it also allows you to do it through the SharePoint UI:


You can get the tool at codeplex

http://www.codeplex.com/BrandingTool.

Microsoft SharePoint 2007 - Stsadm extensions

"The branding tool is out. What next? How about an stsadm tool for themes?"

After a search on google, it seems Gary Lapointe has beat me to it:
http://stsadm.blogspot.com/2008/01/apply-theme.html

He's created a very useful list of stsadm extended commands found here.
(http://stsadm.blogspot.com/2007/08/stsadm-commands_09.html)

The source code can be downloaded here:
http://www.thelapointes.com/blog/stsadm.zip

The installation file can be downloaded here:
http://www.thelapointes.com/blog/Lapointe.SharePoint.STSADM.Commands.wsp

Here's a listing of the additional commands:

1. createquotatemplate


2. editquotatemplate


3. setmastersitedirectory


4. setallowaccesstoonlinegallery


5. disableuserpermissionforwebapp


6. enableuserpermissionforwebapp


7. setselfservicesitecreation


8. connecttoportalsite


9. setsitegeneralsettings


10. setuserprofiledefaultaccessaccount


11. setuserprofileimportschedule


12. gen2003to2007profilepropertymap


13. migrate2003profilesto2007


14. setpictureurlnewpath


15. setsitenamingformat (use mysitesettings instead)


16. enuminstalledsitetemplates


17. enumavailablesitetemplates


18. addavailablesitetemplate


19. removeavailablesitetemplate


20. enumnavigation


21. addnavigationnode


22. setnavigationnodes


23. copynavigation


24. enumfeatures


25. copycontenttypes


26. enumavailablepagelayouts


27. fixpublishingpagespagelayouturl


28. repairsitecollectionimportedfromsubsite


29. convertsubsitetositecollection


30. setsitedirectoryscanviewurls


31. enumtimerjobdefinitions


32. exportlist


33. importlist


34. copylist


35. getlistschemaxml


36. enumunghostedfiles


37. reghostfile


38. deletelistfield


39. moveweb


40. managecontentdbsettings


41. addsiteadmin


42. deleteweb2


43. mysitesettings


44. upgrade2


45. enumpagewebparts


46. movewebpart


47. setwebpartstate


48. retargetcontentquerywebpart


49. replacefieldvalues


50. applyupgradeareaurlmappings


51. publishitems


52. setlocalsitedirectory


53. import2


54. setsearchcenter


55. replacewebpartcontent


56. enumeffectivebaseperms


57. createwebapp


58. deletewebapp


59. exportlistitem


60. importlistitem


61. copylistitem


62. deletelistitem


63. setnavigationsettings


64. enumprofileprivacypolicies


65. setprofileprivacypolicy


66. enumprofileproperties


67. editprofileproperty


68. exportlistfield


69. importlistfield


70. updatelistfield


71. deletelist


72. copylistsecurity


73. updatelistview


74. setsspacl


75. createsearchscope


76. updatesearchscope


77. addsearchrule


78. setauditsettings


79. setusageanalysis


80. adduser2


81. adduserpolicyforwebapp


82. addlistitem


83. exportlistitem2


84. movesite


85. applytheme


86. retargetgroupedlistingswebpart


87. sitewelcomepage


88. enumwelcomepages


89. createcontentdb


90. createsiteindb


91. exportcontenttypes


92. exportsitecolumns


93. importsitecolumns


94. setanonymousaccess

Microsoft SharePoint 2007 - SharePoint Branding Tool v1.6.0 (Custom tool for themes, masterpages, site logos...)

This is an update for this article.

I spent a few more hours trying to update the user interface and to make the tool a little easier to use.

Update 1: New options
The interface is more refined and has shortcuts to open the site directly from a context menu. New items in the "File" menu for easy access to SharePoint Theme files and folders.


Update 2: More Information at a glance
I've added an extra DataGrid View to show properties of the selected site or selected theme. This version also shows the theme preview.


Update 3: Easier to use interface
I've reduced the pop-ups and tried to bring is all together in the one window.


Enjoy!

You can get the latest (v1.6.3) SharePoint Branding Tool here:
http://www.codeplex.com/BrandingTool

Microsoft CRM 3.0 and MOSS 2007 - CRM and SharePoint Integration

I've recently been looking at the integration of Microsoft CRM 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 and my findings were pretty promising!

Of my findings, ways to integrate Sharepoint 2007 and Microsoft CRM include:

* Presenting CRM data in Microsoft's CRM list web part (More Info)
* Exposing basic lookup/view functionality from the CRM list web part
* Presenting KPIs, Reports, and CRM data with MOSS 2007 Excel Web Access Service
* Presenting CRM data, KPIs and more using MOSS 2007's Business Data Catalog (BDC) and BDC web parts (More Info)
* Exposing CRM data through MOSS 2007 Enterprise Search functionality using BDC
* Presenting CRM records in a SharePoint 2007 RSS feeder web part using the RSS adaptor from Microsoft (More Info)
* Storing CRM documents in a Sharepoint Document Library to leverage versioning control and better management (More Info)
* Integrating SharePoint 2007 document library with CRM information using a third party tool (c360 Word Mail Merge or MSCRM-Addons WordMailMerge)
* Integrating a SharePoint 2007 page into the Microsoft CRM interface as a sub application or as part of a tab using iFrame
* Using a CRM workflow and a CRM call-out assembly to create a Sharepoint workspace for a CRM record
* Using MOSS 2007's workflow (or an event handler) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) to create a CRM record when a subsite or list item is created.
* Presenting CRM Reports in Sharepoint using SQL Reporting Services web parts (Report Explorer and Report Viewer)

And more...
* Remembering the fact that Microsoft CRM is built on SQL, other applications can be created pulling data from filtered views (It is best practice to only use filtered views created by CRM.)
* Remembering that Microsoft CRM offers web services, other applications can be created to leverage off CRM's web services. Data security of the CRM data provided by the web service is inherited from Microsoft CRM when the you authenticate whilst connecting.
* Remembering that Microsoft SharePoint also offers web services, and hence call-outs can leverage off SharePoint functionality!

A small number of Blogs/Articles which I've read as a part of my research:
* Sharepoint Integration Approaches http://mscrm.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!534230C9D7A90B1B!390.entry
* Sharepoint with MS CRM 3.0 http://microsoftcrm3.blogspot.com/2007/01/sharepoint-with-ms-crm-30.html
* Microsoft Dynamics CRM Official Site http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/default.mspx
* Microsoft CRM Integration & Customization: SharePoint Document Gateway http://www.albaspectrum.com/Customizations_Whitepapers/Microsoft-CRM-Integration-Customization-Sharepoint.htm
* Microsoft CRM Integration & Customization: SharePoint Document Gateway http://ezinearticles.com/?Microsoft-CRM-Integration-and-Customization:-SharePoint-Document-Gateway&id=26933
* Microsoft CRM 3.0 SDK http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa682866.aspx
* Reporting Services WebParts - Walkthrough http://blogs.sqlxml.org/bryantlikes/articles/628.aspx
* SQL Server Reporting Services Web Parts Review http://weblogs.asp.net/jan/archive/2005/01/21/358073.aspx
* Questions I asked on the CRM Community Site http://www.microsoft.com/Businesssolutions/Community/NewsGroups/dgbrowser/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.crm.deployment&tid=d6f67d53-fe75-4d6f-8bf8-d4fe79b15e5f&cat=〈=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1
* Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007(MOSS 2007) And Microsoft CRM Integration http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/MOSS_2007-CRM_Integration.asp

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - C360.com and MS-CRM-ADD-ONS.com Word Mail Merge

I was looking online for some good add-on software to do better mail merges in MS Word with MS CRM 3.0 data. Here's some add-ons available:

* c360 Word Mail Merge
* MSCRM-ADDONs.com Word Mail Merge
* Microsoft Business Data Lookup Snap-in for MS CRM 3.0

It appears that C360 and MSCRM-ADDONs.com are selling the same software but just branded differently. Interestingly enough, their pricing on Word Mail Merge appears to be the same. C360 provides revised user guides, and sometimes more bug fixes to Word Mail Merge. Yet, MSCRM-ADDONs.com provides an extra add-on called "AutoMerge", which works with MSCRM-ADDONs.com's Word Mail Merge to generate documents as part of a MS CRM 3.0 workflow!

Hang in there, because there's always a third option (which is free!) - the BDL Snap-in. This Snap-in is available for Microsoft Word/Excel 2003, and 2007 and provides an interface to browse through MS CRM 3.0 data. It also allows the user to attach a document to a CRM entity or activity. Nice. One BIG BUT! This snap-in doesn't seem to work with MS Word fields/Mail merge. It simply inserts text into your document.

So what is your choice here? Stick with these options? or... reinvent the wheel? Test these products out, and find out for yourself. If you need custom development, I could always be reached douglas.leung@uniqueworld.net :)

Here's some useful links:
* MSCRM-ADDONS.com http://www.mscrm-addons.com/
* C360 http://www.C360.com/
* Microsoft Dynamics Snap-ins http://www.gotdotnet.com/codegallery/codegallery.aspx?id=b44f8ee7-4d2b-4e39-9bfb-1119fffbe018

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - CRM 3.0 Client for Microsoft Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Windows Vista Support

Microsoft released (on 5/01/2007) an update to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 clients for Outlook. This update enables the support of the client for Windows Vista-based and Microsoft Office 2007-based systems.

Like its predessor releases of the CRM Client, there are two clients, namely:
* The desktop client (For multi users with individual logins)
* The laptop client (For only one user, working offline).

The installation files, implementation guide and related files can be downloaded Here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=740E1B3B-11C3-4AEF-B2E3-8309E0CF1BB0&displaylang=en

Microsoft Office 2007 - Extending the User Interface

When MS Office 2007 was released, you can't disagree with the fact that one of the biggest highlights was the User Interface! I went to a Office 2007 Beta Developer Deep Dive course and they taught us how to extend ribbons and the user interface, now on MSDN, they teach you the lot in detail! It's definitely awesome what you can do with these ribbons!

Go check it out:
* Extend The 2007 Office System With Your Own Ribbon Tabs And Controls
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/02/ribbonx/

* Ribbon
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905530.aspx

* Jensen Harris' Office Blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/