This was my first experience using the Automated SharePoint 2010 Powershell-based installation script from CodePlex, the AutoSPInstaller available at http://autospinstaller.codeplex.com/ (Special thanks to Brian Lalancette and Andrew Woodward and anyone else that uses, documents, comments, or blogs about it.  Really great tool for managing the install, even a multi-server farm.

So, I used the AutoSPInstallerInput.XML configuration file, verified my account info, checked database names, and let it rip.  Worked like a champ.  Went through to test everything… Sites were responding, My Sites worked, looked good.  Then I tried to search.

Search wasn’t quite working.  I went to the Search Application Topology, all that I had were the Admin component and the Databases. There was no Crawl Component configured, and there was no Index Partition.  Shame on me… I didn’t actually configure the Crawl or Index Partition as part of the script.

Easy enough to fix, right. I figured I would just use the web interface to manually create a new Crawl Component.   When you create a new component, a status message appears for ‘pending creation’. So, I created a new Crawl Component and then clicked ‘Apply Topology Changes’.

No luck. Failed. Received an error message that SharePoint could not configure a Crawl Component because there were an incorrect number of indexes. The SharePoint search topology only supports from 1 to 256 indexes.  I currently had zero.

So I had to go create an Index first, right? Wrong. Couldn’t create an Query Component because there was no Crawl Component configured.  Regardless of where I started, I couldn’t create the components because they were dependent on each other?

What’s the answer? You must create all components and databases at the same time. Each will show ‘pending creation’ or ‘pending deletion’ depending upon your actions. Apply Topology Changes will then appropriately configure the necessary Search Application Components.

Another lesson learned.

If you are trying to learn SharePoint, even getting started can be a little intimidating.  SharePoint information is available in many forms: books, blogs, discussion boards, conferences, events, webinars, and more. With so much information available for free, where do you start?

Start with a book. There are many free resources out there, but many of them are out of context for someone just coming to SharePoint. A book is usually pretty concise and comprehensive.  You can keep it with you, highlight it, make notes, and have it readily accessible.  It can be a physical book or Kindle version.  It does not matter.  There are so many books to choose from that it doesn’t even matter which book you start with. Pick one. Buy one. Borrow one. Steal one. Please don’t actually steal one. You’ll find that the SharePoint community is a very engaging community of people that will gladly lend or give you a book if you ask for one.

If you are looking for a great intro book, I highly recommend Sue Hanley’s latest book, Essential SharePoint 2010. It’s extremely well written, easy to understand, and provides a great introduction to SharePoint.

Even when starting with a book (or class or guessing your way through it), I would still recommend the following basic approach to learning SharePoint:

1. Learn the SharePoint terminology. It is important to understand the basic terminology with any platform, but it is critical to understand the building blocks of SharePoint. You need to know what a List is in SharePoint. You need a lot more keywords: Farm, Web Application, Site, Site Collection, Library, List, Workflow, Activity, Alert, Item, and much more.  You do not need to remember all of the specific details or become an expert yet, but you do need to understand the terminology and the boundaries of SharePoint.
2. Learn the SharePoint browser interface. Before you become an Admin or Developer, you should learn what you can do with the SharePoint browser interface.  Learn Site Settings, List Settings, and Permissions. You can create sites, lists, libraries, workflow, alerts, and build entire applications using nothing but the browser interface. Before you begin supporting SharePoint from an administrative level or writing any code, you need to learn what can be accomplished from the browser interface. I have worked with more than one developer that wrote code to perform something that SharePoint did out of the box!
3. Learn SharePoint Designer. Oh, bother! SharePoint Designer is not to be trusted! I’ve heard it before, but the reality is that you need to use the appropriate tool for the job. SharePoint Designer 2010 is an incredibly powerful tool.  It’s used for applying designs and styles, but I personally don’t even do that (I’m not a designer and don’t claim to be). I use SharePoint Designer to create and manage Lists and Libraries. I use SharePoint Designer to make use of external data (using BCS and External Lists). I use it for creating and managing workflow, and I use it for creating XSLT List View Web Parts. You can build entire applicaitons by configuring SharePoint using SharePoint Designer – without writing code.  Very powerful.
4. Learn about third-party SharePoint products. In most organizations (not all), I stress the importance of minimizing the amount of custom application development that you support. I feel that it is important to exhaust all other alternatives before you begin writing custom code. This includes leveraging third-party tools and applications. Within the vast SharePoint world, there are hundreds of web parts, applications, tools, and solutions that you can purchase. If you are learning SharePoint, you should become familiar with some of these tools and what they do. If nothing else, it will help you understand how others have attacked building applications. It may also shed some light on some of SharePoint’s weaknesses (or at least what some of these vendors think those weaknesses are).
5. Developers: Only after the previous steps should you Learn Visual Studio and .NET in the context of SharePoint. Last (but definitely not least), go to Visual Studio and/or PowerShell. If you are already a .NET developer, you may be inclined to start here. Don’t! Learn the SharePoint basics before you start writing code.
   If you are new to .NET, then you still need to follow this prescription: Learn SharePoint before you learn how to write custom code in SharePoint. If you are new to .NET, you will need to learn .NET and more specifically ASP.NET. There are thousands of resources available for this as well, and it depends upon your preferred learning method. There are books, classes, blogs, webinars, and online virtual classrooms. Pick a method that works for you (on your schedule and within your budget).

• Integrated community content in the Access Application Part Gallery.
  
  I assume that this means it will allow us, the “community”, to contribute new Application parts to be used in building Access applications.  This will be very powerful – especially for those folks that use Access as an interface to SharePoint for Access Power Users.
• Better alignment between Project Server and SharePoint Server browser support.
  Browser Support is good.
  
• Office Web Applications Support for Chrome
  Even more Browser Support is even better.
  
• Internet Explorer 9 “Native” support for Office Web Applications and SharePoint.
  Finally! Browser support for their own browser. Left hand, meet right hand.
• Improved backup / restore functionality for SharePoint Server
  Good news for Admins – especially for admins that don’t have the luxury of using some of the third-party backup and restore tools.
• Project Professional now synchronizes scheduled tasks with SharePoint task lists.
  I’m a huge fan of Project.  Better synchronization of Project with SharePoint without the need for Project server is a big win.

That’s not all, there are other features highlighted on the blog post.

As far as the Project Server 2010 updates included in Service Pack 1, there are some notes on the Microsoft Project product team blog post early this morning.

My favorite is again Browser Support.

• With Project Server 2010 SP1, Project Web App pages needed by team members to submit task status and timesheets are supported on FireFox, Safari, and Chrome.

I’m preparing a new series of blog posts specifically around moving to Office 365 Beta.

What questions do you have?  What specific topics would you like to read about?  Questions or comments?  Are you using 365 yet?  Are you thrilled or miserable?

First, let’s oversimplify SharePoint.  SharePoint is software used to build websites.  That’s it.

However, SharePoint is more than just a single-purpose web site tool.  It’s a platform that you can use build your Intranet, extranet, private social network, professional network, search engine, and public-facing website.  It’s more than just a web content management system, blogging system, wikie, or document sharing interface.  Once you and your team knows a little bit about SharePoint, you can focus on doing your job and less on learning and supporting niche applications and tools.

SharePoint is feature rich.  SharePoint sites can consist of documents, pages, images, videos, discussions, blogs, wikis, calendars, sites, subsites, security, workflow, search, dashboards, BI, and much more.  The fact that you can construct so many types of solutions without ever writing code is a powerful feature in itself.  I’m a huge proponent of configuration over customization.  If you do opt for customization (a.k.a writing code), then the SharePoint world is your oyster.

SharePoint is now bigger than Microsoft.  There are literally thousands of options available hosting, third-party products, add-ons, solution starters, templates, samples, examples, and even source code (see CodePlex).  Even companies that are traditional Microsoft competitors develop products that ‘tie in’ to SharePoint – even IBM.

Availability of Information.  Do a search for “whatever product or solution you are thinking about using”.  Search for Drupal, SiteCore, Ektron, WordPress, Joomla, or any of the hundreds of other website management products out there.  Then do a search for SharePoint.  Then go to Amazon.  Search for books related to your product.  Then search for books related to SharePoint.  If you want to become completely self-sufficient (and not rely on the vendor/consultant/IT guy), there does not seem to be a platform anywhere that has more information freely available than SharePoint.

Community.  There are more developers, end users, architects, consultants, companies, vendors, Microsoft partners working around SharePoint than any other solution or platform I have ever seen.  The SharePoint community exists both online and in person!  There are user groups that regularly meet and talk SharePoint in every major metro area – and international!  The single most important facet of the community is the welcoming attitude of the SharePoint community.  Join any group and participate, or just sit back and watch.  The community is extremely helpful.

Conferences.  There are so many conferences every year that I no one has an accurate count.  Even if the conference isn’t dedicated to SharePoint, there seem to be SharePoint tracks or sessions at most of the conferences I’ve seen.

Return on Investment.  This is one that gets thrown around a lot – largely because of rumors and suppositions.  One of the most ill informed arguments I’ve heard is that SharePoint is expensive and open source is free!   First, SharePoint Foundation is free.  If you are running Windows Server 2008, you can download SharePoint and use it for … wait for it … FREE!    Okay, but let’s be realistic.  I know that you’ve heard this before – nothing is free.  You have to pay for servers, bandwidth, resources, skills, education, support – regardless of the technology.  If you run any technology platform – you pay for it.   Every related to implementation influences the ROI.  Availability of information, stability, education costs, capabilities, stability, recurring investments.  Also, what happens when angry IT guy that put in the LAMP solution quits or goes out of business.  Who, where, how are you going to get support?  Is the community and ecosystem big enough to support you in a year?  What about in 5 years?

Technology decisions are complex.  Do I think SharePoint is a good fit for every organization?  Yes!  (just kidding).  I think we can all agree that there is no single technology that is a perfect fit for every organization for every solution.  I think every organization should give serious consideration to the big picture when selecting technology platforms.  Do you want a single platform or individual niche applications?  Do you want commercially supported tools or open source (or a hybrid)?  While I don’t work for Microsoft, I’ve never heard of an IT manager getting fired for choosing Microsoft as a technology platform.

There are hundreds of really great SharePoint books already out there that cover the admin and code level stuff.   This book is NOT about installing SharePoint or writing code.   SharePoint for Nonprofits provides details about leveraging specific needs of trade associations, membership societies, volunteer organizations, and other nonprofit associations, charities and .orgs; and how SharePoint might be used to satisfy some of these needs.

SharePoint for Nonprofits contains various strategy guidelines and best practices for organizations of all sizes thinking about or leveraging Microsoft’s popular SharePoint platform.  We hope that this guide will help you navigate SharePoint whether you are using it for an Intranet, extranet, community, public-facing website, or any combination thereof.

1. Social Network.  The world is now social.  I know, in reality the world has always been social.  The entire Internet is based upon the concept of social.  Being social is the new black.  Status updates, tags, notes, following, being followed – it’s all in SharePoint 2010 out of the box.  Users can tag and make notes everywhere – on docs, wikis, blogs, CMS pages, videos, pictures.  Everywhere.  Organizations have spent a ton of money in the last 4 years custom building these tools in a variety of platforms.
   
2. Business Connectivity Services (BCS).  BCS allows you to connect to external data sources.  Easily.  If you are connecting to an external SQL database it really could not be easier.  With SharePoint Designer 2010, you can map to an external data source, map an External Content Type to the data and use the intuitive SharePoint list interface on your external data.  Even better, this functionality exists in the free version of SharePoint – SharePoint Foundation 2010.
3. SharePoint Designer 2010.  SharePoint Designer 2010 is free. With a completely reinvented user interface, this is now an extremely powerful tool in your SharePoint arsenal and not a tool to shy away from.  From creating external data sources and managing the UI to creating data views and reusable workflows (see Sean Bordner’s post), SharePoint Designer 2010 is my tool of choice for leveraging the power of SharePoint.  SharePoint Designer 2010 works with all versions SharePoint 2010, from Foundation up.
4. Ribbon toolbar.  The overhaul performed on the SharePoint UI is great.  I’ve heard nothing but great reviews from end users.  People are used to working with Microsoft Office, and the familiar ribbon toolbar decreases the learning curve tremendously.  Good on ya.
5. Search.  Search refinements, improved people search, and FAST Search for SharePoint – all great things.  Of course, FAST search is amazing, but it adds a little cost and complexity and requires additional hardware to run.  Search refinements are probably the most requested customization on the previous SharePoint search tools.  With these capabilities now available out of the box, it’s really a full feature search tool that can (and maybe should) be used on solutions across the enterprise – internally and externally.  SharePoint Search Server Express 2010 provides much of this functionality for absolutely free. You can plug this into your existing web site technology and completely revamp your search with modern functionality and flair quite easily.

In order to show some of the completely of what comes with this free version of SharePoint 2010, I thought it would make sense to use Wikipedia.  Doesn’t everyone use Wikipedia as a credible source?  It is WIKIPEDIA, after all.

Wikipedia shows that a web content management system typically has the following components:

• Automated templates.  Create standard output templates that can be automatically applied to new and existing content,
  allowing the appearance of all content to be changed from one central place.Through the use of Master Pages and Themes, SharePoint provides the ability to change the entire look and feel of site.  Of course, the older brother version of SharePoint – SharePoint Server 2010 – also introduces the concept of Page Layouts which allows page template level customization and even switching the layout of an individual page using different page templates.  I think many organizations really think they want this but rarely end up using this bit of functionality. 
• Scalable expansion.  Available in most modern WCMSs is the ability to expand a single implementation (one installation on one server) across multiple domains.
  
  SharePoint Foundation can run multiple sites using multiple URLs on a single server install.  Even more powerful, SharePoint Foundation is scalable and can be part of a multi-server farm to ensure that it will handle any amount of traffic that can be thrown at it.
• Easily editable content.  Once content is separated from the visual presentation of a site, it usually becomes much easier and quicker to edit and manipulate. Most WCMS software includes WYSIWYG editing tools allowing non-technical individuals to create and edit content.
  
  This is probably easier described with a screen cap of a vanilla SharePoint Foundation page in edit mode.  Notice the page editing toolbar, the multiple layout options…  It’s actually easier to use than Microsoft Word.
• Scalable feature sets.  Most WCMS software includes plug-ins or modules that can be easily installed to extend an existing site’s functionality.
  
  I think that it is arguable that there isn’t a single platform anywhere that has more plug-ins, modules, web parts, features, samples, templates, and global support than SharePoint (other than possible the Windows operating system).  You can extend the platform to perform thousands of tasks and integrate seamlessly into hundreds of existing systems – all without writing any code.
• Web standards upgrades.  Active WCMS software usually receives regular updates that include new feature sets and keep the system up to current web standards.
  
  SharePoint is in the fourth major iteration under Microsoft with the 2010 release.  In addition to the innovation that Microsoft continuously adds, you have the entire global ecosystem available.
• Workflow management.  Workflow is the process of creating cycles of sequential and parallel tasks that must be accomplished in the CMS. For example, a content creator can submit a story, but it is not published until the copy editor cleans it up and the editor-in-chief approves it.
  
  Workflow.  It’s in there.   In fact, the same workflow engine is running under SharePoint Foundation that is running under the other versions of SharePoint.  The primary difference is that with SharePoint Foundation – you need to configure the workflows yourself.  You can still configure 3-state approval workflows, make your own publish approvals, associate workflows with content types, send emails, update information/data, and much more. 
• Delegation.  Some CMS software allows for various user groups to have limited privileges over specific content on the website, spreading out the responsibility of content management.
  
  Security.  Again – simpler with a screen grab.  SharePoint Foundation provides very granular security capabilities.
• Document management.  CMS software may provide a means of managing the life cycle of a document from initial creation time, through revisions, publication, archive, and document destruction.
  
  SharePoint is king when it comes to document management.  Version history, exclusive check-out, security, publication, workflow, and so much more. 
• Content virtualization.  CMS software may provide a means of allowing each user to work within a virtual copy of the entire Web site, document set, and/or code base. This enables changes to multiple interdependent resources to be viewed and/or executed in-context prior to submission.
  
  Through the use of versioning, each content manager can preview, publish, and roll-back content of pages, wiki entries, blog posts, documents, or any other type of content stored in SharePoint.  The idea of each user having an entire copy of the website virtualized is a bit odd to me – not sure why anyone would need that for anything but the simplest of websites.
• Content syndication.  CMS software often assists in content distribution by generating RSS and Atom data feeds to other systems. They may also e-mail users when updates are available as part of the workflow process.Again, SharePoint Foundation nails it.  With RSS syndication and email alerts available out of the box, content syndication is already in the platform.
• Multilingual.  Ability to display content in multiple languages.SharePoint Foundation 2010 supports more than 40 languages.  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2010/05/13/language-offerings-for-sharepoint-2010-products.aspx