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Chapter 1: Microsoft Offi ce SharePoint Services 2007 (MOSS)
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Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) Version 3
WSS is the web - based interface containing the tools and features that you will interact with. It provides
almost all the features required by many small- to medium - sized organizations. The next section
provides a high - level overview of some of the out - of - the - box features available to you when using WSS
v3. Don t worry if you don t know what they are or what they do at the moment. By the end of this book,
you will have tried out almost all the features you will require on a day - to - day basis. All of the
collaborative tools in SharePoint are generally provided by WSS v3. The next section looks at the various
components and features that are provided by WSS.
Sites
One feature you will use every day to interact with SharePoint is the web site. It is within the individual
SharePoint web sites that the main SharePoint features are exposed to you. It is worth noting that,
depending on the level of access you have been given to a particular site or collection of sites, some
features outlined in the following sections may not be available.
SharePoint web sites provide the core interface (though not the only interface) to your information and
services. WSS allows you to use and, if you have the appropriate permissions, create many different types
of web sites within your organization. Such sites can be permanent such as a divisional web site
or indeed temporary such as a web site to host a meeting. Sites can be created by individuals or can be
created centrally upon request, depending on how WSS has been rolled out within an organization. Sites
can also be created directly from other Office applications. Later, in Chapter 9 , you will discover how to
create a meeting site directly from within Microsoft Outlook 2007. Other Microsoft Office 2007
applications, such as Microsoft Access 2007, have been enhanced to improve how they interact with
MOSS web sites. In Chapter 8 , you will work with MOSS directly from Microsoft Access 2007.
Because you can create web sites yourself (if you have the permissions) SharePoint can easily grow out
of control.
Therefore, it s important that you work with your IT staff to manage sites. Temporary sites can lead to
some of the biggest problems. Individuals can create multiple meeting sites and workspaces and then,
once the meeting is done, forget about them. Such sites simply take up space on the servers and serve
little purpose. It s important that such sites be archived or deleted once you are finished with them. Care
is required, as some of the information hosted within such sites may be required for legal purposes and
must, therefore, be retained. SharePoint can be configured to notify you if a site has remained out of use
for a specific period. You can then take the appropriate action: deletion or archiving.
Document Libraries
Document libraries are one of the core features of SharePoint and something you will use everyday. They
equate, in a small way, to shared network folders used in almost all business. One of the major differences
you may find when using SharePoint document libraries is that you may be responsible for some of the
security surrounding documents. Usually in a file share the security is set for you centrally. However,
while this is also the case in SharePoint, it is also possible for you to have permissions to set security on
your own document libraries and individual documents. This is something that some people overlook
and can lead to security issues when documents meant for a restricted audience are posted to an “ open ”
document library. In giving presentations on SharePoint in the business environment, it can be stated that
SharePoint brings documents to life as opposed to documents simply sitting in a file share folder. The
added value SharePoint brings email alerts, records management, information management policies,
and workflow among other things is of great benefit to those of us who spend all day dealing with
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